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| Do cats raise billfish? You betcha. |
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| Experiential Education
Put 260 hours on a boat, and you get to know it pretty damn well. And after spending an entire season running Glacier Bay’s 2665 Canyon Runner, I can say one thing without hesitation: this is the smoothest running boat of its size, period.
Yeah, I know: cats have down-sides, too. And in this case it’s a snap roll that rocks the boat quickly when boat wakes hit on the beam. Irregularly-spaced wind-whipped seas don’t have the same effect, though, and the snap roll only hit us three or four times all season. Is it a worthy trade-off for the super-smooth ride? I’d say absolutely, but that’s a decision you have to make for yourself.
Here’s another blanket statement for you: cats can raise billfish just as well as monohulls, contrary to popular belief. The season I ran the 2665 was my best billfishing year yet, with 16 whites and three blues raised in 16 offshore runs. What about the tunas? This boat makes bagging them easy, with an aft cockpit that’s bigger then those many found on 30-footers plus an extended platform running aft between the outboards which makes it possible to work fish around the props with ease or gaff ‘em off the transom. Fishing accouterments include a 32-gallon lighted livewell with viewing port, rig holders, a cutting board, a swing-out stowage drawer and slots for three medium-size tackle stowage trays on each side. Four larger tackle trays fit in the transom, under another cutting board with rig, knife and pliers holders. Racks under the gunwales hold an additional four rods or gaffs and mops. Gunwale bolsters line the sides, and there’s a freshwater shower at the transom. The raw water wash is potent, too, and it comes rigged with a self-coiling hose that’s behind a pie plate in the side of the console. Mounting it in the console puts it far enough forward that you can wash down both the bow and stern areas of the boat when the fish blood starts flying. Our test boat also had a “buggy seat” crow’s nest on the top, which gave us an elevated platform for spotting flotsam, lobster buoys and the like. Surprise—it’s comfier than you’d think up there, and several times people rode up top for 40-mile-plus cruises.
Cuff ‘em & Stuff ‘em
Blanket statement number three: you won’t find another boat of this size with better fishboxes. They’re truly coffin-sized, with excellent insulation and hatches that ease up and down on gas-assisted struts. One day we had four 50- to 70-lb yellowfin tuna, 22 mahi-mahi between five and 10-lbs, a handful of triggerfish, 120-lbs of ice and a 48-qt. cooler full of food and drinks, all packed into this one fishbox. It was about half full. I am NOT making this up. (Check out the picture, from an overnighter that produced a 60-pound yellowfin, some small mahi, and a just-legal 80-pound sword pup. They don’t even make a dent in the box’s capacity.) The second fishbox is rigged with rodracks and has a locking hatch. It’s not the best for long-term rod stowage, though, because these boxes sit lower than the waterline and pump out with bilge pumps; there’s always some level of moisture in them, and when I left rods in the rack mold grew all over them.
When you grab the wheel of this boat and firewall the throttles, you’ll feel anything but moldy. One of the reasons the 2665 is so incredibly smooth is the hull design, (which leans more towards displacement and less towards planing,) and often this design results in a slow, pokey boat. While the 2665 isn’t a speed demon by any stretch of the imagination, you’ll have a 4500 RPM cruise of 30-mph in just about any sea conditions. And when six footers are crashing around, that means you’ll leave most other boats in your wake. You don’t believe it? I don’t blame you. But try putting 260 hours on one—you’ll find out.
See the company site at www.glacierbaycats.com.
LOA - 26’1”
Beam - 8’9”
Draft - 2’4”
Dry weight - 4,200
Fuel capacity - 180
Max. HP - 300
Price – A hair over $100,000.
Observed performance notes w/2 people and full load fuel, twin 150-hp Yamaha F150 four-stroke outboards swinging 15” x 17” three bladed stainless-steel props:
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Cruise RPM
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Speed in MPH
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Gallons per hour
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Miles per gallon
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Slow cruise/3500
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21.4
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12.9
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1.7
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Fast cruise/4500
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30.0
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18.5
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1.6
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Wide open throttle/5900
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40.1
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32.0
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1.3
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Bonus Test Notes: Time and time again porpoises swam for long distances in the tunnel between the two hulls—for some reason they’re definitely attracted to it. Lay out on the bow and hang your head over, and you can hear their whistles and chirps.
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