Its great to see yet another Tropic 14 launched today, this time from Brian in NSW.
He writes:
Hi all.
SPLASHED the Tropic today.
Thank you for a great little boat Mark and a BIG thank you for all the support given to me throughout the entire build, without that support I think I might have built the Titanic not that I've hit an iceberg yet. Lol. I can't be any happier with the support given and this great forum with its invaluable information and member support.
A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL.
Regards
Brian
For more information about the Tropic 14, please click HERE
Its great to see he's out having a blast with his passion for fishing, not only fishing inshore in the rivers and lakes chasing trout and more, but also offshore mixing it up with Snapper and even squid in his EdgeTracker 426.
Looking forward to hearing from him again and his next fishing/ camping adventures
Its great to see yet another Sea Strike 16 launched.
This time from from Kosta in Greece.
He writes:
Mark,
Congratulations. Your design is perfect, I don't have words to explain you how excited I am.
Everything went fantastic, the boat is unbelievable... !!!!
That so good to hear I reckon. What a top job he did building his Sea Strike 16. As for getting it registered in Europe with all their bureaucratic rubbish. When Kostas finished his boat, he emailed me asking could we provide an "official" letter stating that the boat complied with the Euro standards with all the offical initials behind our name (MRINA etc) and... it went straight thru. It was great to be of help here Kostas. Too Easy
It was great to hear from Dave and Rita and the launching of their Sea Strike 16.
They write:
Hi Mark
Our sincere apologies for taking so long to get these photographs to you. Dave really appreciates the information and assistance that you gave in regards to our build. When these pictures were taken Dave recorded the performance figures and fuel economy but unfortunately someone took his note pad or it was blown away because he has been unable to find it since. However he will do it all again
and I email you the figures. We will also try and send you a video once we work out how to do it!
We will be coming to Queensland at the end of April next year for a wedding
and would love to catch up with you.
Kind regards
DaveM and Rita
Here's just a few of the photo's that they sent me. What a beautiful job you did building her Dave !!
Thought I'd send you a couple of pics . Finally the weather God's played nicely. Another milestone achieved, first day offshore :D the sea was almost flat as a tack. Managed to get out to my old #1 fishing spot and located the old trawler wreck in 100 odd meters of water, set up my drift, baited the hook dropped em in and bang on the money first drop, we finished up with 1 Kingfish 9 kg, 1 Amberjack 10 kg, 1 cracker of Pearl perch.
We were smashed and unable to lift 4 other hits off the wreck :roll: we fished less than 40 minutes.
Made the trek back to Mooloolaba at full noise the winds had dropped off again to about 5 knots,
very pleasant afternoon. :D
The Seastrike 18 performed effortlessly once again, I'm still adjusting my new transducers so they
read clearly (this is a challenge-LOL), outriggers go on next week.
It great to see yet another Broadwater 5.1 now launched. This time from Glenn down in Melbourne Vic (Australia)
With his outboard all booked in, during the last few days he was running around wiring in the batteries and battery switch, bilge pumps, nav lights, sounder and sorting out the Hydrive steering system, wiring the cabin and cockpit lights, radios and speakers, washdown and fresh water pumps.
Two days later and with a beautiful day in Melbourne, although he said it was a little cool, Glenn and his wife Kim snuck away early to do a quick on-water test of the engine-prop combo.
With his Mercury 115 Hp 4 stroke bolted on, his top speed is 36 knots (67 kph) at 6000 RPM with a cruising speed of 24 knots (45 kph) at 4000 rpm.
Initial Launch photo's of the Day
Well… it took the surgeons 3 hours to surgically remove the smile from his face.
Kim and I are absolutely stoked !!
His comments about the boat , well he reckons the hole shot is pretty awesome!
Straight up on the plane and no hole in the water ! Kim was holding the camera
in the hole-shot video, just about blew her hat off her head and her out of her seat -
that's the big giggle about a third of the way through the video!
Impressions of the boat so far - very stable, sits nicely in the water. Very easy to drive.
Handles the nasty 1-3 foot chop we get in Port Philip Bay really well,
sat on 18 knots all the way in.
On Friday night in a 20 kt southerly with lots of wind-blown chop of about 2 feet, soft ride and comfortable.
Pops up onto the plane quickly, rides very flat.
Thanks Mark for a great design.
Anyway...back to wiring and sorting out the rod holders and bait board this weekend,
finish painting the sole (deck that you stand on) then I have to make up the windscreen -
have to gear up for snapper season and change the species of blood on the boat!
Thanks to my "First Mate" Kim for all the help and support!!
Kim is just as excited to finally get the boat wet as I am!
Its great to see yet another launching, this time from Conrad who lives in Malta (Europe) and is RipTide XR-457
He writes:
Hi all, I'm back and I'm super happy. I own one of the best boats in the world ! What a boat guys!
She performs like a 21' or better. 15 kts wind and she performed very well against wind and the water.
Just a little throttle and she's on the plane in just a second. 11 kts andshe's on the plane. 5000 RPM doing 28 kts. Very economical boat. She is a small boat with a lion heart.
Great to see another launching this week, this time from Darren in North Qld and his Tropic 14 !!
What a TOP JOB !!
He writes:
G'day Mark,
A few photos of a trip to "xxxx" creek last week in the awesome tropic.
(I can't say where it was..secret)
It’s the first chance I’ve had to actually fish for a solid week with it. We got a shit load of flathead
and a heap of big grunter around the 650mm biggest 680mm .I didnt take any pics till the last day .
Mate, this little boat is an awesome Barra boat. So bloody stable for luring and crabbing... absolutely love it and ... the comments I get from people is amazing
