put down the camera and pick up the rifle!

Hi slpcamaross wot about V ricks boat thats a real nice boat and beem well looked after not sure how much Rick wants for it now but i was temted to buy it last year if the deal fell out of bed on the one i was after as it hapend it didnt , spoke with Rick on the phone nice guy and i think that boats been loved and rubbed worth a look wrote this out befor i went on OSO there is all some intrest in Ricks boat on there and the price

hey guys,
let me clarify my last statement as far as the Apache vs. the Pantera. My meaning was the Apache was faster than my other buddy's Pantera by a couple miles, not by any means a better boat nor better in ride. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I love my new Pantera.

So is there any difference in the ride between the Pantera and the Apache?

That may be true for a twin engine apache that was converted to a single, but not so much on stock twin engine applications. Remember these boats are carefully balanced at the factory. When you drop off 1500lbs, its going to be a whole new ride. My boat rode different in just converting from cast iron to aluminum heads (roughly 250-400lbs difference). Obviously I think my boat has a better build and ride or I wouldn't of bought it, but your two boats are not really not a fair comparison seeing that one boat was designed by the factory as a single engine whereas the other was not. I doubt any 20 year old boat will ride well after it is converted from a twin to a single engine, pantera included.

Yes, there is a huge difference. I test drove a twin engine pantera before I bought my apache. Most every twin engine pantera has a porpoise. The one I test drove was so bad it was launching itself out of water on a glass calm day. It was a 1999 and had twin 454 7.4L (310hp). I've heard the same from many other twin engine 28 pantera owners. I have also heard there is a hook in the 28 pantera hull, but have not confirmed it. The 28 Apache has no porpoise at any speed. I drove the last year and half without working trim tabs. You couldn't do that with a twin engine 28 pantera.

I don't like to diss the twin engine pantera's, but chit man, that hull has existed for over 30 years, you would think they would adress this issue and quite frankly I'm tired of seeing people spend their hard earned money on them without knowing this stuff well in advance.

well, my buddys Pantera was originally with twin 350's and we converted to single just as we did with the Apache and they both have great rides.

Didn't catch that part, but good info to know. Perhaps a converted pantera rides better than a converted Apache?
I've heard the panteras with twin small blocks ride better than big blocks. Wasn't the pantera hull originally designed for twin small blocks? Harry Schoell did a great design for its intended application.

Who boats in glass calm water and what fun is that.

My Father began building and delivering twin big block powered Pantera 28's back in 1978.Mostly every Pantera 28' before 1993 was powered by twin big blocks, or twin and triple outboards. There was a few single big blocks and even diesel power also in there.

The Pantera 28' model has an 11 degree transom angle and does "NOT" have a hook in it. It does have a rocker on the bottom which carries the bow with very little trim and gives it fast top end speeds. The Pantera 28' model has won many races in the past 35 years with a single big block, twin small blocks, twin big blocks, and even twin and triple outboards.

It boils down to how you drive it.A few customers on the twin engine version might just over trim the boat at slower speeds causing the rocker to carry the bow until it settles back down at higher speeds. Also prop design , drive height , fuel capacity, also come in to play.

Leave the drives tucked in or out 1-2 points at cruise speeds, and when making WOT runs push the throttles forward then trim it out 3-4 points which is all that is required for the best top end speeds and the boat will not porpoise at all.

Now with the new T.S. bottom the attitude has changed with much higher speeds and a bit flatter ride. Awesome !!

JO