Yesterday I caught up with James from Quickboats again and we tried a little fishing at Deepwater Bend in Brisbane.
This time James started out in Hobart and traveled up the East Coast to Brisbane, demonstrating this innovative folding boat along the way.
You can book a "Test drive" on their website. Check out this link to see if one is available in your area.
Interest in the Quickboat is increasing rapidly with a number of Porta-Bote owners also checking it out.
They too have expressed similar concerns in regards to the Porta-Bote and the infamous flexing transom which creates problems with the outboard hitting the back of the bote.
The trim of the outboard has to be adjusted out so that the outboard does not hit the back of the bote and this decreases the efficiency that the outboard can operate at from my experience.
When on my own, the tilt has to be set to the fourth hole for maximum speed which creates cavitation problems intermittently.
With two of us in the bote the best position seems to be in the third hole on my bote or the boat loses speed.
If they fixed the transom in my opinion, the Porta-Bote would perform a lot better with the exception of the patented "flexihull" which loses stability after about 15mph (24kph or 13 knots) according to Sandy Kaye of Porta-Bote.
Back to the Quickboat. (Sounds like something from an old Batman movie)
The fishing was quiet. Nothing that I can report there but the boating was excellent.
Conditions were a little choppier than the last time James took me out on the Quickboat which gave me the opportunity to see how the Quickboat performed in these conditions.
I noticed a little flex around the hinges in the Quickboat but nothing like the flex in my Porta-Bote.
As a result the ride possibly wasn't as smooth as it is in my Porta bote although I haven't been able to reach the speeds that we did in the Quickboat so that may not be a fair comparison.
I would describe the Quickboat as somewhere in between a Porta-Bote and tinny (aluminium boat).
Had I been in my Porta-Bote the ride may have been smoother but my knees would have been pumping up and down like pistons due to the flex in the hull.
There are positives and negatives with both the Porta-Bote and the Quickboat.
The "Flexihull", while losing stability with speed is very tough and difficult to damage on the Porta-Bote.
The transom does let it down in my opinion. Even with the new folding transom there appears to be flexing.
The bladder on the Porta-bote is also difficult to repair due to the type of material it is made from.
The hull of the Quickboat is made of fibreglass encasing two layers of single cell foam. This is not as tough as the Porta-bote hull but is easy to repair and because of the design of the fibreglass hull, it will not fill up with water as is typical with a normal fibreglass boat.
Should the bladder become damaged, it is very easy to repair on a Quickboat.
The transom of the Quickboat is definitely rock solid with no flex noticeable.
I'm still impressed with the performance of the Quickboat and if you are looking for the convenience of a folding boat, I would certainly recommend that you have a look at one of these for yourself.
Cheers,
Matt
