Telling you knuckleheads about lighter weight materials that are available to our industry doesn't constitute bragging about anything. I never claimed to be any better driver or have anything "better" than anyone. Unfortunately, that is where these subjects ALWAYS go however. EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS SUBJECT COMES UP ABOUT "WHO BUILDS THE BEST BOAT", IT ALWAYS TURNS INTO MY BOAT HAS TO BE BETTER BECAUSE IT WEIGHS MORE THAN YOURS. ALL I WAS TRYING TO POINT OUT TO YOU WAS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES LIKE TITANIUM, THAT ARE FAR LIGHTER AND STRONGER THAN THE OLD SCHOOL STUFF YOU ARE ACCUSTOMED TO. PEOPLE LIKE YOU ALWAYS TURN THIS INTO A "WELL, YOU ARE JUST BRAGGING ON YOUR VETTE OR YOUR DRIVING SKILLS!'

NO, WE ARE NOT. WE ARE JUST TRYING TO POINT OUT A FEW SIMPLE FACTS ABOUT THE BOATING INDUSTRY. AND LIKE PAT STATED AGAIN, IF THE BOAT ALMOST FLIPPED OVER, IT IS DUE TO "LACK OF DRIVER SKILL"!!!

The number of "junky" boats is shrinking every year.

If weight was the measure of quality...then a Bayliner would be the finest hull on the water.

Of course it would. Have you never asked the opinion of a mechanic about a particular make or model of automobile?

Like I told Pat. Ranger is already using vacumm bagging in at least part of their manufacturing process. It may not be what they use on the hull in particular, I may have jumped the gun on that. If so, it was a misunderstanding on my part and I appologize for leading "yall" astray. However, they do use it in some part of their manufacturing of a Ranger boat. It may be for the deck or the deck lids or something. They have several videos on the Ranger site that take you from start to finish, and vacumm bagging is mentioned in one of the videos on lamination or hull and deck assembly. With this said, it is only a matter of time before they start using it in other areas.

Genmar?....yeah, right. Ask Jeff Gilbert about Genmar. I ragged him one day for dumping Champion for, what, Triton, Skeeter? He let me know in no uncertain terms that he went to the Genmar plant to look at the Champion line, and he didn't want any part of it. And he has sold more Champions than probably anyone else, period. And I'm certain he has spent more time around different boat plants examining assembly techiques than anyone in this discussion. Just because Genmar has money and new technology, that doesn't mean their boats are made as well as they could be. It's just marketing. Just like selling lures......

Artie

Bass Art, are you responding to my post? I made no mention of Genmar, or Champion. I realize Ranger falls under the Genmar badge, but I was only referring to the technology used in a part of the manufacturing process for Ranger Boats. The way I see it, quality does play a role in resale value, but for the most part, it is demand that plays the bigger role. It's the ole supply and demand deal. Whatever has the biggest demand by the market has the highest resale value in that market regardless of how well or not so well it is built.

No, I wasn't. Actually I was remarking about the post you quoted. Irwin Jacobs trying to lobby for a certain process to be mandated in fiberglass boat construction.

And I agree with you 100% about resale being more about demand and recognition than necessarily about value or quality. It's marketing, and who spends their advertising money the in the right places and at the right times. Not to slam Ranger in any, but their association with BASS going all the way back to Forrest Wood and Ray Scott's friendship has been a monumental part of their success.

Artie

I gotta agree with you on the Ray Scott and Ernest Wood retirement plan.

From what I can tell...
Bagging process is just for lids and other pieces, not the hull.

I think you are right on that Pat, I stand corrected

A Water Moccassin ( or some other brand) Pirouge holds it's value better than any boat I've ever seen. I bought one for duck hunting 15 years ago for $40 from a guy in Texas that didnt know what he had. I could easily sell it for $300 today...without a trailer or any propulsion....sans a paddle.

'Cant say the same for my Skeeter.

That's ridiculous. The best driver in the world can get a sudden gust of wind under him, you can't see it coming and can not adjust for it. Once it starts, it happens so fast, few drivers can prevent it. I think this guy as a regular everyday fishing guy, did a good job of saving it.

Well, I am probably going to land somewhere in the middle. While there is no substitute for seat time, there is also no substitute for quick reflexes.

There is a good reason why Derek Jeter can snag a line drive that would get by most major leaguers, and it is reflexes. You can drive a 75 mph bassboat everyday, but if you're reflexes are slow, you can't react to some things as well as the guy with fast reflexes, period.

I have a friend that is approaching retirement age, and he likes fast boats. But he has sold his Allison because everything happened too quickly in it, and his reaction times are just not up to it anymore.

As far as running into a strong headwind at high speed, shouldn't EXPERIENCE tell you to trim down?

Artie

Here's the scenario:
Fishing Rayburn in May. Launched at Cassell-Boykins.
Fished our way down to 5 Fingers. Catching some decent fish in 5 Fingers. About 1 PM look up at Sky is getting dark to the west. Fished for 5 more minutes. Time to go. Started running back to Cassell Boykins. Not a bad ride for about 10 minutes, then the storm hits. We're on the east side of the lake and storm is coming from the west. Wind Starts Blowing really hard by the time we get to Harvey Creek. Start to cut across lake at Right angles to waves, and able to ride up and down the waves, trimmed down. Come to the crest of a wave and wind gets underneath bow and bow comes up to about 70 degrees. Bow slams down. We decide to duck into harvey creek and find shelter. Storm is over in about 15 more minutes. The guy driving has plenty of seat time on high speed boats. I see nothing that he did wrong. We were not on plane, just trying to ride over one the crest of one wave, and down the other side (cutting back on power after you get to the crest, so the boat doesn't nose dive). Show me the driver error, other than maybe we shouldn't have fished the extra 5 minutes. Honestly I don't think the wind would have caught and sent my Ranger up to 70 degrees like it did his lighter boat.

Not being there to witness, it's impossible to hold judgement on each situation we can get ourselves into.