Anyone want to drive an XO/Axopar/Scorpion/Sealegs plus more?

[Jack Haines]

We are having one of our reader sea trial days again this year and we're doing it with some seriously cool RIBs and sportsboats so you can get behind the wheel of them all back-to-back. We have space for 50 people to physically drive the boats.

The basics are it's £25 to attend and drive the boats, which include models from the brands mentioned in the thread title plus Cobra, Williams, Brig, Ribeye and Shearwater. Exact models will be publicised online as soon as we know for certain which exact boat the dealer/manufacturer is bringing.

It's being held at Portland Marina on Saturday 18th July and the marina is laying on refreshments on the house throughout the day.

Editor Hugo, Richard Shead, myself and other members of the MBY team will be down there, as well as representatives from each dealer/manufacturer to answer questions and skipper the boats.

Full details and instructions on how to apply here: http://www.mby.com/news/try-before-...olest-sportsboats-on-the-water-with-mby-47344

We hope to see a few of you down there.

Cheers,

Jack

 

[z1ppy]

looks a great offer, need to check if im free before i apply. at lest two of those boats would be on our next shopping list..

 

[Jack Haines]

looks a great offer, need to check if im free before i apply. at lest two of those boats would be on our next shopping list..

Excellent, you're just the sort of person we were hoping to include and give the opportunity to. Hope the date works for you.

Jack

 

[Whitelighter]

Id be interested as I like the look of this type of day boat

 

[benjenbav]

That looks like a great offer. Not personally interested but, had I seen this before completing the survey, I would have said that offering great opportunities and fostering a sense of community were amongst the the ways to make the magazine really stand out rather than - as I did - leaving the suggestion box blank and just completing the multiple choice questions. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[Jack Haines]

That looks like a great offer. Not personally interested but, had I seen this before completing the survey, I would have said that offering great opportunities and fostering a sense of community were amongst the the ways to make the magazine really stand out rather than - as I did - leaving the suggestion box blank and just completing the multiple choice questions. Sorry 'bout that.

No problem and it's interesting that you raise the point. We are really keen to do more of these and the ones we have done previously (with three larger boats back-to-back) have always been well recieved by readers and dealers.

This certainly won't be the last.

 

[prv]

Sounds like a fantastic jolly but, as a sailyboat person with no intention of buying a mobo, I imagine you'd quite rightly not offer me a place if I applied

Pete

 

[Jamesuk]

Hugo rings a bell, is that the chap who started RIB International... I used to get the mag all the time for years delivered to Seaview on the Isle of Wight

 

[Jack Haines]

Hugo rings a bell, is that the chap who started RIB International... I used to get the mag all the time for years delivered to Seaview on the Isle of Wight

Different Hugo!

 

[Nick_H]

Did you have to choose the most difficult place on the south coast to drive to, on the first Saturday of the school holidays? I don't suppose you have a heli-pad, and a ......... err ......... helicopter

Anyway, top marks for the choice of boats, a great selection of rocketships and a nice way to burn off the anger and frustration of the drive there!

 

[Jack Haines]

Did you have to choose the most difficult place on the south coast to drive to, on the first Saturday of the school holidays? I don't suppose you have a heli-pad, and a ......... err ......... helicopter

Anyway, top marks for the choice of boats, a great selection of rocketships and a nice way to burn off the anger and frustration of the drive there!

Why not saddle up the Scout and grit your teeth?

You could even leave it there as a part ex.

 

[z1ppy]

No there's an idea. Take the rib down, as you say, will be faster than by road!

 

[Jack Haines]

No there's an idea. Take the rib down, as you say, will be faster than by road!

Good shout. We are working on Dean & Reddyhoff to get complimentary/discounted berths for event attendees so will keep you posted on the outcome.

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

Good shout. We are working on Dean & Reddyhoff to get complimentary/discounted berths for event attendees so will keep you posted on the outcome.

Good news, Dean & Reddyhoff have agreed to a first-night-for-free berth to anyone attending the MBY Sportsboat Sea trial event, so you can arrive on the Friday night and be fresh for the sea trials event on Sat, or rock up on the day and stay overnight afterwards.

Spaces are filling up fast so get your application in now.

