THE OFFICIAL ACE-CRAFT FAN PAGE

Blockhead

New member
Hi Redhawk. I am one of the Tail Time crew. Decker(brother) and Skippy(Dad) and I were going out for Tuna... I was coming later as I had to feed babies before going fishing..Trailer started fishtailing down Plattekloof hill( In CT) and before they new it, the boat had them going from side to side. Before skippy could react, the trailer and boat did a 270 degree spin and hauled my bakkie around like a tin can and threw her onto her side facing the oncoming traffic..Miraculously , the boat did not roll and nobody was injured.She blew 3 tyres in the process but the one that was left saved the day we think....... Had to have the trailer straightened as it had been twisted in the accident. Hilux bakkie repaired and still going strong.. Now we do 30km/h down that hill.....
 

miles

Sealiner
Blockhead, THANKFULLY you guys were all OK!! LOVELY boat too!!

Leroyd, the boat i was reffering too was a 30' Acecraft, not your usual run of the mill ski-boat type boat, but a MAGNIFICENT sportsfisher, which was in MINT condition. It was really a sad occurance, to see such a awsome vessel go down.....

Point is, if a top of the range vessel like that did NOT have sufficient floatation, to keep the boat MINUS its engines afloat, i can with-out a doubt say that it is DEFINITELY NOT the SAFEST boat out there!! The whole idea behind having sufficient bouyancy, is so that your vessel does NOT sink.

Just for the record, a buttcat is truely UNSINKABLE!! Just like the Boston Whaler monohulls, the ENTIRE hull is filled with foam. There is NO bungs. Just one SOLID peice of foam. Think of it like a surf board. Its unsinkable.

I completely agree with you that one boat sinking does not make all the others unsafe, but claiming that its THE safest boat out there is not entirely true either.....

Regards

miles

 
 

thika

Sealiner
The 30 foot Ace Craft relies on bilge pumps like all bigger sportfishers, so electrics or valve problems would have resulted in the sinking...or maybe someone pissed on the batteries?

The 660DV was the highest overall rated ski-boat EVER tested by Ski-Boat magazine until it went out of production. It was tested three times in different configurations..they used that fact for years as a selling gimmick...go read your old magazines

Also go read the thread again...no one wrote or claimed it is THE safest boat


This is an add-on only page for Ace-Craft owners and fans....go to Dorado 75's thread on Monohulls vs. Cats for some kitten talk rather



"OFFENDERS WILL BE SHOT AND THEN DROWNED!"

:rasta
 

thika

Sealiner
Blockhead and the Tail-Time team,

Ski-boat fishing is expensive!  

Don't shoot yourself too soon though...:)

A double axle trailer makes it's own track!

Especially with that weight...+- 3000 kgs?

My car can legally tow that weight, but when I hit 90 km/h it goes want-to-jackknife mode!

 
 

catmallat

New member
There seems to be a lot of opinion floating around here, incidently I have owned and I stress fished, most of the boats we are discussing here so thought i would give my un-biased opinion on my boating history as there are some serious cat and DV lovers here.

In order of ownership:

1: 16 Acecraft 2x50 Yammies: Awesome boat , wish I never sold her to this day

2: 660DV Acecraft 2x130 Yammies: not a bad boat good ride, unfortunately just rediculously heavy and completely overbuilt, as a result the twin 130's drank fuel like  my staff drinks wine at my Xmas party. In my opinion if you looking for a 23ft mono cape craft is the only way to go.

3: Acecat 501 2x85 Yammies: No words can describe how bad this boat was, sold it after 1 month, actually a dangerous boat to own.

4: Acecat 555 2x90 Yammies: I upgraded to the 555 as Acecraft gave me a good deal after my unhappines with the 501. Just when I thought things coudn't get worse the 555 came into my life. Awefull, terrible, horrible and very dangerous boat. I can't believe that Magsons actually still market this hull, the design is completely useless ,and those moulds should be burnt.

5: 620 Supercat 2x85 Yammies: best riding boat in its size class in my opinion. Ugly as hell but the design works, through the mouth at breede or off to the canyon for Tuna this boat was simply fantastic, in hindsight when she got a bit "tired" I should have refurbished instead of selling her.

