Eagle One

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Eagle One is fun for what she is; a budget boat! As I mentioned to Benri, would I buy another one again, the answer is probably not. Whilst she has a good hull and rides the waves well even in a Force 5, she's not the type of boat that in my humble opinion is built to last a long time. I'm not talking about the main structural integrity of the hull, but rather the various fixtures and fittings used around the boat, like the 'stainless steel', pastic fittings etc etc.

Like anything in life, it's always nice to have top notch stuff, I drive a Fiat but would rather have a BMW as I'm sure many people would, but ultimately we have to fit things around our budget. My compelling issue or dilemma if you like was that I didn't want to be boat-less this season; it would have killed me. Couldn't find a second hand boat that I felt was worth it, and the locally built boats had a long waiting time to be produced, so I went for a mass production hull that was available straight away. For Lm3500 and 18.5feet she's pretty damn good, but in hindsight had I been able to rent a boat or something for the summer and save up a little more and have the luxury of time, I think I would have gone for something else. Either a Kaptan 18 foot built as an open boat or the boat I really wanted but was just out of my budget, the Northstar 190CC.

This all being said, I'm happy with what I have as she does the job well and uses 14-16 litres per hour at 18-19 knots cruise with the load I have installed. I had half contemplated putting a 115hp on it but after seeing the effect of extra weight on that boat, I'm happy I didn't!

This boat in std form with a 25 litre fuel tank and a few accessories would probably easily do 35knots with the 90TLDI and at say 20-21 knots cruise you would probably be using around 12-13 litres per hour.
But as she is I can't do more than 28.9 knots, though I'm hoping to squeeze 30 knots with a 14P prop that I still need to get. The above equates to 1.25nm per litre of fuel used and I can get the same 1.25nm/litre at 5000rpm doing 25-26 knots, depends if you're in a rush, as you'll use the same amount of fuel.

During the sea trial she did 31 knots, 3 people, with a 15P prop and carrying 50% fuel (50 litres from the 100 capacity I have) and no fresh water (40 litres).

But as soon as I added another 37kgs on the stern (Auxilliary), the 12 litre aux fuel tank and went full fuel and water she could no longer turn a 15P prop and I was stuck at 5200rpm (vs 5800rpm I had before).

If someone where to go for this boat for similar reasons as me (I reckon its one of the cheapest 18.5 foot boats with 90hp Direct Injection on the market), I would seriously advise the following:

1) Order the boat with the 90 litre built in fuel tank which sits amidships to help with weight distribution
2) Put the water tank up front (the boat is very light at the bow)
3) Get your own canopy, don't take the one from Mecca it's crappy and overpriced
4) I don't think these foreign trailers are worth their money, get one done locally
5) I reckon a 4 stroke is better than Direct Injection if you plan on trolling with it, but the DI has great economy as well

The dry weight of the boat is 550kgs, main engine 143kgs, Auxillary 37kgs, 90kgs fuel, 40kgs water, around another 60kgs of additional weight from other fixed items; approx all up weight of 920kgs excluding people on board which would typical be around another 300kgs, total weight 1220kgs

[shanook]

I think your boat is very nice nick. The finishing is not perfect but as u said for the price its damn good. U can always fix certain things urself and upgrade without burning a hole in ur pocket. it planes well and is safe in a rough sea which is what a boat is meant to be.Its also fuel efficient and has a good cruising speed of 22 knots.