Full details at: http://www.mby.com/news/try-before-...olest-sportsboats-on-the-water-with-mby-47344

Hugo

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

It seems I may have been a bit hasty with my previous post. Portland Marina are actually offering two nights for the price of one during the MBY Readers' Sea Trial event taking place on Sat 18 July. There is also a cut price day rate if you're just thinking of a flying visit. See here for more details:

http://www.mby.com/news/reduced-mooring-offer-mby-sea-trial-event-47417

Very much hoping some of you will take the chance to come and sea trial a truly superb collection of boats and catch up with friends. The latest list of boats at your disposal includes models from Axopar, XO, Cobra, Ribeye, Brig, Shearwater, Scorpion, Williams and Sealegs.

 

[Jack Haines]

Just a quick nudge to remind people to apply for this if they haven't done so yet and would like to attend. Spaces are filling up fast and we wouldn't want anyone to miss out!

Cheers,

Jack

 

[Hugo_Andreae]

The full line up of boats available for readers to drive at MBY's sportsboat sea trial event taking place at Portland Marina on Sat 18 July has now been finalised. It looks like this:

Williams Sportjet 520
Shearwater 890S Mercury Verado 300hp
XO 270 with 300hp Verado
X0 250 with 300hp Verado
Cobra 7.6 with Yamaha 250hp
Ribeye Prime 821
Scorpion Stealth 9m 300hp Verado
Axopar 28 with 250hp Verado
Sealegs 7.7 with Evinrude 150hp
Brig Eagle 650 with 150hp Suzuki

For more details on the latest boats to sign up see here: http://www.mby.com/news/full-line-up-mby-reader-sea-trial-47532

It should be a fantastic day and a once in a lifetime chance to drive these fantastic boats back to back. If you want to come along you'll need to get cracking, we only have around 10 spaces left at £25 a ticket. Should be a whole lot more fun than just nosing around static boats at a boat show.

For more details of the day and how to apply go to http://www.mby.com/news/try-before-you-buy-drive-some-of-the-coolest-sportsboats-on-the-water-with-mby-47344

Looking forward to seeing some of you there.

Hugo

 

[timbad]

Sods law this is about the only Saturday I can't do this summer and as I'm thinking about getting back on the water would have been a great opportunity to test some boats I'm actually interested in.
Looking forward to the next one already.
Portland good for me as now live in Devon

 

[z1ppy]

(wow, just read this back, sorry for the long post)


Sorry i am a little late here but Huge thanks to the MBY Team and supplying dealers for organising this event.

I left home on Saturday morning in beautiful Sunshine and having braved the somewhat rubbish roads down to Portland, arrived in good time for breakfast, coffee and a good look at the boats on offer.

After a detailed safety brief we set off to the pontoons to start the fun.

Now i have to be honest and say i was less interested in some of the boats on offer just because they don't do it for me or its not something i would be looking to buy. I had a list of boats i was most interested and as i was going to be unable to stay for the afternoon session due to prior travel commitments, i set about getting the list ticked off....

First up for me was the Shearwater 890 rib.

For us this is a really interesting concept. i liked the first generation shearwaters and the concept of traditional looking rib with a cabin was very appealing. i was less attracted to the hull shape of the original ones but, this new boat is completely new, new hull form, new cabin layout.

It was very well put together and nicely finished, opening up the 300 HP verado, acceleration was brisk although not world changing but at 45 Kts its it felt very composed in what was developing into a nice long swell to play in. try as i might, i couldn't trip the boat up even in silly tight turns and using the jack plate to lift the engine. It did feel like a very solid rib what was nicely planted with the swell at all angles.

Seating layout was perfect for us. (2 x bolster / suspension seats), console was well set out, offering perhaps a little less wind deflection than we are used to but far more than a lot of boats.

If i had to be critical, (and the boat does not deserve too much criticism) it could do with the 350 engine to satisfy that adrenalin junkie in me and to give that "kick in the chest" mid range performance but it is absolutely no slouch!

The guys from Bembridge marine were extremely helpful and accommodating (as were all of the dealers there) and offered plenty of knowledge on this boat and also on our own boat. (they have offered to help me out with a small issue we have with our current boat) they had no problem with me driving their boat hard, in fact they were suggesting other ways of pushing harder during the trial if i wanted to!

look forward to seeing more of these boats, they deserve serious consideration. i know there is a inboard diesel version with cabin which i will be interested to see in detail in the future.

Next on the interest list was the XO270.

lots has been written about this one and i have seen it at various shows but not tried it out...

