Advice on Tracker Tournament V18, thanks!

gigahertz

Cadet
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
11
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? :D

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!
 

gigahertz

Cadet
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
11
Re: Advice on Tracker Tournament V18, thanks!

Wow not even one reply....you guys all out fishing? :)

oh well.....
 

greyghost22

Recruit
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Messages
1
Re: Advice on Tracker Tournament V18, thanks!

Arizona,

I have a 2009 Tournament V-18, not the All Fish, and it is an awesome boat for larger lakes and reservoirs. It rides higher than your pro 17 keeping you dry in choppy water. The 17 degree V-hull rides like a dream in rough water. It's a very wide boat and tons of room and storage so you won't be tripping around. The front deck is plenty big enough to fish 2 people if needed. The livewell I believe changed like you said in 2006 or 2007. It's 35 gallons with pump out, which is a nice feature.
Its sized for tournament fishing so its huge, about 4 feet long. Not sure when they started outfitting with Opti Max motors but mine has a 90 Opti Max and it gets up fast with a 4 blade stainless. It gets up to around 45-48mph with a light load. Full tank (38 gal) and a buddy with you, it does 42-45mph. A 115 will get you to 48-52mph. The back deck is also 7 feet across.
I researched for a long time and this boat was second to none. You won't find a better aluminum v hull with the layout inside. Nothing else came close for me ! Go 24 volt on the trolling motor. I fish Toledo Bend a lot which is why I bought this boat. It's a very big reservoir (3 miles across). Not sure where you can get an owners manual. Pictures make this boat look smaller than actually standing next to it. It's a big boat ! Let me know if I left anything out. Oh I would go for a 2006 to 2010 model. Of course 2010 was last year they made them. They had to cut one so they opted to keep making the pro 19.
Good luck








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? :D

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!
 

gigahertz

Cadet
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
11
Re: Advice on Tracker Tournament V18, thanks!

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

You've confirmed everything I have found out so far on this boat.

I'm glad to hear that with a 90 it will go over 45mph since most of the ones on the market come with a 90 and have seen only a few with a 115. Coming from boat that only goes 30 at WOT, anything over 40 will just be amazing! :)

Good tip on the trolling motor. I plan on keeping the boat for a while so I definitely will be upgrading all the necessary things on it.

Funny thing you mentioned how it looks smaller in photos. I have been watching the two Youtube videos that I was able to find and the boats look plenty big in them but when looking at the stock photos it seem as much.

I personally think that Tracker made a bad decision discontinuing the Tournament V-18. Why would they kill off the one and only model of it's kind? I might be wrong but so far I have yet to find an aluminum boat like the V-18 by any other boat manufacturer.

Right now I guess it's peak fishing season and not that many people are selling their boats, the selection on this boat is very slime. The ones that are on the market are sometimes over $2000 above that NADA quote for average sale price for the year. I guess I just have to be patient until the right one comes along.

Thanks again for your reply!!!


Arizona,

I have a 2009 Tournament V-18, not the All Fish, and it is an awesome boat for larger lakes and reservoirs. It rides higher than your pro 17 keeping you dry in choppy water. The 17 degree V-hull rides like a dream in rough water. It's a very wide boat and tons of room and storage so you won't be tripping around. The front deck is plenty big enough to fish 2 people if needed. The livewell I believe changed like you said in 2006 or 2007. It's 35 gallons with pump out, which is a nice feature.
Its sized for tournament fishing so its huge, about 4 feet long. Not sure when they started outfitting with Opti Max motors but mine has a 90 Opti Max and it gets up fast with a 4 blade stainless. It gets up to around 45-48mph with a light load. Full tank (38 gal) and a buddy with you, it does 42-45mph. A 115 will get you to 48-52mph. The back deck is also 7 feet across.
I researched for a long time and this boat was second to none. You won't find a better aluminum v hull with the layout inside. Nothing else came close for me ! Go 24 volt on the trolling motor. I fish Toledo Bend a lot which is why I bought this boat. It's a very big reservoir (3 miles across). Not sure where you can get an owners manual. Pictures make this boat look smaller than actually standing next to it. It's a big boat ! Let me know if I left anything out. Oh I would go for a 2006 to 2010 model. Of course 2010 was last year they made them. They had to cut one so they opted to keep making the pro 19.
Good luck
 

gigahertz

Cadet
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
11
Re: Advice on Tracker Tournament V18, thanks!

I ended up getting a 2009 Tournament V18 with an optimax 115.

May be my prop is way to short, the max speed I have been able to get this past year has been 40mph (GPS, singel person with gear, empty livewell).

Anyone cares to share some prop info and their boat's top speed?

Thanks!
 

krr6581

Recruit
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
2
Have you figured out your prop issue yet? You should be able to go faster than that with the 115 Opti. What is your top end speed at (WOT) wide open throttle and also what RPM's are you running at WOT also please let me know what pitch prop and what type of prop (aluminum or stainless steel) you are running. Let me know if you are running a Lazer II stainless or possibly a Trophy Prop. Is it a 3 blade or 4 bladed prop. If it is an aluminum prop you can get good performance with it but not the best performance. With this info I can help you figure out what is happening. Your motor's max RPM's at WOT is 5750. If you can get me this information I can calculate your prop slip and give you a good recommendation on the type and pitch of prop you need to find the right prop for you.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
krr - This topic is over 6 months old and the thread starters last post was the one before yours. Please don't reply to topics with no activity for 3 months or more. Thanks
 

krr6581

Recruit
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
2
Hmmmm okayyyyy. I saw how old the post was and noticed that apparently nobody answered his concern. If he does still use this forum for info and he was still interested in finding. Solution I was offering assistance. Not only may he be looking for help but other forum members might need help in that area as well.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
A little hard to answer questions when no one is listening. Feel free to answer prop questions on current threads, but not the old ones. Take a look at our prop forum. Thanks.
 
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