Skeeter ZX 300...

Delivered yesterday evening there was no time to actually put it through it's paces so we took it out early this morning to see exactly how it would run and play with the jack plate a little.

To say that this boat is a screamer is an understatement. After playing with the jack plate and trim positioning, 90 mph is entirely conceivable. After my experience with the four blade approach to props, he went the same way and the simple fact is that the acceleration is strangely reminiscent of my Corvette - or what Eisboch's M5 must feel like - it's pure and clean - you know you are in a rocket.

Bow lift is very short as the boat just seems to jump up on plane with little or no urging - the bow lifts for a second, the boat slides forward and there you are. I didn't want to go for the 90 mph, but at 75, it was fairly steady with a minimum of chine walking. I imagine in a strong breeze, as it happened came up after we recovered at the launch ramp, you'd want to keep the hull in closer contact with the water - the potential for a bow flip is high as the boat at speed leaves very little hull in the water.

This boat is loaded with every conceivable option that you can fit on a Skeeter from three bank 15 amp battery charger for the Minn Kota Max 101 trolling motor to the hydraulic jackplate to all the creature comfort options you can put on a boat of this type. The dash board layout looks nice and doesn't jump out at you as being something different like the Ranger Z series or all digital like you see in Bass Cats.

As in center consoles, a bass boat is a bass boat, but in this case, Skeeter took some pointers from Ranger and did a good job with locker placement, live wells and overall appearance. The boat is styled in classic Skeeter fashion with the straight deck lines and classic graphics package, but the water contact surface has been changed a little to provide a more comfortable ride. The one thing I would be a tad leery of is a large lake or river scenario with high wind and waves in the 2/3 foot range - there is so much available power and the aerodynamic nature of the hull could cause unintentional consequences - like a flip or roll.

Skeeters have always been in the "also ran" category in bass boats and often seen as Nitro often is - good sound basic boat, but nothing to write home about. This boat is a little different - it may look like the same old Skeeter but there isn't much old about the boat at all.

It was a fun ride.

For the average weekend tournament angler, not so much.

In this case, the angler is recently retired and wants to try the BFL and Everstart tours so he has a reason. :>)