T Cat Boat

[Vinny]

Hello Guyz


 I am relevantly new to this forum. I am from Durban , just recently got my skipper's licence. I need help. I have being searching to buy a cat boat for  my family and myself. So the boat needs to be very safe and also easy to handle. I have being searching for  a boat 6 months but its more confusing with so many cat boats on the market. I have been on KoziCat 16, Seacat 510 , 520 and recently on T Cat 17.  All these boat owners  assured me that their brand are the best and rest of there boats are not safe. Been to Boat shops  as well, same problem salesman just don't care about safety rather the sale. Who do i trust or  take advice from. They all know that i am new.


 I need help desperately


My budget is R200.00

2/3 crew


Used boat preferable.


4 stroke preferable if not 2  stroke would do.


 What brand should i look at for a newbie.


Thanks guys, all the help would i highly appreciated.


Safe Boating

[fishing mike]

Seacat or yeldcat imo would be best
Cobra cat are full up on the second hand market......I wonder why?
Take your time and you will find the right boat.
The prices are normally a bit lower in the winter months, when most of the boats are not used

[Echo7]

Hi I owned a  centre console T Cat for a few years, I never surf launched it and cannot comment on that part of its performance and Iv'e never been on the forward console version either.
I originally bought it with twin 40hp 2 stroke Yammies and later upgraded to 60hp 2 stroke Yammies trim and tilt, with 40's on the back it seemed sluggish with 4+ people up, the 60's brought the boat to life. Strangely fuel consumption between the 40's and 60's was negligible.
The boat is manufactured in Isipingo by Tri Boating the owner is Yugen, in my experience they were a pleasure to deal with and I never had an issue with their service, or any problem with the boat itself.


This is not a larney style boat with fancy finishes and bells and whistles, its a practical utilitarian boat that will get the job done. Also there were different variations to the hull over time, most of them cosmetic but also at some point the gunnels were raised. The only complaint I had with my boat was that the deck fish hatches were not watertight and required bailing in heavy seas when water came over the gunnel. The hull is fairly lightweight I think at around 500kg and no issues towing it with my Nissan 2.4 bakkie. The trailer is solid and I only replaced one roller in the time I had it.


We fished in all kinds of seas, and I have to admit sometimes took stupid risks especially when the fish were biting just before a buster came through. It required a slow, careful and very wet ride home. With correctly trimmed motors it was very doable but I must admit that I was a new skipper at the time and scared as hell. Lesson learned. The centre console doesn't like weight in the back in normal seas, I would put 2 crew on the rear hatch and trim the motors accordingly which resulted in an increase of a few knots on the sweet spot. The same thing done with crew standing on either side of the console gave a much higher increase in speed and the stern felt much lighter.
In big following seas the guys would sit right at the back and we synch the boat with the waves, not overspeeding into a trough and get the stern anchored in properly.
During trolling the boat would track straight and on the drift was also very stable, with weight distributed evenly and motors trimmed right she was dream to handle, but I suppose that comes with experience and getting familiar with the capabilities of your boat.
I was very happy with my T Cat and had some wonderful memories, but relocated to JHB and sold her. So hardly any boat fishing these days. You're welcome to ask about anything I didn't cover.

[Drago]

My first post
I hope my post will be helpful .
When buying used boat - open your eyes and close your ears meaning don’t listen to owners/ dealers comments .
Look as first to a keel damage - see if it was repaired. 
Avoid 4 stroke that are older then 6-7 years and especially if surf launched . You are lot safer with 2 stroke as second hand - but stay away from ETec’s and Optimax as not many knows how to fix those . Yamaha or Mercury two stroke . Mercury will be slightly lighter on fuel comparing to same power Yamaha.
If boat was moored - give it a miss , you may pick up inner exhaust & block( power head) rust . Only way to see condition of 4 stroke outboard is to remove lower unit and check upper exhaust condition.
You can pick up if boat was used for surf launching - check lower units for damage and excessive parts of rubbed off paint   . These boats suffer from transom damage over the time , check for traces of transom cracks & repair .
Put up your full weight on top of the each outboard to see if transom is twisting usually by standing on the lower unit -  meaning to see if it has soft transom .
Make sure boat has inspection hatches on both sides close to transom . Ignore that boat has valid buoyancy and owner tells you it’s a sealed hull and no inspection hatches .  - buoyancy certificate means nothing . Check for any water presence - drill a 8mm hole ( if owner permits ) use welding stick and push it in the foam all the way down . You will see if foam is wet - if wet - say good buy.
If you pick the boat with trailer with oil filled axel its a huge plus . Trailer condition can tell a lot about the boat way of use .
When it comes to brands - in general :
Best build - Nova Cat by far
Second best Yeld - try to find any newer Yeld’s for sale - non - maybe two per year - that tells you all .
Older Cobra - well built but bit over designed and heavy - new Cobra are very good
Butt cat - best riding boat by far and like that I consider it the safest too and it’s most fuel saving design - longevity is bit shorter and finishes on are not that fantastic.   
Seacat is also a very good boat , does not ride like Yeld or a Butt . Some small shortfalls on fiberglass in a hard to get areas.
Tomcat also very good boat in overall with excellent ride.
Many boats are re sold multiple times , owner buys it and realizes it bought a boat with multiple structural and engine issues and sell it year or so later back to a dealer at great loss - dealer patches it up and gets another inexperienced buyer - and story goes on.  So it’s good to follow up on adds on gumtree and olx for a longer period as you will see private seller try’s to sell , cannot sell it , then very same boat appears at the dealer. Most of used boat owners don’t know how many owners his boat has previously. There are also capsized boats that are fixed up and sold .
Avoid boats that has any other color then white or light grey . Red boat or even red deck is a disaster choice.


