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Amazingly, the day off (second day of the PWT Port Clinton event) has brought on a calming effect on my nerves and a quiet resolve has set in. Definetly the blowing windy weather has to be considered a plus as to consider another hard day on this rookie would have produced a hurried feeling and less time to reflect and think about strategy.
Now I will follow through with these plans tomorrow.
Also, the people at Patriot, and in particular Pat Gahan who lent me his Pride Patriot to use in this tournament, have to be congratulated on the rough water ride their boat has mastered.
The first eye-opening experience was at the take-off. This is where all the contestants line up and are released to go fishing one at a time. A few positions ahead of me was a make of boat that is considered to be one of the fastest on the water, and it was that for sure until it reached the the choppy waves a few miles into the lake. I could see in the distance as his bow begin to rise high in the air, and knew he was going to have to throttled down.
Yep, me in that Patriot powered by that 150 Horse Merc did fly by this fast boat. It had a 225 hanging on the stern to boot! Not only did Pat's Patriot overcome this boat, but we did pass many others as well.
Then on the return trip the story is even better. During the course of the day the weather changed from 70ish temperatures with calm weather, to a ripper of a cold north wind.
Wasn't long for the waves to build in height and with an hour and ten minutes left in my fishing time, I decided to pull lines and begin what I thought was going to be a difficult slow ride back to the the check-in.
Not with those thoughts!
Since I was concentrating on the waves never did get to count how many boats we zoomed by on are way in, but the one point I can make is no one past us. The boat rode steady at 25 mph and I worked to keep this speed constant. A few times the boat was pushed up by a rogue wave and she landed to its side - which by-passed that wave splitting hull - for hard hits. Nothing serious like some of the other hull designs though.
Other times sharply pointed waves drove the boat up into the air where she leveled out nicely for a good re-entry into the next wave. The deep-v hull did its work to perfection in slicing the wave for an easy landing.
This is a boat any rookie can drive!
Edited by Rick Larson 4/27/2003 7:48 PM
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| Love hearing about the Patriots rough water handling abilities.I can not wait for them to be available at my local dealer.I hope it is worth the wait. |
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| What makes you think the other boats were attempting to race?I'll race a patriot. I have a 1895 dsc yarcraft with a 225efi merc.Let me no i'm curious now. |
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Hey!
Happy you are curious eyelunker. The above story was just was my experience for that day on the water.
I also was in a Yarcraft a few times, and most notably was the day I spent with Terry Nelson, who was my Pro-side partner at Saginaw Bay last year. The day that I drew him was a very rough-water second day and yes, the Yarcraft performed admirably and did pass many boats.
But as far as racing... I think not. That is not one of my traits to have to race anyone.
But I do wonder if you have ever given the Patriot Boat a try. My experience was genuine and it is not only speed in rough water that this Patriot gave me that day, but also a comfortable and dry ride.
Speed, comfort, and a dry ride in 4 footers is a rare boat in my opinion. Haven't had that combination in any of the other boats I've rode in, and this does include 5 tournaments entered as an amateur last year.
If your intention is just to race, you can put a big engine on any type of boat, and you will go faster than I will on the way to my fishing spot.
Just be sure you are wearing a helmet, mouth piece, and a jock strap!
Edited by Rick Larson 4/27/2003 7:53 PM
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Member
Posts: 859
Location: Appleton wi | Come on Rick lets do a evaulation on the ride on winnabago or Bay of Gb.Something like a consumer report evaulation in some rough water. We could post are results right here on the board and end the age old issue what boat is the best ride. Maybe we could get a few independent volunteers for the judging and include a few other makes boats in this eval. As far as my racing comment i was refering to your imagintive explanation on how you "flew by and surpassed the leader and other brands of boats"!Your absolutly right on the comfort and handling ability is needed for me also and tons of others who live on the water.Rick i just dont believe you would fly by a yarcraft,warrior,triton,ranger,skeeter and targa boat these are some of the big dogs!But if its true then patriot has a bright future ahead and on the top of it.Take care man and fish on!
Ritch Shelley |
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Oh no eyelunker, you misunderstood my sentence. It was about one boat in particular that I flew by, and it was not because I was going exceptionally fast, it just that a faster flatter hulled boat can not slice larger waves like the Patriot I was using.
To be perfectly honest, the Patriot had a 150 horse motor on it and my top speed with the motor trimmed down - to force the bow of the Patriot's Super-V hull down to split the waves - was only 44 mph. So don't confuse my comment with pure speed.
Besides, this is only one day that I really got the chance to push the boat past my personal limits (under the stress of a tournament), and it did perform as I stated in the first post to this thread. In no way should you, or anyone else construe that I think all other boats can not perform to this level.
And please, do not reduce my feelings to "being imaginative" or infering I am a liar by stating you don't believe me. This is gutteral talk of the misinformed.
