Tornado 6.0 > good hull ? + what size engine ?

[mervyn]

Hi Guys,

Question: can buy a tornado 6.0 meter. I wonder if anybody
has experience with this specific boat.

How is the hull of this boat, does it has good 'offshore' characteristics ?
of to shallow V ?

Planning to install an Yamaha F100 4-stroke on it. Is that enough power
for that boat ? or will it make it slugish ?

The boat is from 1995. Is that too old ? it is well maintained.

Thanks a lot for your advise !

grt. Mervyn

[roycruse]

I dont have any personal experience of a Tornado but 100hp on a 6m boat is quite low.

It will probably just about pull a skier up with the right prop but i think you will soon get bored - especially if you are going to be carrying heavy loads.

130 - 150 is more like the size of engine for that size of boat there is a wide choice of engines in the 130 - 150 hp range

Suzuki DF 140 or 150
Optimax 150
Honda 130
Evinrude E-TEC 150
Yamaha F150
etc etc etc...

[Rogue Wave]

they are tuff boats I think well made! Re. engine size agree with Roy a bit sluggish as they aren't light boats (no tuff one really is) accordingly It may well spank you on fuel costs because it's underpowered
Nothing wrong with Yammie engines by the way

Benc has a lovely Tornado 7.5 with twin 125's ( i Think) but because the engines are a bit low on power it's not a funny boat to fuel. Also when you push the happy stick to the limit 4 stokes aren't much cheaper than a modern 2 stroke to run

Have you got the engine yet, is it the one on you existing boat or are you still looking, can you find out the weight of the boat with fuel but no engine? if it's not much more than your existing boat and your happy with the existing performance it might be OK

In theory the age isn't a problem if built properly have a look up the bunghole with a torch and see if you can see any GRP shards (signs of partial disintegration), likewise do the same under any inspection hatches that let you see the inside of the deck.

I think Tornado mould in their seats so you want to ensure they are not wobbly hence deck integrity still good

In the early days of Tornado i understand they used to travel accross the sea to Holland quite a lot

[swginn]

I use a friends Tornado 6m / 135 Optimax regularly. Hull has very good offshore characteristics, very deep-V, high bow, high lift hull (very good for carrying loads!). The 6m still has the older 2-rail design, whereas all the Tornados above 6m benefit from the newer 3-rail design which is better still. The 3-rail design is simply more efficient (slightly warped-V hull) and so they are easily powered by the smaller 3 cylinder lumps: 100-115hp. The 6m you're looking at will be slightly underpowered at 100hp. Fair enough she'll plane and should be capable of just over 30 kts, but don't expect any excitement. Would definitely consider a 115 Opti at least or any 135, but even with the 100 Yammy she'll be a very solid, safe RIB and you'll give up long before it ever will!

One thing to look at is the tubes. The older Tornados had glued PU tubes, whereas the newer ones are thermowelded. It would be worthwhile checking all the seams and joins from hull to tube on a boat that old!!

[mervyn]

Hi Steve, Rogue, Roy

Thanks a lot for the advise.. Food for thought. Indeed would love to drive it with a 140 or something... meaby I'll sell the current F100 (although i really like it!)

Steve, question to you: In fact you boat seems really Ideal to me ( if my budget reached that far I would by something similar..)
How would an 6.0 xs perform with the F100 ? would it be ( a lot) more suitable than the Tornado ?

regards,

Mervyn

[swginn]

The XS-600 with a 100, would still be very similar to the Tornado. The hull design between the two is very similar, although the XS has a newer 3-rail design based on that of the larger Tornados. The Tornado 6m as I've said has a 2-rail design. There isn't much difference between each but I have noticed having driven them back to back that the XS lifts higher out of the water when planing. This makes her a small bit faster and more efficient. What's more noticeable though is that the XS, grips far better in turns. The Tornado on the other hand has the advantage of being lighter than the XS but not by much.

To be honest I think the XS 600 with 115 Optimax is probably the best package, ours is a bit overpowered at 150, it's extra power that most people never use, but it is nice to have. She would go well with a F100, but the lighter and more powerful 115 Opti would be ideal.

A friend has a Tornado 6m / 135 Optimax and we go out together regularly. There is very little between the 2 boats. Ours is 5-6 kts faster but we don't know if its down to power or hull? Both excellent boats though and you won't go far wrong with either.

If it was me I'd stick the F100 on a an XS-600, you could always change the engine in the future and you've got the piece of mind that you're getting a new boat with 3 year warranty.

[Tideway]

Originally Posted by swginn

One thing to look at is the tubes. The older Tornados had glued PU tubes, whereas the newer ones are thermowelded. It would be worthwhile checking all the seams and joins from hull to tube on a boat that old!!

This is a good tip. We used a 5.5m Tornado (built 1990ish?) as a relief boat until relatively recently. Very good bit of kit, but if suffered due to lack of use, and sitting outside. However, considering the neglect it held up vey well. The (PU) tubes did fail eventually, but only internally, ie. the walls between sections of tube. So you could pump up the whole lot, but the two rear quarter section and the side sponsons were effectively the same tubes. Do not take this as a criticism of these boats. It was excellent and material technology has moved on a great deal. But it may be worth checking before buying second hand.

Finally, we got it up to 36knots lightly loaded, with twin 50 hp two/stk Yamaha o/boards. Dunno if that helps you engine calculations...?

t