6: 23 Foot Butt-catt 2x85 yammies: Simple, very similair to the supercat, a bit wetter than the Supercat but a very predictable and safe boat, you could trust a novice to drive this boat back from the deep in a big sea.

7: 5m Stingray Cat 1x 90 Merc, lovely multi purpose family toy ,nothing more.

The cat vs mono debate will always carry on, my take on it is that, i was hugely dissapointed with cats thanks to Acecraft's rubbish, supercat and butt-catt are simply in a different league nowadays. I like deckspace and smooth, stable comfortable riding boats so mono's don't do it for me anymore, but thats just me and my 2c.
 

spickerish

New member
shagnrelease wrote:
The same ace which Thika showed earlier, only just managed to dodge this coconut tree in Guinjata, thankfully the trailer took the damage.....
she really was a great boat, in a big weather and rough sea, you always knew she would get you home,she used to love running with all the new cats into a sea, as she used to give them there heads and leave them behind, it was a sad day when I sold her. She went to a guy in secunda/trichardt I think, but I believe he has since sold her on.

It was a bit of a funny story when I bought her she was called "naughty lass" and used to belong to a great marlin angler called Pierre De villiers, she was bought buy my father for R30 000.00,we then used her for 16 years and I replaced the decking re-sprayed her again,furuno electronics, carpets as well as some new axles and I put her into the Ski boat Magazine in December 2006, she was sold verbally 3 times in the same day as the magazine went to the shelves and I was getting calls for her months afterwards. It was on a first come first served basis and I had the cash notes before I left to come home from my december holiday I could not believe the response, she sold for 85K.

One of the calls I took was from a guy who used to own one of these crafts and really wanted this boat back as he had never seen a boat this old in such good condition, his name was Pierre De Villiers, her previous owner I was pretty sad that I had let her go to someone else and not her original owner, but maybe they are re-united again who knows....

we caught 42 sailfish and 29 marlin from this boat while I skipped her and I know the previous owner also caught a lot of billfish of her, so I guess there are some boats that just raise more fish....maybe it was her day-glow orange props!!!

aafz3r.jpg

 
MY GOODNESS!!!!

Shag we fished along side you guys in desember 2001 at Zavora! We had to move because the lake took back the camp side! The boat we fished with was a yellow centre console called Astrix. As I can remember the ocean was on its head with a couple of huge storms that passed by. I can only remeber the one okes name, trevor and his familie! THAT WAS AN AWESOME BOAT ON THE WATER!!! 
 

shagnrelease

Sealiner
spickerish wrote:
MY GOODNESS!!!!

Shag we fished along side you guys in desember 2001 at Zavora! We had to move because the lake took back the camp side! The boat we fished with was a yellow centre console called Astrix. As I can remember the ocean was on its head with a couple of huge storms that passed by. I can only remeber the one okes name, trevor and his familie! THAT WAS AN AWESOME BOAT ON THE WATER!!!
SEALINE MAKES THE WORLD SMALLER!! I remember that trip well!! Trevor got that hook in his finger that trip and we beached early just before the buster came through, I think you guys got caught in it?? But it came down in torrents and we all moved up to the abandoned houses. Trevor is my business partners Brother in law, he has now got his own boat a 16ft quick catch.

We were actually talking about you guys from Asterix now in november as we were driving through Paul pietersburg I seemed to think one of you were from there? I am terrible with names, whats are they again?


cheers

Greg
 

thika

Sealiner
Howzit Greg,

We arrived one night like at 02h00 at Zavorra and met some Rafia Palm winemaker/drinkers on the way in...stood between the tow hitch and the boat for the last 5 k's

We had a choice of three or four houses in the pitchblack....camped in the lounge in a tent for a week!

They were kind to us...this was in 1993...even did the palm leaf weaving thing for our pantry window, and when Carol got gatvol went fishing with me.

They caught Marlin on handline without even trying from their tiny bathtubs on small driftbait whilst rowing to the reefs...and in the evenings we had guitar jamming with the whole village!

I'll see if I have some pics

Cheers
 

thika

Sealiner
@ Catmallet,

I run that same guzzling 130 Yammie outfit....

