Best Single Engine Cat Design
 

I'm looking to purchase a single engine cat. I know their is a wealth of knowledge and experience on the board and would like to draw from it. My criteria for "best" would be safety (predictable ride at all speeds), quality of build, value, speed, and functionality (a reasonable day boating with family and friends). The first and only boat I've ever owned was a Checkmate 259 Convincor (for reference) and I loved it.
Thanks in advance for your opinions,
Rob

Eliminator 25/26/27 Daytonas are great looking, and are good choices.....DCB F-M26...etc.... Im sure there are others,, but these are great looking/handling Cats...

Good luck with your search...!!!

28 Howard SCS
 

You should check out Howards new 28 SCS cat.

RPM Powerboats

You've been in all those boats?? Yeah right. :bsflag:

Better questions:
Whats your price range?
What speeds are you trying to attain? Both cruising and top.
How old of a boat are you willing to go?

why not the talon 25 which everyone copied? or the AO 26 (one of the copies)

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think the first think people on here would need to know what your price range is because DCB and Eliminator are get boats but not cheap. There are also nice boats that are cheaper and depending on your budget may need to be a few years older. Good luck with your search and I'm sure you will love the ride and feel of a cat, I did:)

I have a 25 talon with a 525efi. I love the boat! It did have an 870 hp blower motor it ran 125 mph on GPS turning a 34 Spinelli.

This is getting out of hand. I have never once expressed a strong opinion on this forum but i cant take it anymore. The only reason I have something to say concerning PokerRun388 is the fact that I too have been a kid on this forum. PokerRun388, check my infomation. I joined in 2007 when I was 17 years old (although i lingered around reading threads long before that knowning I was too young at 15 to be a member of a forum). As a result I grow tired of members letting you off the hook simply because you are a kid. I open you PokerRun388 to read all of my posts and see how many times I have given faulty information or advise that I am not qualified to give. Also notice my number of posts compared to yours, this should tell you something as I check this site just as often as you do. All my info is below if you have any questions and also so everything is out in the open. I understand it would be cool for your advice to be respected by most the guys on here despite being considerably younger but in reality that is very seldom true. imo mastercraft240 is exactly right, it is dangerous for you to be giving advise on any matter on here. Youve done it multiple times from what i've seen and it is unacceptable. It should end now. I will say some of your threads where you ask for pictures or ask questions are occasionally appreciated. But take it from someone who has been here as a kid, read threads and learn. It is not our place to contribute information until we have experienced it FIRST-HAND.

GoingForBroke,
I appologize for the hi-jack just needed to get that out. I have no experience to add to this thread, just trying to learn a thing or two.

Thanks,
Nate McKeever
college student
404-375-8251

I like the design of the RPM 26' Redline. Single engine, fast on mild power, like 100mph with a 525efi, has a cabin, and all custom build. It also has a pretty deep center pod.

Pound for pound and dollar for dollar, the RPM 26 is a very sweet single engine cat. If I were in the market to replace my 25 Eliminator Daytona, I would definately be looking at one of those. From what I have seen ( still want to drive one someday ) the build quality for the dollar is spot on.

That said, I love the ride and handling of my 25 Daytona. Very predictable 80 plus mph boat on a stock 500efi / bravo when I bought it.
It runs very well in 2 to 3 foot sloppy water, appears to be well constructed with good attention to detail and rigging.
They hold pretty good resale value as well.

Currently, its powered by a 900 with an SCX / SC combo and runs real well at speed. Very stable and predictable once you have some seat time and get to know what the hull is "telling" you.

One design benefit of the Daytona series is that at speed, it runs like a true cat, on the sponsons. The center pod is much shorter than the sponsons and once hauling, the center pod runs clear of the water surface unlike many center pod designs where the pod is the running surface and the sponsons are more like training wheels.

The Talon, Howard,HTM, Ultra and others of the deeper center pod design are usually a little faster with the same power due to that reason but the trade off is in ride comfort and rough water capability.
The daytona packs more air because the tunnel is that much bigger which softens the ride in choppy water.

Not "everyone" copied the Talon bottom. The Daytonas are very different below the rub rail and the DCB's are a copy of the Daytonas.

Your expeirence driving these tells you that?

Geesh kid, learn when to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut.

In the grand scheme of things performance boat related, you KNOW nothing. Stop trying to impart your "knowledge" onto others.

You should drink less coffee or RedBull. How is his comment dangerous and inaccurate? Looks is personal preference and handling comments are subjective. LOL :drink:

Another vote for RPM...

I went out testing cat hulls a few years back and went out of my way (traveled) in order to test quite a few single engined cats.

In a 2 month period of time I drove:

27 Nordic Thor
26 Eliminator
27 Eliminator
28 Eliminator (twin motors)
28 Magic Scepter
26 Cobra
Howard Sport Deck
27 Ultra

and a 26 RPM Redline.

The RPM cat was by far my favorite!

In addition...Steve...the owner...is one of the nicest and most helpful guys you will meet in the boat industry.

My somewhat educated opinion,

Chris

We've got a nice 28 Daytona in the classifieds. http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o37614-en.html

This boat handles great, planes nicely and will run 100.

