Questions for Gladiator owners
 

what waters do you boat in most?

How do you like sitting down?

What are your favorite qualities of the boat?

What are your least favorite qualities?

Thanks for your input.

As a former owner,

Boated all over the NE. Home waters 75% rough 25% calm

Once you sit down you never go back

Boat was awesome just wish mine went faster

Liked everything about it

Only negative is seating is limited to 5. Other than that, you can't buy a better built, cooler looking and nicer running boat for anything close to what these are selling for.

I love the fact that a 36' boat is almost 40' long and it still runs great with minimal power 750 zuls and I am running 111gps

Dan, I know this is apples and oranges, but how would you compare the ride quality and rough water handling characteristics of your Gladiator compared to your Motion?



I'd love to own a Gladiator, but the lack of even a minimal cabin makes it a much tougher sell for me.

36'-11" is the actual length if I have it right; what prop are you running and how stable at 111?

I'd like to know too how the Glad compares to the 35 Motion?

I love the 700/NXT1 Glad that Lip Ship built. Were any built with 6's?

What a great sport where 750hp BBC's are considered "minimal". LOVE IT!!!!!

Awesome...Best bang for your buck..

:coolcowboy:

I was never a fan of sitdown boats until I spent a couple of days in Joe's old boat with Alex. The boat is very comfortable, and the visibility is more like a cat than a sitdown V. Definately one of the funnest boats I have been in.
Talk about efficient as well. twin 525's and 90+mph!!

We really didn't find much rough water to play in but we hit a bluewater wake at about 75mph and the the boat flew level and landed soft. Here is a little vid I attempted to shoot while throttling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9cWpKWMj3w

I love the boats but its really not that efficent for the power put in them. Thats one reason we sold. What props was alex running in the vid? The Hydros?

I agree - the perspective within this group of people is so skewed (in a good way!!!)

Maximus. (They suck)
Talked to Phil today. Getting a set of 6 blade Herings from him. Looking forward to trying them.

Good!! Let me know what you think of them.

So a bone stock 525 boat that does low 90's is not efficient?

It's efficient to me. If I put those same motors in my 36' Apache I'd be lucky to see anything close to 78mph.

Alex, I think those wheels will be the ticket!!

Not when there's nothing there. There's quite a few faster boats with the same power.

Correction I don't even think I could get 76mph with 525's in my 36'.

I know that there are more efficient hulls out there for sure. But, back in 03/04 when these boats came out, there wasn't anything much more efficient. To compare, a 36 GTX at the time wasn't any faster with the same power.

37GTX ran same speed-slightly faster and was a 1993 design with a half cabin. The Gladiator was designed in 2002. You are correct though at the time it wasnt too shabby. The ZRC is a bigger boat and ran the same speeds as well. The Gladiator is still one of the best looking boats ever built!!

Back in those days, Mercury claimed that the Dragon had one of the most efficient hulls that they had ever tested at Lake X. Go figure.

Baywatch, once Alex gets a bit more seat time under his belt.He will have that thing running mid 90's without a problem..That boat runs great and is one of the funnest boats around..Have fun Prop testing, that's what it's all about.

:drink:

Go to www.YouTube.com/BigMammasHouse

Look for the gladiator videos. They are pretty good!

Dan, maybe you missed this... would you care to comment? If not publicly, a PM with your thoughts would be appreciated. I'm looking for honest and unbiased thoughts on this.

I can't speak for Dan, but I had an 07 30XP motion before I purchased the gladiator and I will say, that the glad is a superior boat all the way around.. Motions are nice.. But DO NOT compare to a CIG..

CIG #1

I haven't owned a Gladiator, so feel free to call me a poser. http://smiliesftw.com/x/bigglasses.gif

All of the ones I've been in, have been fun as can be, and the ride & handling was excellent. They've got to be the most fun boat of that style to drive around.

If I wanted the fastest sit down style vee bottom, I would just order a 42 Poker Run Fountain with huge power & 6's.

However, I'd prefer the Gladiator over that for it's looks, quality, & attention to detail. I just think it & the Maximus are the best looking vees out there for my tastes.

I've been in the Fountain PR. No visibility. And takes LOTS of driver input to drive. Glad I bought the Glad!

Plus the Fountain PR suffers from ugly disease.

Alex,

I'm GLAD you bought it as well..:lolhit:

You can't beat the Glad, It is an awesome boat..

Have fun with it..

:drink:

Cig doesn't have the Glad in production anymore...do you think this will help or hurt the resale value in the future? Could they become as desireable as the 20's someday???

That is a good question. I look at the Gladiator and Comp (sorry I am a Donzi guy in here ;) ) this way now.
What was a $3 to 400,000 boat 5-8 years ago can be bought in the low $100s.
Now if I am someone who can spend $400,000 on a boat today, do I buy a new 39 Top Gun or......do I buy a Gladiator for poker runs and blasting around AND a cruiser or center console for my family boating etc.
I know what I would do....now I just need to save up for that Top Fish.:grinser010:

The resale has already been hurt because of production being halted and as Phil says, "there are only a few good ones left." You figure it out. Skip will build you a new one I am sure, but you are going to have to pay up.

Things that are popular new, are popular used.