Boats in general are constant ongoing heavy expense. There is a reason why people buy new boats and in some cases it’s cheaper to buy new then if you pick a lemon one . New boat comes with guarantee and you are ready to fish and you have a boat for good 7-8 years without much to spend on . If you buy second hand you will be in for some work very soon if not immediately. All depends what you pick up . It’s better to look for used boat in areas far from sea as those boats are likely to be used lot less then boats at the coast . It’s better to buy boat from areas with slip that is used and not from towns where only surf launching exists . 

[dugong]

My first post
I hope my post will be helpful .
When buying used boat - open your eyes and close your ears meaning don’t listen to owners/ dealers comments .
Look as first to a keel damage - see if it was repaired. 
Avoid 4 stroke that are older then 6-7 years and especially if surf launched . You are lot safer with 2 stroke as second hand - but stay away from ETec’s and Optimax as not many knows how to fix those . Yamaha or Mercury two stroke . Mercury will be slightly lighter on fuel comparing to same power Yamaha.
If boat was moored - give it a miss , you may pick up inner exhaust & block( power head) rust . Only way to see condition of 4 stroke outboard is to remove lower unit and check upper exhaust condition.
You can pick up if boat was used for surf launching - check lower units for damage and excessive parts of rubbed off paint   . These boats suffer from transom damage over the time , check for traces of transom cracks & repair .
Put up your full weight on top of the each outboard to see if transom is twisting usually by standing on the lower unit -  meaning to see if it has soft transom .
Make sure boat has inspection hatches on both sides close to transom . Ignore that boat has valid buoyancy and owner tells you it’s a sealed hull and no inspection hatches .  - buoyancy certificate means nothing . Check for any water presence - drill a 8mm hole ( if owner permits ) use welding stick and push it in the foam all the way down . You will see if foam is wet - if wet - say good buy.
If you pick the boat with trailer with oil filled axel its a huge plus . Trailer condition can tell a lot about the boat way of use .
When it comes to brands - in general :
Best build - Nova Cat by far
Second best Yeld - try to find any newer Yeld’s for sale - non - maybe two per year - that tells you all .
Older Cobra - well built but bit over designed and heavy - new Cobra are very good
Butt cat - best riding boat by far and like that I consider it the safest too and it’s most fuel saving design - longevity is bit shorter and finishes on are not that fantastic.   
Seacat is also a very good boat , does not ride like Yeld or a Butt . Some small shortfalls on fiberglass in a hard to get areas.
Tomcat also very good boat in overall with excellent ride.
Many boats are re sold multiple times , owner buys it and realizes it bought a boat with multiple structural and engine issues and sell it year or so later back to a dealer at great loss - dealer patches it up and gets another inexperienced buyer - and story goes on.  So it’s good to follow up on adds on gumtree and olx for a longer period as you will see private seller try’s to sell , cannot sell it , then very same boat appears at the dealer. Most of used boat owners don’t know how many owners his boat has previously. There are also capsized boats that are fixed up and sold .
Avoid boats that has any other color then white or light grey . Red boat or even red deck is a disaster choice.


Boats in general are constant ongoing heavy expense. There is a reason why people buy new boats and in some cases it’s cheaper to buy new then if you pick a lemon one . New boat comes with guarantee and you are ready to fish and you have a boat for good 7-8 years without much to spend on . If you buy second hand you will be in for some work very soon if not immediately. All depends what you pick up . It’s better to look for used boat in areas far from sea as those boats are likely to be used lot less then boats at the coast . It’s better to buy boat from areas with slip that is used and not from towns where only surf launching exists .

Very good post