We're looking to move up to a 30 footer in the next year or two, so I figured it's never too early to start doing some research. This boat will be a hardcore fishing machine. If you don't intend to fish, and fish hard, get off my boat. That means I don't care about amenities. I don't care which has a nicer interior, I care about which rides and fishes better.
What are the attributes of each type of boat? What do they do well and what are they not so good at?
How is the ride, generally, for the style of boat? (ie. Downeast boats tend to roll while drifting because they have soft chines. Just an example, I have no idea if they roll or not.)
You are the salesman, but you are NOT trying to sell me a brand of boat, YOU ARE TRYING TO SELL ME A STYLE OF BOAT. It will be used off MA/NH for groundfishing, tuna, and stripers/blues. Runs of not more than 30-40 miles, mostly less. We will overnight occasionally.
Fintan-
First, congrats on looking to move up! Now I am no boat expert or architect by any means, but I think that it is safe to say that both of these designs are perfect for their individual intended purposes- for instance, the carolina boats are often out in real big water, and are often on the move (trolling), so the big bow flair is what is needed.
In terms of the downeast, we seem to have tighter chop up in these parts, and not necessarily the real big stream water, so having a semi-displacement hull will push right through the chop.
If you think that you will be on anchor or drifting around here, I think that you need to really look towards the downeast- these boats are much more stable for that.
Either way, they are both great types of boats, and you'll be happy with either.
I would like to add. You can find a down east with a hard chine as well as a soft chine. Decide what the main type of fishing will be and choose either chine. Example: A JC 31 tuna boat will have a hard chine.
Thanks Shoe! My dad is really stepping up to the plate in convincing my mom we need a bigger boat. I'm proud of him She agreed, but inside her head she probably hates us
Charter Owner/Captain, Yacht Broker, Mortgage Originator
You got a lot of choice my friend.
Up here and your not running long distances, don't require a lot of amenities, need a 100% get you there and back ride, and perhaps be economical to run and maintain. A solid single screw ride is tough to beat
Troll valve for bass work
There's some super quality down east hulls available right now as a bunch are exiting the comm bluefin fishery. There's one down by Seaker right now that is unreal clean and rigged to the 9's
Do you have a budget to work within?
I'm not sugggesting that's the only game in town cause it's not. Most of these hulls were fitted for serious fishing and not the 19th hole
fmoore 1 difference in soft or hard chine is speed. A hard will allow a greater speed (planning hull) and a soft chine is a touch slower (displacement hull) Both in a single diesel. Below is a cut and paste on both.
Maine or Downeast style semi-displacement boats have pronounced keels. Typically the keel of a traditional Downeast styled vessel starts at the base of the boat's Stem (the forward most element of the hull) and runs aft longitudinally (forward to aft) along the fairbody(the hull section between the chine and the keel) ending at the rudder Skeg (an extension from the keel to support and protect the rudder). Boats that are constructed with a built down style keel traditionally have a fine entry and a round chine which is responsible for the excellent sea keeping ability that these boats have in an on coming sea. The flat sections of the hull that start around midships and run back aft are responsible for the boat's ability to carry speed and the boat's stability in a following sea. Traditional Downeast boats offer superior sea keeping ability and typically cruise between 15-22kts depending on the power option selected.
Built-Down Skeg models are those where the hull goes flat into the keel. Skeg boats are often faster as there is less wetted surface (underwater area) holding the hull back from reaching its top speed. These boats have a hard chine that keeps them up on plane and makes for a less forgiving ride, but the plus side is that these boats tends to cruise from 25-30kts. Skeg boats also tend to be more shallow at the Fairbody which makes it more difficult to conceal the engine under the cockpit sole and subsequently requires the use of an engine box instead.
In addition to the other differences that exist between between individual makes and models of Downeast Style Boats is the characteristic shape of the boat's Chine (The corner edge where the hull transitions from a horizontal plane on the bottom to a vertical plane on the sides). Boats are constructed with either a Hard Chine (Planing Hulls) or a Soft Chine (Displacement Hulls). Downeast boats that are constructed with hard chines are typically faster than round chined boats, they are also less forgiving in heavy weather. At the end of the day, the trade off is enhanced stability verses faster top speed. Deciding which hull shape is the best style for you should be a product of how you intend to use your boat currently and how you intend to use it in the future.
the different chine shapes
Last edited by flatbottom; 12-22-2007 at 01:44 PM.
Seaker-By the time we will be making the purchase, we will have about 125k or a bit more to play with (bye bye second home). Hoping to get something for a little cheaper than that and use the extra cash to upgrade electronics, etc, if needed. Is the boat you're talking about listed anywhere online? Just trying to get an idea of what the market is like. Seems like you guys reccomend downeast. That's what I was leaning to anyway.
Something like this would work out good when we're ready to lay down the cash (not knowing anything about the ride of this boat): 31 Duffy
Flat, thanks for that write up. Really helps to understand a bit more about how boats work.
Fintan there are so many choices when picking a vessel that you will need to narrow down what you are planning to do on it Fishing is a given !
will you be doing ober nighters ? will Mom be aboard ? how long is your season i.e will you be fishing in Cold weather
what i owned and experienced was a South Shore 30 X 11 built in Maine
we opted for an open driver side and open back to gain cockpit space and being able to fish with a small crew or solo
This config was not good for cold months we did have curtains and relied on the engine for heat from the engine ,,it got chilly to say the least
down below cabin config were basic and easily cleanable with a huge berth with storage above and below and fully enclosed head
she was powered by a 6BTA Cumins and burned 4-6 per hour @18-20 knots
if you like this burn and speed you need to stay with in 32 feet max from what i have seen.
as soon as you go 35 you jump up in fuel burn but gain a lot more wheel house and down below space if you chose and or a bigger cockpit
Feel free to contact me for all the particulars and any reccomendations of Builders ,The used Market is a buyers dream !!! Start Shopping and good luck .
I have run/owned both a hard and soft chine downeast boat, I would definitely go with the soft chine downeast boat like the BHM, Duffy etc. The speed between the two is not enough to make a difference since the hull speed of the downeast boats is between 17-18kts. All of them will get squirrelly on you above 20kt in anything other than a head sea. If you don’t have too far to go or don’t mind taking a little longer getting there, they are great boats for fishing offshore. I usually do not burn more than 64 gals fishing the Norfolk Canyon all day (15 hours). I have a 28 Seaworthy(BHM) with a 370 Volvo.
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She agreed, but inside her head she probably hates us
