Excel Volaire 390 - First Impressions
Posted: 05 Jun 2019, 21:48
Eventually got my new boat in the water yesterday and I am so happy.
Came up to Loch Etive on Sunday and although the weather forecast was not good for Monday I was still hoping it might swing away at the last minute.
Not a chance - it just got worse.
I’ve done some daft things but as a total novice, I’m not going out in a blow-up boat when it’s gusting to F8. The wind dropped a bit towards the end of the day but only to make way for torrential rain.
Tuesday was a different matter, after a slight delay trying to scrounge anything that would substitute for the pump hose I’d left behind (schoolboy error #1) I eventually got it inflated and in the water by around 09:00. I’m running in a new 20hp Mercury so the first hour or two were quite sedate which is just as well as this is a whole new experience for me.
Got a bit of a fright when having chugged right up to the far end of the loch, I throttled right back to idle and was just taking in the view when the motor suddenly stopped. I didn’t panic, well not at first, I just thought maybe the idle needs setting a little higher, tight engine etc.. It was when I tried to restart it and the cord wouldn’t budge that I was convinced the engine had seized.
I’m guessing a lot of you have already worked out that it needs to be in neutral to start (schoolboy error #2).
After that little trauma the rest of the day, and the boat, went perfectly. As previously stated, I have no previous experience with boats so it’s difficult for me to provide either an objective or qualified opinion on the Excel Volaire 390 so all I can say is that it doesn’t seem to have any vices and in my untrained hand seems very responsive and controllable. It seems to ride almost level to the water on plane with the bow raised no more than it needs to be and also seems to be a very stable and flat ride.
I’m currently trimmed at position 2. I wanted to try other settings but I found great difficulty leaning over the back of the boat, taking the weight off the motor and then trying to remove and replace the pin without dropping it in 400ft of water. So maybe things could be improved, but I don’t know how.
As you would expect with 20hp and only one-up, there’s no problem getting onto the plane, it’s almost instant. In fact I’ll need to practise doing it a little more gradually to avoid the dramatic jump over the hump.
By the end of the day the motor was theoretically run-in, although I’ll still be treating it relatively gently for a little while longer - but it was run-in enough to give it the beans for short bursts which was very satisfying. It seems to accelerate quite rapidly to about 25mph and then take a few seconds longer to pass 26mph and then hit what seems to be its limit at 27mph. I tried three times up and down the lock and exactly the same happened every time. Perhaps with better trimming and the motor loosened up a tad that might improve but I’m more than happy especially as it seems so stable and fuss free doing it.
I was out on the loch for just over 11 hrs non-stop and by the time I got back to the beach both the tanks and me were running on empty. What I really didn’t need was for one of the launch wheels to semi-collapse on me and leave me trying to drag 100kgs of boat and motor up a stoney beach. It took me just over one hour to move it 25mtrs but all that was quickly forgotten - once I’d regained consciousness and remembered what a fantastic day I’d had.
Came up to Loch Etive on Sunday and although the weather forecast was not good for Monday I was still hoping it might swing away at the last minute.
Not a chance - it just got worse.
I’ve done some daft things but as a total novice, I’m not going out in a blow-up boat when it’s gusting to F8. The wind dropped a bit towards the end of the day but only to make way for torrential rain.
Tuesday was a different matter, after a slight delay trying to scrounge anything that would substitute for the pump hose I’d left behind (schoolboy error #1) I eventually got it inflated and in the water by around 09:00. I’m running in a new 20hp Mercury so the first hour or two were quite sedate which is just as well as this is a whole new experience for me.
Got a bit of a fright when having chugged right up to the far end of the loch, I throttled right back to idle and was just taking in the view when the motor suddenly stopped. I didn’t panic, well not at first, I just thought maybe the idle needs setting a little higher, tight engine etc.. It was when I tried to restart it and the cord wouldn’t budge that I was convinced the engine had seized.
I’m guessing a lot of you have already worked out that it needs to be in neutral to start (schoolboy error #2).
After that little trauma the rest of the day, and the boat, went perfectly. As previously stated, I have no previous experience with boats so it’s difficult for me to provide either an objective or qualified opinion on the Excel Volaire 390 so all I can say is that it doesn’t seem to have any vices and in my untrained hand seems very responsive and controllable. It seems to ride almost level to the water on plane with the bow raised no more than it needs to be and also seems to be a very stable and flat ride.
I’m currently trimmed at position 2. I wanted to try other settings but I found great difficulty leaning over the back of the boat, taking the weight off the motor and then trying to remove and replace the pin without dropping it in 400ft of water. So maybe things could be improved, but I don’t know how.
As you would expect with 20hp and only one-up, there’s no problem getting onto the plane, it’s almost instant. In fact I’ll need to practise doing it a little more gradually to avoid the dramatic jump over the hump.
By the end of the day the motor was theoretically run-in, although I’ll still be treating it relatively gently for a little while longer - but it was run-in enough to give it the beans for short bursts which was very satisfying. It seems to accelerate quite rapidly to about 25mph and then take a few seconds longer to pass 26mph and then hit what seems to be its limit at 27mph. I tried three times up and down the lock and exactly the same happened every time. Perhaps with better trimming and the motor loosened up a tad that might improve but I’m more than happy especially as it seems so stable and fuss free doing it.
I was out on the loch for just over 11 hrs non-stop and by the time I got back to the beach both the tanks and me were running on empty. What I really didn’t need was for one of the launch wheels to semi-collapse on me and leave me trying to drag 100kgs of boat and motor up a stoney beach. It took me just over one hour to move it 25mtrs but all that was quickly forgotten - once I’d regained consciousness and remembered what a fantastic day I’d had.
