NORTECH-ANGLER

I am interested in this 31 American offshore boat.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o56617-en.html

Do you know anything about this boat? Have you ever ridden in a 31 American offshore? If, so how do they ride in the great lakes? Do they porpoise between 60-80 mph? Can you tell me the huge difference in this cat over a 35-39 v? Is it true seat down seats in cat's jolt your back? verses stand up in v's using your legs and knew for shock? Or is this really in rough water?

I am looking to be able to tow something around to poker runs for 1-2 years. I would like to be able to sleep on it a few times if needed. I DONT WANT TO SPEND $200+ ON A BOAT. Then have a hard time selling in a few years and take at 25% hit. No offense I'm not looking for the guys that only love v boats, or only love cat's but rather guys who have owned both and can tell me the big differences. I am 44 years old and have had at least 15 different boats. I would like something close to 100 mph. The insurance on this 31 is reasonable verses going up to the next level. This boat is right at the threshold of bigger truck, bigger insurance, more everything etc.

The poker runs I am looking to do would be Boyne thunder, loto, Cumberland, and would like to trailer it to Florida to be used 3-4 weeks in winter.

Please tell me is this a good quality boat to have? Would I be happy with the ride in this at lake Erie in 2-5' chop and waves or would I need to run slower and porpoise a lot? I am NOT looking to run 110-120 all the time. Also, is this motor and outdrive a solid setup?

Any help would be great. Please don't make this another bash on cat's or v's. Just honest feedback if you truly know.

Ran-Dom 32

that is definitely one of the nicest 31 AO's I've ever seen, I owned a 31 Awesome cat for a couple years, (same hull) It handled Lake St Clair pretty well, but anything over 3's its going to be a wet ride (tunnel splash) I've been in Lake Erie a few times, we crossed over to Put in Bay,.... I would not recommend this hull if lake Erie is your main stomping grounds, it is just not an enjoyable ride when its choppy out, which is quite often in Erie.. that being said they are a great bang for the $$ mine ran right around 110 in the right conditions (700hp540 CI motors) they do porpoise a lot 70-90 once you pack air high 90's it will smooth out, they are a unique boat , in the sense it has a cabin that is actually useable, unlike most cats in this range, my wife and I overnighted quite a few times on ours.. If your looking to spend around 100K I think there may be better options for you... my .02

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

wow that,s a lot of questions but il give it a shot.i recently sold my 1992 ao31 with a pair of blown 540s making 950.it was quite a bit heavier than a newer one but the ride was excelent.as far a porposing mine did from 70 to 95 mph.my way around it was to cruise at 65 and when it was time to go just stab it,at 100 it was on rails and as smooth as glass.it would go through2 to 3s at 65 and not bang you around.in my opinion a cat at speed is a smoother ride than a larger v btm boat at the same speed.the cat is riding on a cusion of air and that really cushions the ride.when a cat is up on air it is not as hard on the drives as a v btm at the same speed.that is a nice boat you are looking at.

NORTECH-ANGLER

Thanks for the replies. Thought I would get a lot of replies by now???

northernoffshore

chris cat at speed .. same hull ..handled rough great

offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

I have 3 friends that run along side us in lake Michigan and they seem to take the rough great. They are fast and fun. I personally feel they are a lot of boat for the money.

JustinDigiovanni

I have a 31 for sale 409 466-4572

Ran-Dom 32

I agree with MikeTkach , you either cruise at 65 , a lot of boat in the water at that speed & a cat hull tends to bow steer a bit . or drop the hammer until you hit 100 & it will float on air real nice & you can back down to 90 or so keeping her packed full of air .. I owned my boat originally when it had 454 Mags & she ran around 80 but was not a lot of fun, once I repowered the boat it transitioned into a different animal & was a blast to drive

SS930

I use to live on Lake Michigan and have a fair amount of time around cats of this size. On a calm day a 31 AO would not be bad, but you mentioned 2'-5'. I can tell you a 31 AO is a wet and bumpy ride once you get past the true 2's and 3's. Real 3's and bigger is pretty miserable in a boat like that. The boat will be in the air more than it's in the water, the tunnel will slap and spray, and you're going to take a (wet) beating. It you want to routinely use a boat (vee or cat) on the great lakes, I would suggest going with a 36 or larger. It gets hairy out there very frequently and there's no replacement for length in big water.

With that said, 30'-32' cats are a lot of fun and pretty easy to tow. In fact, I enjoy bombing around in them more so than the bigger boats because they constantly keep your attention and are usually pretty exciting in 1'-3' conditions Once the water get's to be solid 3's or more, I'd just assume be in a larger vee or cat.

Also, almost all of the cats without a pod will hop in the mid range (65-90 mph or so depending on several factors), but this is mostly in calm water. If you are out in 1' chop or more it's not much of an issue. Used out on Erie, hopping will be the least of your worries. If you want to use a cat without a pod on calm inland water, be prepared to run 60 mph or less, or you'll want to run at 90+ (depending on the cat) because the mid range hop is super annoying in calm water. A tunnel tab can reduce the hop, but there are some safety issues associated with using them, so tunnel tabs are generally frowned upon.

The sit-down ride in a mid size cat doesn't bother me too much unless you're out in decent size water, and at that point I find myself constantly 'laying down' in the seat trying to protect my back (which I've injured several times). Other than that, in normal conditions in 2's or less, cats of this size typically don't both my back at all assuming the seats are well padded (like in a Skater). I will say standing in vee is much easier on my back than sitting in a cat since I can use my legs to absorb the impacts, but again I have a bad back to begin with.

C5000R

nice boat and it will do everything you described, even sitting if you are using the footers as bracing it takes a lot of the shock, but if its that intense in a cat, it wouldn't be any fun in a similar sized v...... i have a 34 DCB project boat if the AO doesn't work out, I have done most of the leg work on putting it together, if a project interest you, should be able to drive for 3 years and get all of your money back, i think if we put it together now there is about 35k profit, but we are out of man power to dedicate to it...

i just realized the ad expired, I will put a new one up this afternoon and ad the link