# Best CC ride 30-36'



## AUFAN

Just curious on your thoughts... What brand 30-36' CC has the "best" ride? Easiest on the body, fuel efficient, etc....


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## 321953

Contender Longer the better


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## atlantacapt

Definitely not contender in my opinion. If you want to simply go fast and take a beating, perhaps contender. Something with a stepped hull and Carolina flair - Yellowfin, Sea Hunter, Palmetto, etc. newer cape horns aren't bad either. 

I used to own a 33 Palmetto and it had a fine ride. Not as fast as contender for sure. If I had to donut again, it would likely be a Yellowfin. We stepped up to a 35 twin diesel for the creature comforts.


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## Ocean Master

atlantacapt said:


> Definitely not contender in my opinion. If you want to simply go fast and take a beating, perhaps contender. Something with a stepped hull and Carolina flair - Yellowfin, Sea Hunter, Palmetto, etc. newer cape horns aren't bad either.
> 
> I used to own a 33 Palmetto and it had a fine ride. Not as fast as contender for sure. If I had to donut again, it would likely be a Yellowfin. We stepped up to a 35 twin diesel for the creature comforts.


Agreed..


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## sel1005

How much $$ do you have? Easiest on the body, hands down: Grady White, Pursuit, Intrepid, SeeVee. Fast, sexy and a bit better fuel consumption, Yellowfin and Everglades. 

IMHO, these are also all solid quality boats, ie, will be there year after year, and everthing internal whether is construction, wiring, components, etc, are top notch. 

Lots of others out there that hang multiple engines off the transom on a narrow hull, toss some fancy electronics on board, underwater lights and suddenly they pretend to be a great boat. I have fished, cruised or sea trialed many brands, as well as owning a few lemons that I still don't know why I was crazy enough to buy them.


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## 85okhai

to tell you the truth, if you have a bad back and knees i would not recommend contender. Contenders are meant to be driven fast which leads to getting tossed around a little. (and this is coming from a contender owner) Don't get me wrong contender is a nice riding boat does handle rough waters pretty well but its meant to be driven fast. 
for a nice riding CC cant beat a Freeman. Had a chance to fish the Freeman 40 and man can you talk about magic carpet ride!


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## feelin' wright

Freeman all the way. Cannot get a better ride in my opinion but you will not go as fast as the boats mentioned above.


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## MrFish

feelin' wright said:


> Freeman all the way. Cannot get a better ride in my opinion but you will not go as fast as the boats mentioned above.


From everything I've heard, this is the way to go. And I wouldn't piss on an Everglades if it was on fire.


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## bill1000

World cat


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## Team Fish Head

2nd Freeman Cat, freaking fish killing battleships. And economical too!


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## 85okhai

Team Fish Head said:


> 2nd Freeman Cat, freaking fish killing battleships. And economical too!


x9999 As i said, i fished the 40 and we were in 4-6 easily and i was leaned back in the leaning post having a drink. Handled those seas like it was nothing :thumbsup:


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## Scruggspc

MrFish said:


> From everything I've heard, this is the way to go. And I wouldn't piss on an Everglades if it was on fire.


I have personally beat an Everglades to pieces (over 20+ screws in the scuppers) from the spur to St. Andrews pass. I wouldn't peenonone is a understatement.


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## purple haze

I have own my Contender for several years now. It's a 1998 31 and with a boat this size we can trailer it to the Keys and St Augustine with no problems. It is a stable platform while running or when you just need to stop and anchor with fuel range to do anything you want to great speed when you need it or you can just pull back the throttles to 40 and save some fuel. Great in deck fish boxes to hold a ton of fish. As with all performance boats the driver needs to know how to operate it to get the best ride running in 1 to 2's or 4 to 5's. If you are planning to run and fish in 4 to 6's you just may need that 35 or 40 footer . My vote would go for a Contender or Yellow Fin.


