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rainbow one
Guest
Anyone running a Thunder Jet boat? Just wondering if anyone has an informed opinion of these?
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SIR
Guest
We had a guest at the Resort up with one last summer and I was very impressed with the build of the boat. Very solidy built with .25 bottom and .19 sides (heavy but solid). The welds were all really clean, the interior finish and paint were immaculate and the location of all the interior accessories was well thought out. I was really impressed with the look and feel at the dock.
That being said I did not like the setup he had with a single center mounted captains chair with two long handle controls on either side for steering and throttle. It was hard to steer and throttle without a bracing point other than your feet when in rough water. I don't see that setup on any of their 2008 models so they may have moved away from it. I also found the boat very slippery across the surface as with a draw of under a foot the model I was in was cleary designed to be a river boat not to be tracking through waves. I couldn't catch anything on their website about hull angles but it might be something to watch depending on where you are going to be running the boat.
Two other things I didn't care for was the standard difficulty of reversing a jet engine. If you are going to be jockying in and out of tight marina spots jets are not for me. His boat was also REALLY loud. I'm not sure if there was an insullation option package avialable but with 500hp of engine you want to buy some serious noise dampening. It was like sitting in a dodge viper, your whole body vibrated.
My take away was that I'd personally never buy one of their jet boats for the ocean but that their boats were so cleanly built I'd like to take one of their outboard models out for a spin to see if their hull design was a deep enough V to be up to ocean weather.
No idea what their price points are so don't know how they stack up from a value perspective against the usual rogues gallery of welded aluminum providers.
We just bought a used North River 19 and the finish is good, but does not impress me as much as the Thuder Jet did - but this one was cheap
That being said I did not like the setup he had with a single center mounted captains chair with two long handle controls on either side for steering and throttle. It was hard to steer and throttle without a bracing point other than your feet when in rough water. I don't see that setup on any of their 2008 models so they may have moved away from it. I also found the boat very slippery across the surface as with a draw of under a foot the model I was in was cleary designed to be a river boat not to be tracking through waves. I couldn't catch anything on their website about hull angles but it might be something to watch depending on where you are going to be running the boat.
Two other things I didn't care for was the standard difficulty of reversing a jet engine. If you are going to be jockying in and out of tight marina spots jets are not for me. His boat was also REALLY loud. I'm not sure if there was an insullation option package avialable but with 500hp of engine you want to buy some serious noise dampening. It was like sitting in a dodge viper, your whole body vibrated.
My take away was that I'd personally never buy one of their jet boats for the ocean but that their boats were so cleanly built I'd like to take one of their outboard models out for a spin to see if their hull design was a deep enough V to be up to ocean weather.
No idea what their price points are so don't know how they stack up from a value perspective against the usual rogues gallery of welded aluminum providers.
We just bought a used North River 19 and the finish is good, but does not impress me as much as the Thuder Jet did - but this one was cheap
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rainbow one
Guest
Thanks for the info. I have been looking at the offshore model with twin outboards. This is the only model of theirs I would consider.
It looks good but don't know how it performs.
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It looks good but don't know how it performs.
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abbyfireguy
Well-Known Member
This is obviously a well laid out river boat , not a salt water boat.But like me , he probably doesn't have the money for two boats.. I am using my jetboat in the salt more each year..
Its fine as long as you drive it knowing what it will do in rougher water.A full top with full in dash heat sure is nice on cold days out on the chuck.
The stick steering you mentioned is the only way to go for river jets these day(wish I had that style).It is extremely fast response,lock to lock in less than a millisecond.
Thunderjet makes a very good boat. Their Offshore model is unbelievabley nice..Everything very well thought out and very good quality manufacturing.
http://www.thunderjet.com/tjoffshore/index.html
Its fine as long as you drive it knowing what it will do in rougher water.A full top with full in dash heat sure is nice on cold days out on the chuck.
The stick steering you mentioned is the only way to go for river jets these day(wish I had that style).It is extremely fast response,lock to lock in less than a millisecond.
Thunderjet makes a very good boat. Their Offshore model is unbelievabley nice..Everything very well thought out and very good quality manufacturing.
http://www.thunderjet.com/tjoffshore/index.html
reeladventures
Member
Kind of looks like the Harbercraft Kingfisher. I looked at the TJ Offshore at the boat show last year. Very nice looking. Similar to Kingfisher in design and also price.
A little bit out of my league.
A little bit out of my league.
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rainbow one
Guest
I had looked the offshore model over at the Seattle boat show and was impressed at the build and the layout. I thought the price was fair for what you get. Now I just need to get a ride in one or a report from someone that has one. There is one thing I can't stand which is the dreaded slap and pounding of a very poor ride!
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JU2
Guest
I have owned Thunder Jet Luxor, 20', for two years now and could not be more pleased. I bought it for interior lake fishing but took it out to the Brown's Bay Chum Derby last fall and it performed quite well for me. Four of us fished out of it quite comfortably. I have a 175 Merc. Optimax and a Merc. 9.9 four stroke kicker on it. It is not the deep hulled unit that you are referring to but I know a fellow that has that unit and he is more than pleased. If you want some intelligent info on these boats contact Neil Rogers at
250-832-2336. Neil is the broker that brough Thunder Jet into Canada. He is also a fishing guide, so he spends a lot of time on the water. Great guy to talk to.
JU2
250-832-2336. Neil is the broker that brough Thunder Jet into Canada. He is also a fishing guide, so he spends a lot of time on the water. Great guy to talk to.
JU2
