Excel Vanguard 395

[Martin]

Yep
. spot on 're weights.... I'll have to have double check where I saw those numbers for the merc.... apologies

Been looking at the new merc auto trim system and got confused!

Clever bit of manipulation - remove the new style tiller and weigh the outboard, I wasn’t suggesting you’d misled anyone Pete, more in comment to the manufacturer.

Martin

[Golferboy]

Hi all, for info from todays assembly timing. i started to inflate the port tube then while letting that do its own thing i began fitting the decking.. bow section and number 5.... then 2, 3, and finally 4 ... Tube was around 15-20% i reckon... fitted the stringers. all went in no bother whatsoever... then carried on inflating the other sections as per booklet. so fully inflated today was 32 minutes... again i would have been fixing engine on as part of these times.. after deck was in I sat and petted the dogs for a few mins while it inflated.... have to say my battery at this point was down to .9.6 volts so in fairness the pump would be a tad faster with a charged battery to begin with.. all in all much better progress today.. Although its not a race for assembly its is nice to know time frame for launching etc.

Stay safe folks..

[Golferboy]

Hi all, hope your all doing well and staying safe. A wee update on the first couple of runs with the new rig, I eventually decided to buy an Extreme trailer to sit the boat on as i did struggle to get it in the water when i was inflating it and adding the gear so i thought this is no good if i have a day on the water then have to struggle to get it all back in car, so in the end i thought the trailer would be the best option and keep boat on it unless i go further north then i may put it all in boot but that will be a choice on the day if that comes around. Bit of a carry on taking the boat out on the slip for the first time gave me thoughts of wtf have i done this for...lol . low on juice and only 100 odd yards from the slip i ran round to it.. the petrol ran out just as the bow touch the slip... result.. then i goes over the side with waders on... right leg goes right under in soft sand and freezing water fills the whole lot..lol onward and upwards... goes to car & runs it down slip for a bit, then the heavens opened up with a deluge of biblical proportion which left me as if i fell in completely, a guy sitting in an old Landy actually shouted to me as i went back to car.. have you fallen in mate....lol no i was dry in the bloody boat...lol anyway that's when the fiasco began, the boat must have had an extra few gallon in of rainwater and as i ran to the slip i didn't go fast enough to unload the water from the sluice ... i for the life of me could not move the boat like this..eventually my son came along and we got it up slip enough out of water to MT it of same. So in the end soaking wet and car seat the same it will now live on the new trailer... the boat did perform pretty well though never got to full revs so the new prop arrived and is fitted ready for next test which in fairness should be a lot easier than the first go with it... (I hope) stay safe folks.

[Limecc]

I eventually decided to buy an Extreme trailer to sit the boat on as i did struggle to get it in the water when i was inflating it and adding the gear so i thought this is no good if i have a day on the water then have to struggle to get it all back in car, so in the end i thought the trailer would be the best option and keep boat on it unless i go further north then i may put it all in boot but that will be a choice on the day if that comes around. Bit of a carry on taking the boat out on the slip

This is a path well travelled.
We started out with Excel 390 and Suzuki 20. Always a struggle, especially when tired at the end of the day - and the tide always seemed to be out making it further to cart the heavy gear back.

Started using the boat less and less and I was never happy with the air floor flexing and being so low to the water was always limited by the sea conditions as to when we could use it. Ended up cutting my losses and buying a used RIB and trailer which we should have done from the start. Using a trailer and having a ready-to-go boat transformed our experience, as did the solid hull and sea keeping ability.

Recently we lost the tubes and gained much more deck area compared to our similar sized RIB, and it's deep V and high sides means it performs even better. Even the RIB could be a little scary with big power boat wakes (on the Solent) and naturally occurring overfalls that would have swamped us in the SIB.

Don't mean to sound negative but the only positive I can think about the SIB was I could store it over winter in my garage, even then was worried about the potential for mouse damage.