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## Team Fish Head

Scruggspc said:


> I have personally beat an Everglades to pieces (over 20+ screws in the scuppers) from the spur to St. Andrews pass. I wouldn't peenonone is a understatement.


These are the first bad experiences with those that I've read. Seems the partisans on THT consider them among the elite brands and having looked them over at the boat show, pricy. The partisans claim that while heavy the luxury is worth it. Do share, real world experiences and conditions reveal the soundness of any vessel's worth. 

I fish so anything not to that end or safety is unnecessary weight. See you drive a CH 27, that's another tough fishing boat that gets it done. But in the big swell, size matters so gimme a Freeman 33 with twin 350's.


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## billin

*ride*

mono hull invinsicble or yellowfin both are easy on fuel and dont rattle your teeth when running into a head sea. Pursuits and gradys ride like crap. Buddy davis makes a great riding CC but its slow in comparison to the other two. Contenders has hands down the best deck layout thats why yellowfin copied it and put a decent hull underneath it. Dont get me wrong purchase what you can afford to fish as all of the boats i have mentioned are top teir but if price isnt a consideration IMO these are the best 3 mono hull boat builders on the market. As for the cats i have never been on one i liked but I have never fished a Freeman and they do have a very loyal following to be a small manufacture so there is alot to be said for that nothing like getting personal attention from the business owners when you are spending a quater of a million on a toy.


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## Mikvi

Have a 36 Palmetto and it rides great in small seas  been out in larger seas, and it was comfortable steering as the leaning post is so far towards the stern. Up front was allot bumpier, but better when the tabs are applied. No wood in the boat and a solid build with high quality components. They stopped making the 36 in 2001, and I think Palmetto is out of business. they were bought by Sea Pro and closed up shop a few years ago. I've fished with gene on his Contender and was impressed with the ride. Not a Cat fan, but have only used up to 26ft. They ride like crap in big seas.

Decide what conditions you want to fish in before you start looking for a boat. Mine's fine as I'm retired and pick the days I want to go out.


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## Scruggspc

Team Fish Head said:


> These are the first bad experiences with those that I've read. Seems the partisans on THT consider them among the elite brands and having looked them over at the boat show, pricy. The partisans claim that while heavy the luxury is worth it. Do share, real world experiences and conditions reveal the soundness of any vessel's worth.
> 
> I fish so anything not to that end or safety is unnecessary weight. See you drive a CH 27, that's another tough fishing boat that gets it done. But in the big swell, size matters so gimme a Freeman 33 with twin 350's.


In my opinion Everglades are just another production line boat built for cruising in the bay and looking for Cobia and kings. Invicible, yellowfin, capehorn, and contender are the only boats I would personally spend my money on if I was wanting to fish offshore in a cc. Take it for what's its worth, I have fished a lot of cc 45+ miles and wouldn't hesitate to take eithe brand mentioned 100+.


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## MrFish

Scruggspc said:


> In my opinion Everglades are just another production line boat built for cruising in the bay and looking for Cobia and kings. Invicible, yellowfin, capehorn, and contender are the only boats I would personally spend my money on if I was wanting to fish offshore in a cc. Take it for what's its worth, I have fished a lot of cc 45+ miles and wouldn't hesitate to take eithe brand mentioned 100+.


They are a very "gadgety" type of boat. IMO the more electrical crap you have on a saltwater boat, the more sh*t there is to fix. 99% of all the problems I have experienced has been electrical. I've come in without any electrionics. Come in with only one motor. Every bit was traced back to that screwy system that Everglades installed on the boat. It's an '09 for what it's worth. Maybe they have gotten better, but they are a heavy boat. On a 320 Open with twin 350's, you'll see 1.1 mpg on it's best day. I'm talking lake smooth. Any type of seas and it's tanking. For being so heavy, it doesn't handle seas as well as the Contender that we used to fish out of. Both were wet, but the Everglades sounds like every screw is falling out. I would lean towards a Yellowfin or Contender. Never fished an Invincible, so I don't know.