I was fortunate enough to be able to go our alone (with the dealer obviously) and just as we left, the sales director from XO Finland jumped on board. the first thing that struck me about him was his absolute passion for his boats and making them right. small things like the wiper blade arm had come detached. as we went out of the harbour he set about repairing it and noting why the design wasn't quite right...

So this one had the 320 (??) Yanmar diesel which was good for 38 Kts on trial and i suspect if you dialled it in, a little more but thats not what this is about.... i have no doubt that you could run this boat at 30 its through just about anything! it has an extremely soft ride, for my preference, it had a tendency to lean into the wind a little but i am sure this could be worked out on a longer trial.

It responded beautifully to running into the swell and despite its size and weight, it i managed to get it nicely airborne with a perfectly soft landing (credit to boat not helmsman).

lets not be shy, the 270 is a pricey boat but would offer a huge amount of comfort, especially when the weather chops up. decent visability almost all the time. being 6 ft plus i found myself stooping to look to the inside of a turn when banking steeply but this would not be a usual move for a boat like this so not really a criticism... the helm seat is very comfortable and the dash is set out well although for me it needs a much larger plotter... (user spec rather than boat criticism)

The guy from XO (who's name escapes me) was explaining that a twin outboard boat would be arriving in UK waters soon and that, i suspect would be an absolute hoot!!

My Final boat test was the Axopar 28. This was my main reason for applying to go. we wanted to see this before we bought Charlie Brown but at the time there was no UK dealer so we didn't follow through....

As a concept it ticks a lot of boxes for my. my initial concern was in pictures the boat looks to have a very low freeboard and looks very aggressive, my thinking this could translate to a wet ride (not the case on my trial)

As soon as i stepped on board, i could tell it was something very different. i loved the high bulwarks, the stainless rail was at about mid thigh on me which gave a huge amount of assurance when moving around the boat.

The two helm seats are set slightly lower than deck main deck height so you are a step down, i didn't check to see what drain points there were there but i am sure that has been thought of..

few from the helm seat was good both seated and stood, even with the covers on which i am not a big fan. i drove third of the three people on the trial.

Sat behing the two helm seats (on a "bench") the cockpit offered very good wind deflection and it was easy to hold a conversation even at full chat (which was around 40 Kts)

When my turn came to drive i had already decided to give it some stick and after checking with everyone that it was ok we set out in search of some waves. the swell had increased as the morning went on but the Axopar responded very nicely to throttling and even into the swell at 35+ Kts it was easy to control bow angle and keep the sharp bit chopping through the water....

Without seeing the boat out of the water, i suspect that the deep V portion of the hull starts to flatten just behind the helm seats and i would guess the twin steps are about where the bench seat sits, i do wonder if the ride would be a little softer if the steps were a few feet further back but by no means was the ride slamming, despite a fair amount to provocation from me.

The aft cabin is massive, there was more than enough room for me to stretch out and its very useable space, either for dry storage of to sleep.

The boat offers a lot in terms of family friendly, fast boating, the seating is well protected, the decks are safe, the forward table is perfect for at anchor or slow speed... if i had children i would like to see some form of transom gate either side of the rear cabin area...

the down sides..... this one had a 250 Verado which was good but could have done with more... (recurring trent here that might be personal preference)

The finish on this boat was not faultless, there was a little too much sickaflex on show, some screws had come away and some of the locker latches has scratched the GRP a little but i know the factory are aware of these and are addressing on future boats (this being an early production one). i must also say that some of the faults were as a product of it being a demo boat and therefore perhaps having a less cared for life than an owners boat...

Sorry for the complete lack of photos which would have made this a much better post but sadly SWMBO was unable to join me on the Saturday and i needed to get away at lunchtime to make my evening flight.

Once again, huge thanks to MBY and the dealers who were on hand to allow us to try their boats and answer questions. as an event, it was well run with no pressure and an informal feel! really enjoyable and the weather made it all the better!

 

[Jack Haines]

Thanks for that excellent post, Howard, we're pleased to hear that you took so much out of the day and it's excactly what we were aiming for with this event. We will be hosting more events like this going forward.

The feature on the event will be going into the October issue of the magazine but we have edited a quick film of the day so those who couldn't make it can get a taste of what it was all about: http://www.mby.com/videos/nine-sportsboats-star-readers-sea-trial-2015-47707

Just so you know, that XO 270 had the Yanmar V8 in it, which is actually 370hp and the sales director is Calle Nyman.

Thanks again,

Jack