You scheme a person could fit an Ace Craft boat on a 23' Buttcat hull?

Ultra ultra long shafts?

That way you could have the economy and the ride in calm conditions, and when the bottom section splits lengthwise, you could still be in the Ace Craft?

Just kidding    

Thanks for the post!

:wfish
 

spickerish

New member
shagnrelease wrote:
spickerish wrote:
MY GOODNESS!!!!

Shag we fished along side you guys in desember 2001 at Zavora! We had to move because the lake took back the camp side! The boat we fished with was a yellow centre console called Astrix. As I can remember the ocean was on its head with a couple of huge storms that passed by. I can only remeber the one okes name, trevor and his familie! THAT WAS AN AWESOME BOAT ON THE WATER!!!
SEALINE MAKES THE WORLD SMALLER!! I remember that trip well!! Trevor got that hook in his finger that trip and we beached early just before the buster came through, I think you guys got caught in it?? But it came down in torrents and we all moved up to the abandoned houses. Trevor is my business partners Brother in law, he has now got his own boat a 16ft quick catch.

We were actually talking about you guys from Asterix now in november as we were driving through Paul pietersburg I seemed to think one of you were from there? I am terrible with names, whats are they again?


cheers

Greg
Ja we got caught in that storm!! Geez I can still remember that day like it was yesterday, I almost k@k myself!! Gale force winds, rain poring down in buckets and the biggest waves I've ever seen in a 17ft boat and they were coming from everywhere!! The lady that was with us on the boat didn't launch with us again for the rest of the holiday and so our boat packs dried up! After that trip I went out and spend almost R2000 on the al new halco crazy deeps because that was the only lure that got the fish on the bite! The owner of the boat was Ian, I don't know if he still has it and he works for sappi or mondi or one of those. They lifed in the midlands some where (my dad's mates). My dad is Tonie and I'm Anton the laaitie that smoked skelm on the beach. Sent my regards for Trevor and the rest.

Sorry for the hijack but it is almost ACE CRAFT related. In fact ace craft made us meet each other if you think about it.
 

shagnrelease

Sealiner
spickerish wrote:
Ja we got caught in that storm!! Geez I can still remember that day like it was yesterday, I almost k@k myself!! Gale force winds, rain poring down in buckets and the biggest waves I've ever seen in a 17ft boat and they were coming from everywhere!! The lady that was with us on the boat didn't launch with us again for the rest of the holiday and so our boat packs dried up! After that trip I went out and spend almost R2000 on the al new halco crazy deeps because that was the only lure that got the fish on the bite! The owner of the boat was Ian, I don't know if he still has it and he works for sappi or mondi or one of those. They lifed in the midlands some where (my dad's mates). My dad is Tonie and I'm Anton the laaitie that smoked skelm on the beach. Sent my regards for Trevor and the rest.

Sorry for the hijack but it is almost ACE CRAFT related. In fact ace craft made us meet each other if you think about it.
Then we did well marketing them down there!! but they are great lures and still the most widely used on our boat!! I will send Trevor your regards and please send your dad and Ian ours when you see them...I actually think that ASTERIX was a 17 ft centre consol Acecraft, in yellow and white!!
 

spickerish

New member
No it was a old voyager 17ft6 cabin that Ian striped down and rebuild as a centre consol with 2x50hp mercury big foots on but it was the brightest yellow around. I will let you now when I'm back in gp land next year I think I still owe you guy a couple of guinness's!!
 

shagnrelease

Sealiner
spickerish wrote:
No it was a old voyager 17ft6 cabin that Ian striped down and rebuild as a centre consol with 2x50hp mercury big foots on but it was the brightest yellow around. I will let you now when I'm back in gp land next year I think I still owe you guy a couple of guinness's!!
sounds like a plan!!! just the type of re-union I like!!
 

SeaWitch

New member
Absolutely magic fishing on my Acecraft, would not swop for any other Mono hull.
 

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dettmes

New member
Anyone like to hazard a guess (estimate) as to what this boat would weigh, it is 5m and has 2 x 40hp Mariners ( 1992 models)?
 
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