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## FishFighter92

Invincible and Yellowfin would be my two choices. I've fished a 42' Invincible, 32' Contender, 34' Yellowfin, 31' Capehorn. 

The contender is a fishing boat, great layout, everything works really well and can get through the rough seas relatively easy. If you are just planning on bottom fishing and doing trolling around the spur/steps/squiggles/closer rigs then this would be a good boat for the price tag. (I'm 20 years old so that might make a difference in how much I can take being beat up)

The Cape Horn is a wet ride just plain and simple, but it gets through the slop. I was caught out at Horn Mountain in 6 foot seas and we hightailed it back to Orange Beach going 30 knots, but got soaked along the way. This one would be in a similar class of boat price and ride ability as the contender for me.

The Yellowfin is a boat I fish off of in Carolina and it handles the rough seas REALLY well. If you're planning on going 60+ miles one way in the boat then this is the boat you will want. That being said the invincible has a better fishing layout than the yellowfin in my opinion. I really cannot find many distinct differences in the two boats, except the deck on the yellowfin is really small and 3 grown men can't fit back there all at once.


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## Mike W

FishFighter92 said:


> Invincible and Yellowfin would be my two choices. I've fished a 42' Invincible, 32' Contender, 34' Yellowfin, 31' Capehorn.
> 
> The contender is a fishing boat, great layout, everything works really well and can get through the rough seas relatively easy. If you are just planning on bottom fishing and doing trolling around the spur/steps/squiggles/closer rigs then this would be a good boat for the price tag. (I'm 20 years old so that might make a difference in how much I can take being beat up)
> 
> The Cape Horn is a wet ride just plain and simple, but it gets through the slop. I was caught out at Horn Mountain in 6 foot seas and we hightailed it back to Orange Beach going 30 knots, but got soaked along the way. This one would be in a similar class of boat price and ride ability as the contender for me.
> 
> The Yellowfin is a boat I fish off of in Carolina and it handles the rough seas REALLY well. If you're planning on going 60+ miles one way in the boat then this is the boat you will want. That being said the invincible has a better fishing layout than the yellowfin in my opinion. I really cannot find many distinct differences in the two boats, except the deck on the yellowfin is really small and 3 grown men can't fit back there all at once.


Any center console in the 30'-40' class WILL BE WET doing 30 knots in true 6' seas. To say the 31' CH "is a wet ride just plain and simple" and using that as your reasoning isn't a very accurate statement. And there are plenty of captains on here that will tell you the 31' CH is a better ride than boats costing $50k-$100k more than it costs.


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## Scruggspc

Mike W said:


> Any center console in the 30'-40' class WILL BE WET doing 30 knots in true 6' seas. To say the 31' CH "is a wet ride just plain and simple" and using that as your reasoning isn't a very accurate statement. And there are plenty of captains on here that will tell you the 31' CH is a better ride than boats costing $50k-$100k more than it costs.


I agree. My 27 CH is a dry unless your riding the trough with a heavy cross wind. I've run fish fighters 42' invicible before I thought it was a very dry ride (i dont remeber getting wet) at 30 knots in 4-5's head on.


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## Batt3669

Scruggspc said:


> I agree. My 27 CH is a dry unless your riding the trough with a heavy cross wind. I've run fish fighters 42' invicible before I thought it was a very dry ride (i dont remeber getting wet) at 30 knots in 4-5's head on.


The only time I have gotten wet in my 31 CH was fishing the Alabama Deep Sea fishing rodeo this past summer. We came in from Horn in a true 4-6' swell with a south east wind. We got a little wet, other than that I have been in some nasty chop and not been wet at all. Now I don't run 30kts when it is rough either. I will slow down to make the ride a little easier. 

I think for the price you can't beat the 31 CH. Would I like to have a YF or Invincible? Yeah, but I don't want to pay an extra $100K for it....but talk to me when I have an extra $250K sitting around and I may change my mind.


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