Edited by Rick Larson 4/28/2003 8:31 AM
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| Rick i dont see where he was calling you aliar and i think he had a point how you phrased your experience..i for one would love to see a a evaluation cause i'm a non boat owner but looking to buy.Seems with all the experience on this board i would be opt to believe most poeple on here rather than just one individual view point from a magazine.just my two sense worth. |
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| Well... I didn't say he called me a liar either, just that it can be infered that way. To some it may be a poor choice of words on my part, but I was honestly describing my experience that day in this Patriot Boat. To say he didn't believe me in a public forum is not in good taste.
If you were to reread my above postings, please notice I did not bash anyone's elses brand of boat. Matter-of-fact, most boats have a unique feature that makes them better than others.
For instance, those flatter-hulled boats are very fast in calm conditions, like in a river. If you mostly river fish, then it is a good choice for you. Some boats have so much fishing space, they may have a claim to this unique feature. Do you get my point? I have not made any negative statement and only wish to highlight the positive.
No doubt eyelunker loves his boat and I would not want to change that. If he wants to he should post positive reports about it. But if he wants to publically issue his non-belief with my experiences, then he should be prepared for a debate!
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| Are we racing or fishing? If we're racing to a hot spot in 3-4 footers I would take on anyone except Special K and Mr. Larson in their new 20 foot Patriots rigged with their 250 Evinrudes.......And I'l will guarantee the Patriot riders will #1 Not require back surgery and #2 will not require scuba gear.....
Hands down Patriot has the best big water hull in the WalleYe class of boats.....THE BIG BOYS BETTER WATCH OUT!!!!
FISH ON!!!
ROB |
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Member
Posts: 10
Location: Hatley, WI | Above all: Remember to wear your life vests, kill switches and be safe! How fast you drive is to match with your driving ability to the boat and water. Rick has experience others may not possess, so not everyone can run down to the Patriot dealer and do the same. Please be careful and respectful driving these big boats.
By the way - I am a Stratos guy - once in a while I get the need for speed!
Stratos Pete
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| Ok Rick in no way was i trying to intentionally imply you were lying but rather i was responding to "a few of your statments" wich i percieved as well written advertisment mixed in with a great experience you had on Erie .When i purchased this boat I went thru 7 months of research and test drivening boats and the patriot was not avaible to me 10 months ago other wise i would have.Between ranger,yarcraft and warrior i could not sense any difference in ride but cosmetically, convienence of handling and operation and preference on interior setup was the difference in the boats.How about doing me a big favor and sometime this spring email me when your going to be out on Winnabago or Gb and i'll meet you there with my boat so i can compare them in rough condtions and if your right i'll post on here honestly what i think! Now lets go fishing |
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| Ok.
But it might be better if I just took you fishing. How about here out of Two Rivers for some high flying steelhead, or bulldog Salmon, maybe 20 pound lake trout?
If we picked a day with a stiff wind you can really get a feel for this Patriot Boat I'm getting.
Ah heck, I'll even let you drive it! |
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Member
Posts: 2300
Location: Berlin | Please stop you guys. I am getting all choked up here. It brings tears to my eyes to see two grown men resolve their differences in a peaceful manner. Maybe there is hope for mankind. |
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| JUST MY 2CENTS. I PREFISHED 2 DAYS WITH RICK IN THAT PATRIOT. IMHO THAT BOAT IS THE BEST, BAR NONE, WALLEYE BOAT IN ROUGH WATER. WE WERE TOTALY COMFORTABLE RUNNING AT 25MPH IN 2-4 FOOTERS. WE COULD HAVE GONE FASTER BUT RICK DID'NT WANT TO PUNISH A BOAT HE THAT WAS'NT HIS. I FISH ERIE A LOT AND I'M REGULARLY OUT IN THOSE CONDITIONS AND WORSE. I'VE NEVER BEEN IN A BOAT WITH THE ABILITY TO HANDLE THE ROUGH WATER THAT WELL. THROW IN THE SPEED ADVANTAGE AND DRYNESS OF THE RIDE AND IT MAKES FOR A COMBINATION THAT CAN'T BE BEAT. |
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With the weather and the fishing so lousy it was very nice to have had a good dry ride to help us endure those 2 days, and yes, that boat is the best I've ever ridden in rough water conditions. Jake, wish you could have seen just how good I got at handling that boat - during the tourney this boat blew them all away!
At least I won at something HAHA!
For those not knowing, I met Jake (from Michigan) on another website message board, and sight unseen, he offered to let me use his whole box of HotNTots for the Port Clinton Tournament. In exchange I offered to take him pre-fishing. We got along fabulously - as he really is a great guy!
I will take Jake fishing anytime!
Edited by Rick Larson 5/21/2003 10:31 PM
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