Things I like:::
The seats…love em. Like the adjustments and the behind seat net storage.
The polished stainless accents look great.
I like the finished storage insides.
Things that are good, but not very well thought out:::
The line spooling station. My boat came with one and I use it a lot…because it’s on the rod locker lid! How are you supposed to use the one in the bilge area? You gonna sit on the motor while ya respool a rod? Haha.
The stern light storage spot is also not great. How do you straddle the transom to insert/remove the light from its storage spot?
The extra deep ice chest doesn’t have drains on the little shelves. It’s gonna always be wet and slimy with nasty stuff growing on them from old standing ice melt water. Great ideas with poor execution
Storing rods on top of 3700’s makes for an aggravating day on the water at best and a cluster on tourney days when time management really matters.
Things I don’t like:::not much, it’s a beautiful boat, but the Lowrance “Ride” looks like a future out dated part and PITA when it goes out or Lowrance updates to a new one and their support for the one ya have goes away. We all know Lowrance does that from time to time. It’s useless and drives up the cost. You basically now have THREE speedometers and 3 tachometers. One in the Lowrance 16 Live. One in the smart raft gauge, and then the Ride.
The trash can needs a lid, or you’re gonna look like garbage truck hauling across the water as everything gets sucked out into the lake.
In the end, while that boat is likely priced beyond my paygrade, I would score the boat about a 6.5 outta 10.
The line spooling station *faces* the front of the boat when you open the compartment. It's easy to use and I've used mine with ease on the water. You can sit between the two consoles. Not sure if the battery compartment opens toward the motor in any boat, but maybe they do.
Pulling the light out of the battery compartment is better than the starboard storage. You don't have to walk it to the front of the boat. I actually bought the Hennessy light that attaches to my Raptors, so I don't even fool with it, but I think the storage spot makes more sense.
I store the rods I'm going to use that day in the center and put them on my deck when I hit the water. You're right, trying to access tackle between rods is a pain in the [censored].
The Ride system is pretty cool. Apparently, Ranger has been putting them in their high end pontoons for a while and they seem to last. They do have a 3-year warranty, but a new one is about $1,800. If it does go out, all the buttons he highlighted next to the driver seat control what that module controls, so you can operate everything without it. I didn't add the Mercury Gauge like James. I thought it was exactly what you said, overkill.
It's a nice boat, but boats are a personal preference for sure. I didn't really like BCB until I fished in one and it's an awesome boat. Phoenix and Skeeters are both awesome too. They all cost way to f'n much.
