Just spent a whole afternoon searching online and reading up on all that I was able to find on the Tournament V18 and the V18 All Fish model.
Currently I have a 1994 Tracker Pro 17 I bought a couple of years ago for $2500 (my first boat). Other than a few problems: rotten carpet, disintegrating main deck (plywood), dead tachometer, 5 leaky rivets, etc etc, the boat mostly works but I think it's time to decide whether to overhaul the boat and spend some money on it or to just sell it.
I fish mostly at Lake Havasu, AZ and along the Colorado River. I love the Pro 17 because with it I can get into all the coves out here (even the shallow ones). It basically can do what I need it to except for the following areas:
1) Rough water handling. It goes without saying that an aluminum boat with a Mod-V hull will not do well in chops and here at Lake Havasu it can get quite choppy from the wind or just boat traffic.
2) More space. I usually fish alone or with one of my buddies. With it's narrow profile and the limited amount of storage, I always end up tripping over things while trying to move around the boat. May be I should just learn to pack lite?
So here I am. So far the Tournament V18 seems to be exactly what I want as my second boat and I want to see if you guys will care to give me some "if I were you" kind of advice.
To start off I have the following questions:
1) Compared to a Pro17, how much higher (approx.) does the V18 ride? I was told that the higher the boat rides the more it (side of the hull) acts like a sail, how bad is it on the V18's compared to a Mod-V hulled Pro 17?
2) How much lower (below water)does it ride? I want to know how much bottom clearance I will be sacrificing by going with the V18 vs my Pro17. The river gets quite shallow at some parts.
3) How fast can the V18 go with the stock 90hp motor? How much faster will it be with the optional 115hp motor?
4) I noticed that the 2006 and older Tournament V18 has a shorter (compared to the 2007 and newer models' 35 Gal.) live well. Does anyone here know the volume or the length of the live well on the 2006 and older V18's? I need a good sized one for the nice kitties we have here in the river.
5) What year did they start using the Optimax model engines on the V18's?
6) Finally, are there certain model year that I should look for or avoid for specific reasons?
Oh yeah also, does anyone know where I can download the owner's manual on the Tournament V18? Linky please?
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my looonnnggg post and thanks in advance for all the valuable advice you guys have for me on my search for a new (used) boat!!!!
Have a great weekend!
Currently I have a 1994 Tracker Pro 17 I bought a couple of years ago for $2500 (my first boat). Other than a few problems: rotten carpet, disintegrating main deck (plywood), dead tachometer, 5 leaky rivets, etc etc, the boat mostly works but I think it's time to decide whether to overhaul the boat and spend some money on it or to just sell it.
I fish mostly at Lake Havasu, AZ and along the Colorado River. I love the Pro 17 because with it I can get into all the coves out here (even the shallow ones). It basically can do what I need it to except for the following areas:
1) Rough water handling. It goes without saying that an aluminum boat with a Mod-V hull will not do well in chops and here at Lake Havasu it can get quite choppy from the wind or just boat traffic.
2) More space. I usually fish alone or with one of my buddies. With it's narrow profile and the limited amount of storage, I always end up tripping over things while trying to move around the boat. May be I should just learn to pack lite?
So here I am. So far the Tournament V18 seems to be exactly what I want as my second boat and I want to see if you guys will care to give me some "if I were you" kind of advice.
To start off I have the following questions:
1) Compared to a Pro17, how much higher (approx.) does the V18 ride? I was told that the higher the boat rides the more it (side of the hull) acts like a sail, how bad is it on the V18's compared to a Mod-V hulled Pro 17?
2) How much lower (below water)does it ride? I want to know how much bottom clearance I will be sacrificing by going with the V18 vs my Pro17. The river gets quite shallow at some parts.
3) How fast can the V18 go with the stock 90hp motor? How much faster will it be with the optional 115hp motor?
4) I noticed that the 2006 and older Tournament V18 has a shorter (compared to the 2007 and newer models' 35 Gal.) live well. Does anyone here know the volume or the length of the live well on the 2006 and older V18's? I need a good sized one for the nice kitties we have here in the river.
5) What year did they start using the Optimax model engines on the V18's?
6) Finally, are there certain model year that I should look for or avoid for specific reasons?
Oh yeah also, does anyone know where I can download the owner's manual on the Tournament V18? Linky please?
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my looonnnggg post and thanks in advance for all the valuable advice you guys have for me on my search for a new (used) boat!!!!
Have a great weekend!