Bass cat is a good boat but does not ride as good as good as a skeeter or ranger.

Unless you're just sold on a Ranger or Skeeter, you'll want to ride in a Phoenix. I'm an ex-Skeeter driver and they do make a good boat but I made the swap to Phoenix and never looked back.

I believe the Ranger is a far better ride not only in rough water but sitting still and fishing out of it. I have a 06-Champion and definitely prefer it over any other. I spend more time still than riding around in choppy water so I prefer comfort sitting first.

I fish in west texas where wind is always a factor. That being said, the ranger will trim down and get through rough water with less bounce, my skeeter I-class will do fine but the ranger is more solid. The fishing platform on the skeeter is the best on the market in the calm or in the waves. Both are dry fishing machines and you will be satisfied with your decision either way. If you know someone who can coach you somewhat on either brand in rough water it will be a tremendous advantage in your learning curve and let you concentrate on catching fish safely. Whatever you decide do not let our brand bias get to you but once you get on board with the ranger or the bug then you are expected to aggressively get on board with our bias, haha!!! good luck

A subject of a lot of debate and personal likes and dislikes. The real test is for you to get in one or the other regardless of the brand and "Check'um Out" as they say!!

Chuck

Whoever said that it depends on who's driving made a valid point. Also, the two brands have run different hull designs; if you're talking used boats there may be a difference in the models. Some of the older Skeeters were very loose-handling boats that could never boast of a soft (or dry) ride, but as the brand evolved the hulls got a lot better. You'll find folks loyal to both brands, and realistically, I imagine you'd be happy with either one. But the best hull design out there won't achieve its potential with a driver who doesn't know the boat and how to drive it.

No boat rides like a champion and I'm a skeeter owner.

Except skeeter, ranger and legend and I'm a former champion owner who thinks a lot of the champion boats.

Ranger breaks waves differently then a Skeeter. Each hull has a wave they do well in, and a wave pattern they don't do so well in. Pretty much true for all boats these days.

I think the Ranger hull design may be a knock off of the old Sidewinder boats, one of the smoothest most stable sport boats back in the 60's and 70's. Sidewinder had over 20 law suits against other boat MFGs for patent infringements of their hull design. Not to worry now since Sidewinder is no more. Anybody who's ever rode in an old Sidewinder low profile knows how good they were and fast too.

My '94 bass cat pantera 2 is a more comfortable and drier ride than my partners 2010 Ranger 521. This is after being in both of these boats over 30 times each.

The boat that I run right now rides as good as any I have been in, that is not at all the selling point to me, the way a boat is laid out, fit and finish and how the boat fishes are all more important to me, I think a Ranger is at the top along with a few more that fit into this category, in other words, the total package, the two boats mentioned ride about the same imo.

To me they are pretty close to the same