XtremeCats?

Seacidal · 01 February 2009, 20:42

Hello all..

Theres a boat here for sale looks like a Zapcat but it says xtremecat.com or xtreme.com... tried to go to the site but wont come up.

Anyone know anything bout these boats? Any good? Whats the difference between it and the Zapcat or the Thundercat?

Comes with a Mercury 55hp and trailer for about $4000 usd.. Is that a steal?

Im gonna go give it a try tomorrow or so... what psi should the tubes be pumped at?

What should i look for?

Finally.. r these things paintable if i wanted to give it a fresh paint scheme?

Thanx in advance and pardon me for all these questons.

Zane...

Seacidal · 02 February 2009, 10:53

Anyone? :/

codprawn · 02 February 2009, 13:56

http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/2064-x...flatables.html

Is it something like this???

Seacidal · 02 February 2009, 14:38

Thanx for the reply!

No its not like that in the link... it looks exactly like a zapcat and thundercat.

The bottom and nose peice r painted the south african flag and say Xtremecats.com on the side. the website is suspended. :/

Thanx

Zane...

codprawn · 02 February 2009, 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seacidal

Thanx for the reply!

No its not like that in the link... it looks exactly like a zapcat and thundercat.

The bottom and nose peice r painted the south african flag and say Xtremecats.com on the side. the website is suspended. :/

Thanx

Zane...

Thank god for that - those things on the link I posted look awful.........

They should be ok as long as they are well made. I suspect some of these things came out of the same factories under different brands.

At that price I would give it a chance - just check the seams etc and make sure it's holding air.

prairie tuber · 03 February 2009, 02:06

It might be a South African built boat by Mako, but there are also a whole bunch of Asian built tunnel hulls that use the label "Xtreme". The Mako will undoubtedly be a better built boat than any of the Chinese ones. Like Codprawn said if the boat, motor & trailer are all in good condition, it sounds like a very good price. If the boat is Asian built, then focus on whether the motor and trailer are worth the money, and think of the boat as an add-on to the deal.

http://www.makoinflatables.com/ufo.htm

http://www.maddogextreme.com/model/Sport_Cat.htm

http://www.bikudo.com/buy/details/12...able_boat.html

TonyBoat · 05 February 2009, 02:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

It might be a South African built boat by Mako, but there are also a whole bunch of Asian built tunnel hulls that use the label "Xtreme". The Mako will undoubtedly be a better built boat than any of the Chinese ones. Like Codprawn said if the boat, motor & trailer are all in good condition, it sounds like a very good price. If the boat is Asian built, then focus on whether the motor and trailer are worth the money, and think of the boat as an add-on to the deal.

http://www.makoinflatables.com/ufo.htm

http://www.maddogextreme.com/model/Sport_Cat.htm

http://www.bikudo.com/buy/details/12...able_boat.html

Some South African boats are made in Asia and Chinese.

prairie tuber · 05 February 2009, 03:53

Then they are not "South African built".

I know that an Australian importer of Gemini boats went rogue and started having boats built for them in Asia, and sold them off as 'Gemini' boats (at a much cheaper price of course). From the pictures I saw, they were a horrible looking aberration, and reports from Australia that I've read stated were that the build quality was nowhere close to the original. Gemini has made it very clear that these knock offs were not there own product.

Basically if you want a high end tunnel hull, make sure it was built in SA. If you want something less expensive, the Asian manufacturers can accomodate that.

howy · 05 February 2009, 08:42

I cant comment on other manufacturers but the boats we imported from China we had built to our own specification and have had no problems with them whatsoever.
In November last year I also bought an original Thundercat due to an unfortunate soul going through a divorce and it was too cheap to leave alone.
Having both our boats and the Thundercat I can tell you that even though the Thundercat has had no repairs and is in very good condition the tube material is like paper compared with the ones we imported in,also the paint is coming away from the ply floor on the Thundercat and the timber is going to need some cosmetic attention,whereas the marine aluminium in ours is perfect after many outings.
As for using the boats the Thundercat is a bit quicker on take off but thats probably due to it being smaller than the Supacats and the engine is a Yamaha 50 with Boyeson reeds and a stainless prop,whereas the Supacats have got standard Tohatsu 50's on them.
As for the tubes holding air we have no problems with the Supacats apart from the Highjacker tubes on the bottom tend to need topping up every couple of weeks,But,so does the Thundercat.
I AM NOT SLAGGING THE THUNDERCAT,so please dont everyone attack me for this reply,and we are not trying to benefit by importing a container load in,thats not going to happen due to the exchange rate and we couldnt afford to,we have full time jobs anyway.What we did was experiment by sourcing a company (with excellent business feedback) have our boats built to the specification we wanted for durability more than anything else,import the minimum number we could buy and THANK GOD,apart from being ripped off by the BRITISH shipping company who carried out some very underhanded tactics,ended up with boats that we have had and are still having,some excellent fun with that will last some considerable time.
I know that not everyones experience with importing is the same.But maybe more down to luck than judgement we were extremely happy with the outcome and found the company more than willing to assist with our upgrades on their products.

OH GOD i've probably stirred up a hornets nest now and am going to get pulled to shreds,but I can only tell you what happened to us.

Regards
Howy

Seacidal · 05 February 2009, 20:13

Well thanx for the info fellaz... im gonna look and check where its made and ordered from... but from what i remember he said it came from South africa.

Thanx again

Zane...

CJL · 05 February 2009, 22:30

We've just bought a Thundercat and despite not having used it yet, I was surprised as to the workmanship.

In a nutshell its very good and easily comparable to a Tornado. Very tough. I'll let you know how we get on with it over the next few months.

Chris

TonyBoat · 21 February 2009, 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Then they are not "South African built".

I know that an Australian importer of Gemini boats went rogue and started having boats built for them in Asia, and sold them off as 'Gemini' boats (at a much cheaper price of course). From the pictures I saw, they were a horrible looking aberration, and reports from Australia that I've read stated were that the build quality was nowhere close to the original. Gemini has made it very clear that these knock offs were not there own product.

Basically if you want a high end tunnel hull, make sure it was built in SA. If you want something less expensive, the Asian manufacturers can accomodate that.

The boat was designed in SA,but they offered the design documents to Korean and Chinese to produce to save their money.

prairie tuber · 21 February 2009, 16:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyBoat

The boat was designed in SA,but they offered the design documents to Korean and Chinese to produce to save their money.

As best as I can surmise, that iniative was done by an Australian arm of Gemini, and not directly by Gemini S.A., and that ties with this particular arm have since been severed. I could very well be wrong on this. Perhaps you have some inside information in all of this - do you work within this industry and if so, do you deal directly with Gemini S.A.?

http://www.gemini-marine.com/about.htm

perthcatboy · 16 August 2009, 05:09

Did you end up buying it? or finding out anything more about the company?