25 Talon, the 257 Carreras were nice riding boats, and if you can find a good one, a 28 Profile is a great handling boat

You know it's crazy that the MODERATORS wont do something about Pecker Run388 making statements about serious things he know nothing about. It could mean alot of money or a safety factor to anyone who unknowingly listens to him... With that said.. If you are in ILL and boat in rough conditions, wou really want something with a true tunnel, not a pod boat..They do not handle rough water well and will get you in trouble fast.. The problem is there aren't many single engine true cats...Cobra made 1. A copy of a shadow with limited success.. i believe Express does a single 28 also.

Agree with all of that 100%

Nice looking ride, Bob.

Bert, good luck in your search. Can't wait to see what you end up with in the cove this summer. Those RPM's are a nice piece.

+ 2

I'm not a fan of the pod boats for bigger water and singles dont really work all that well on a true tunnel. If you're stuck on having a single and will be boating in rougher water, consider a vee IMO.

RPM is an awesome ride. Never driven one, but have been on one; the quality, design, etc is top notch. If I were in the market for a cat this size that would be my first look.

The moderators are in a caged death match over it right now. On one side it "could" be dangerous or at least ill-advised if someone took advice from him that was not correct, but on the other hand you could say that about almost any poster on here. Everyone needs to do their homework when taking "interadvice" (TM) . That said, his post count is getting up there and it makes him LOOK like he has something going on.




It's funny, because it is the great participation from younger guys like you and LS2 and others that I think makes us want to give younger guys more of a break. I know I wish my kids were more involved in the sport and think it's cool when a younger guy has the will and desire to learn and participate. You will eventually be the people that move this sport or what's left of it, forward.


My public plea to pokerrun388, as a long time member. Just stop the posts making it sound like you have experience with this boat or that. I know you think by subtly injecting "knowledge" into your posts it will do something for your online "status" . But I can tell you that after the Sunkin fiasco there are a lot of people that are DONE with posers and will just continue to bash until you are gone, ask mini-hawk Sam. Oh, that's right, you can't, because he is GONE. Ask a small amount of questions, read all you want, give a thumbs up now and then, hell go over to one of the social threads and blab all day long, but trying to gain credibility by making small innocuous comments that make it sound like you have personal experience is a REALLY BAD IDEA. On this forum, at this time.

100% agree

BTW Sam aka Mini hawk is not gone. He is on this site alive and well. He has learned to keep his posts to a minimum and listen. Keep Sam out of your commonts when you dont know what your talking about. Period

Sorry, I really have not had the time or desire to keep up with the Sam chronicles. He is on and off again so much he should have his own section. He has benefited from the same thing I stated, I think most member WANT to have younger guys on the board learning and even interacting, but games and poser posting are not tolerable. We spent a TON of time on him over at Serious and he is not my problem over here. And trust me when I tell you I know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

everyone of us has been inexperienced at one point in time..The difference is that most of us , watched, listened ,and learned .. that has gotten us all where we are today.. Sure none of us know everything and thats why we ask others that do..The problem arises when we ask something of people more experienced than us , and a kid that not everyone knows is a kid gives an answer as factual knowledge.. because he read it or heard it... thats not experience...that can or could get another inexperienced person in trouble.. where do you draw the line.?

:Whatever:

I understand some people are Perfect. Well they think they are. I have made mistakes as has Sam. I have learned from those mistakes and grown as a human being. Sam made good on his deal and as learned from it. He is currently just listening. I would hope some people could acknowledge that fact.

Never claimed to be perfect, but I have a little history here and there as a Mod. And although I will not bet against the kid if I had the last 10 or so times Sam had "learned his lesson" I could have made some nice scratch. :lolhit:

I guess time will tell.

Ted.....don't let anyone fool you. You are perfect. :D

HEY, back on topic to single engine cats! Meeeeow!

I've been on here awhile and it is extremly informative. Owned a few boats (20 - 27') so there are alot of people/boats WAY out of my league but I love fast boats so that's why I'm here. Sure there are big egos/drama and wanna be's but it sure is entertaining at times. I'm not going anywhere y'all keep bickering and criticising and I'll keep reading, smiling, and rolling my eyes. OBTW Talon 25s are great single engine boats for lakes even though mine has outboards.

http://www.rpmpowerboats.com/ check with redline on here, he has a 26 with about 1100 hp and scx drive real nice. here it ir running !!! :coolcowboy:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr50ahUOMtA they maybe building a 30' now as well.

Well, at least Poker Run388 hasn't started sending us threatening PM's yet Ted, unlike a certain "SAM" used to do.

Hey SVL-Warlock, some of us know WAY more about little Sam than you think.
I pity the mods here for having to deal with him as I KNOW exactly what a pain in the arse he is.
The whole point here is trying to convince PR388 NOT to become another Sam. Understand now?

It's amazing that some people just don't get it !

As I understand it, the centerpod is to protect the drive from damage by water rushing through the tunnel.

I got slapped down a couple times doing what 388 is doing now. The thing is I was mature enough to realize I was wrong, and I stopped commenting on things I knew very little about. I didn't stop asking questions, but I stopped trying to sound like an authority when I wasn't.