New trailerable tug a huge hit...........
I just heard from a local company that they took orders for 12 of their
new 26-foot trailerable tugs at the recent Seattle Boat Show.and
that was without a finished boat on display!
(They had a hull and liner to show)It was just about 25 years ago that a little company called Nordic Tug
introduced a 26-foot tug at the Seattle show. Nordic did a little
better, taking orders for some huge number of boats (that I will say
was in the 30's without going to the bother of checking my notes for
the exact figure). Interesting to see how well this concept has endured, and how receptive
the public is to a small boat with some "appeal". The new boat is built by a partnership formed between Ranger Tug
Company and C-Dory Marine. The Ranger Tug has been around for a while,
(built by the Livingston fammily) but has been essentially an open boat
with no superstructure aft of an enclosed pilothouse. The new boat
expands that original concept by extending the cabin well aft to create
a boat with enough cabin that people can get out of the rain or direct
sun. At the risk of being tagged for SPAM, additional information on this
new boat is available at
www.c-ranger.com (no link, to pacify the anti spammers). Once on the
site, all the specs and a conceptual drawing can be viewed by clicking
on R 25 at the top of the page. |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
2006
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| Wow! What a great example of why top posting makes sense. |
JIMinFL
Feb 8
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|
As my father-in-law says, when I actually believe that I can win an argument
with my wife: "you can't put an old head on young shoulders". |
NOYB
Feb 9
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| I'll just fly it back on my 747.
--
'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
|
JohnH
Feb 8
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| Nah, the engine cover is perfectly located and sized for cutting bait and
rigging lures.
--
'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
|
JohnH
Feb 8
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| Cute boat, stupid name. It should be called Lil' Toot |
Harry
Feb 8
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| Oh no! The "C" word. The guys over at Nordic cringe almost everytime
somebody uses that word. As Jim Cress of Nordic Tug once commented,
"When we built 26-foot boats, OK, they might have been 'cute'. We go
cruising in our 50-footer and it's just unbelievable how many people
will come runing up to us at the dock to let us know just how 'cute'
they think it is". I guess the women don't mind having a "cute" boat, and we all know that
when a couple goes out shopping HE wears the pants in the family, but
SHE carries the checkbook in her purse. |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
|
| And "she" is more likely to approve a "cute little boat" with nice
creature comforts. It really is a nice, "cute" boat. You think those
speeds are do-able with that bitty engine? |
Harry
Feb 8
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| I'm optimistic the speeds will be acheivable. This is a lightweight
boat without a lot of draft.
I know a lot of the people behind this project, and they're not going
to run out a lot of numbers in which they don't have some confidence. I
assume, but don't know, that they have had the hull and liner out for
some speed trials, suitably weighted down to simulate a completed boat
of course. They also can make some fairly informed calculations based
on the historic performance of the 21-footer. >From a "big picture" perspective, I'm excited about this boat and what
a boat like this can mean to future prospects for boating. We don't
have the fish we had even 15-20 years ago, and we will probably have
fewer fish yet 15-20 years from now. The number of boats being sold
primarily for fishing will surely decline. How many people will spend
$100k for a 26-foot boat that can only be used (for fishing) maybe a
couple of weekends a year? At least here in the Pac NW, there's a lot of enjoyable boating to do
that doesn't involve fishing. (I didn't wet a line all last year....).
Relatively affordable boats where a couple or even a small family can
take off for a weekend or longer allow people to enjoy our scores of
marine state parks, visit funky little waterfront towns, and just kick
back and enjoy some of the finest scenery in the world......(on the two
days per year when it isn't foggy, overcast, cold, dark, damp, dismal,
etc)... are important to the continued vitality of the pastime. |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
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| A 25' boat with an 80hp diesel engine and no options for $110k? No thanks. But it sure is neat looking! |
NOYB
Feb 8
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| But I have the Social Security number linked to the stellar credit. ;-) |
NOYB
Feb 8
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| Lightweight. Little draft. Tall superstructure on top of the hull. Sounds
tippy. |
NOYB
Feb 8
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| Does not matter. The credit card and finance companies know you are liable
for SWMBO's debts. |
Calif
Feb 8
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| What is a SWMBO? |
NOYB
Feb 8
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| >What is a SWMBO? She Who Must Be Obeyed Boy, have you led a charmed life if you didn't know what a SWMBO is... |
Wayne.B
Feb 8
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| That R25 is beautiful, especially for a little over $100K. Thanks for the
post. Hope those boats make it to the Chesapeake.
--
'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
|
JohnH
Feb 8
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| Speaking of which, I didn't notice many rod holders!
--
'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
|
JohnH
Feb 8
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| I'm not sure the diesel is that great an idea. A 100 hp outboard on a
transom bracket would open up the cockpit, would be quieter, probably
would cost less, and considering the weight reduction, probably produce
the same mpg's. And the outboard would allow easier trailering and
shallow water operations. |
Harry
Feb 8
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| Potentially, I agree. There are some design compensations one can make
to reduce the tippy tendency, and it will be interesting to see how
stable the finished product it. Weighting down an unfinished hull for
initial trials can duplicate the weight, by won't always duplicate the
COG of the finished boat. |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
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| My guess: She Who Must Be Obeyed |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
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| Next time you're out this way to visit your brothers, bring a decent
truck (and a few bucks) with you and I can guarantee that one of these
will make it to the Chesapeake. :-) |
chuckgould.chu...
Feb 8
|
| Parker makes a 25-footer with about the same superstructure. It weighs
about the same. It's the model with a larger cabin than mine. I assure
you, it is not tippy. Further, I've been on the flying bridge of a 25'
Parker, and it was not tippy, either. But the little tug looks like it would be a handful to dock in windy
conditions. |
Harry
Feb 8
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| Harry,
I would think your boat would be a handful in windy conditions. It is a
fairly large superstructure, relative to the boat size, relatively light
weight, without a keel. Perfect conditions for the boat to sail while
moving slowly, especially in close quarters. Reggie That's my story and I am sticking to it. |
Reggie
Feb 8
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| I knew a lady who took her Nordic Tug up the Mississippi.
She thought it was the perfect boat for the shallow creeks and rivers
coming off the Miss.
|
Reggie
Feb 8
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| You would think...wrong. The boat drifts stern to the wind while drift fishing, pretty much
ignores the wind while underway, tracks straight as an arrow, and only
blows around a bit after I reach the dock and before I tie her down.
Yo Ho tips the scales at close to 7000 pounds: 5300 for bare hull, 550
or so for the engine, at least 100 pounds in batteries, 800 pounds in
fuel, et cetera. |
Harry
Feb 8
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| its a nice looking boat, but, and i will readily confess im not a fan
of these type vessels, it looks a little kludgy. with all that superstructure, its gotta be a bear to tow. |
Shortwave
Feb 8
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| Well, that won't be the first time I was wrong.
|
Reggie
Feb 8
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| You'd have to see the boat to understand why. Of its 25' length (excluding pulpit and bracket), 11 feet are taken up
by a relatively low cockpit that the wind just blows right across.
Forward of the pilothouse windshield, the carbin top drops a couple of
feet, and then drops again as the deck reaches the bow. It's not the
sailboat you might think. http://tinyurl.com/c3k8s http://tinyurl.com/b2suw |
Harry
Feb 8
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