We have a lot of small craft advisories here. 3-6'ers was quite common this summer. I think that's what he's thinking.

While I've never been on a cat, I'd agree, up to that warning, you're allright, and it would seem a wider boat (Pontiac made a slogan on that concept) would handle chop better.

However, the other factor is, try going 55 in 4'ers in a 31' v hull. That's fast in 4'ers and a rough ride, and a v-hull wants to launch, even a 32 Thunder for you AT guys...LOL! So, 55 is fast in 4'ers in that size boat in my opp. It's no wonder it would want to fly. Plus, cats are made to run different, and those conditions exploit those design characteristics.

But hey, Q-S, thanks for the info, it is good to know. I always wondered why I didn't see too many cats on Lake MI. Rides like that might be the reason. That and lack of budget for 46 Skaters....the latter is my problem. :D

Mark

Its a 1998 Warlock 31' SXT. Powered by 502 Mag EFI's W/ 30p. Bravo 1 props. Headers and stand off boxes. Stand up bolsters and it has a good size cabin. The guy told me that it would run 95 MPH. I talked to a person from Warlock that said yes it would.

The guy that owns the boat is scared to death of this boat. At 30 MPH it slapped once and he stopped. I thought it was funny that as soon as he got the boat on plane he trimmed up the drives. From that point on I knew he didn't know how to handle the boat. I asked if I could drive and I left the drives down and he said you have to trim them up. I said I wanted to keep the boat in the water. When I hit 35 he wanted off. So, I dropped him off and took it out.

I felt the boat could use trim tabs. It would help in turning which the owner would only do when idling. Like I said, this is the first one that I drove and the owner was crapping in his shorts. He did not boost my confidence.

Is this a good cat?

I love my cat and in 4 footer not a problem 5 footer i start to slow down it depens on the spacing you jest have to get used to the way they ride and know when to say when. I know my cat is a littel small for the grate lakes but it halls ass.;) ;)

Good luck

level cat
 

If you get a chance to drive a 30' chris cat/ shadow or the newer 31' Awesome Thundercat or the 3100 AO it will change the whole perspective vs the Warlock handling.
In that water, the center pod/sponson/appendage will launch it.

Of course if money were no object you could go Skater and pay 95 grand per sponson!

Best of luck with the shopping!:D

straycat

It would be great to try out another cat. The problem is to find them and more important finding one in my price range. It would be fun, but a waste of time, to take out a $250,000.00 Skater. The Warlock only has 115 hours on the motors and a price tag of $98,000 and I'm sure the guy that owns it didn't beat it up. I think he could be beatup on the price, he sure is afraid of the boat. If he still has it in the spring maybe I'll take another ride, on a flat day.

Is the Warlock the polecat of the cat family? If so I won't even look at it again.

31 Warlocks are pretty nice in my book. I may be in the market for one in the spring. They run pretty fast with mild power and have the best cabin I have found in a 30 foot range cat.

"Its a 1998 Warlock 31' SXT. Powered by 502 Mag EFI's W/ 30p. Bravo 1 props. Headers and stand off boxes. Stand up bolsters and it has a good size cabin."

Well there you go..................The same hull that Richard whats his name raced to last place in his short stint as dot-com millionaire cum boat company owner.

Without specifically insulting any manufacturer.......Let's just say that there has never been a top notch cat made west of the Mississippi and let it go at that.

Here's a list of what I consider to be "good" Cats:

30' Shadow Cat

30' Chris Cat

Skaters........ The 24 is tad small for the real rough stuff. otherwise they are the best in the world.

Talon....... 37'..and the current Hustler variant......

Most English Cougars....... in aluminum and later composites

Express Cats...and Ocean Express cats

Ten Cara's........ if you don't mind spending twice the value for a boat.

The Linder/ Luhrs/Adams Conquests......

Jaguars.

CUV's......in aluminum

There are other pops and copies of the above....but, heck, they're pops and copies......and not going to get my endorsement here.

The "center pod" cats don't work real well....and a lot of them are plug ugly to boot....( P.S. I know the next question;) ...Amazing top speed can be obtained with a bath tub......if you apply enough horsepower...... and magazine "endorsements" can be arranged based on the size of a manufacturer's ad budget in that periodical)

T2x

Talon....... 37'..and the current Hustler variant......



The "center pod" cats don't work real well....

T2x [/B][/QUOTE]

HUH? every Talon I have ever seen has one of the biggest center pods out there.Those things are dam nearly tricycles.:D

And what exactly are your thoughts on the new center podless Eliminator 36?

Hey QS,
There is a (1987?) 39 ocean express from grand haven that is at viscious one's shop with a big for sale sign on it for about 20K less than that warlock. It's the one with the black Panther on the side if you know the boat. It could use some dash, and interior updates to look newer, but that boat wouldn't care what the waves were like. It has mild blower motors, and ssm3's and it's a heavy boat, so it wont be doing blistering speeds, but it will handle the SHizit on lake michigan well. I think it still runs somewhere in the 90's though, plus a monster cabin, and it's on a traliler.

Airpackr.......... Regarding the Eliminator....... Let the race results speak for themselves....at present the hull is getting blitzed by Skaters in the APBA.

The Talon , on the other hand , has done pretty well going back to "Suigeneris" in the early 90's. This hull has a lot of aerodynamic lift and is very nicely balanced.

T2x