I have a Glacier Bay 2665 currently. When I was buying world cats that were in the same price range were 26 footers like the 266 and I found layout to be the biggest reason to sway me to the glacier bay. I like the walk through transom and fish box size on the glacier bay. At the time I thought speed might be a downfall to the glacier bay but there has only been one day in the past 3 years that more speed would have been nice as its always rough here in Texas. Although on my glacier bay I would say that they do tend to less stable at high speed than I would like and sometimes in calm waters (intercoastal or smooth bay) I end up slowing down to make it handle better. I would not buy into the whole cat boats don not pound. Typical 3-4 foot seas that are stacked you can still only go so fast up to maybe 22knots normally slower and if you launch off a wave it still isn't fun and it will pound. I have not ran a world cat in these conditions so nothing to compair to although I have been out on a 26' seahunt and the glacier bay is hands down better suited for gulf chop. When looking at boats I saw a few Prokat 28' boats that were well priced that now regret not looking into more. As they hold more fuel are a bit faster and look to be longer and deeper hull. Not sure if the hype about them not being built well is true or not.. but bigger is normally better. I currently am looking into the 36-42 foot express boats but I am not rushing anything as my glacier bay is a really good fishing platform.

 

When it is glass calm the semi planing hull on the World Cat is an advantage. You can get a 266 with 225's up to 40mph+ on really calm days. I like the fully closed transom on my WC for safety with my kids and I don't have to worry as much about a wave broaching the transom - like what happened to one of our members here in February.

HTH
James

 

Well, I almost pulled the trigger on two GB 2665 boats and looked at several WC SF266 and WC TE270 boats but decided they were just a bit too small. Before anyone gets their feelins hurt, that's just my way of thinking. One of the things I've learned after all these years of boating is, there is no such thing as too big.

BTW, The walk through transom is a big plus IMO.

 

Both are great!

I don’t think can go wrong with either boat. I currently have a 04 26’ Canyon Runner and love it. However, I’m dreaming of 29’ or 32’ World Cat. Would like to have 300’s for the slick days and the forward seating for entertaining. Also, I like that the World Cat leans in while turning like a V-Hull. I would purchase the biggest boat you can afford. Look for a good deal on a 29 WC. Good luck on your purchase.
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2011-world-cat-290-center-console-696477/

 

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/search.php?searchid=52146449

plenty of discussion can be found if you search for it

 

I have the 290 CC World Cat. I liked the layout better than the 27'

 

You could always just be normal and get a deep vee mono hull. Jk. I was ready to jump on a world cat 266. I like that style of hull much more than the glacier bay, especially in a large following sea.

Freeman?


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My 2007 World Cat 270SF should show up on Yachtworld soon. Yamaha 225's with 925 hours, 350 of them mine. It is parked at Fox Yacht Sales in Port A right now. Three and a half good years with the boat. Not enough time to use her. Give Peter Fox a call if you are interested. If I get another offshore boat, it will be a World Cat, unless I can afford a Freeman!

 

I find it hard to justify 100k on 26-30 ft boat that is used. Seems like it would be better spent on a better riding inboard diesel with 10 extra feet. I mean your looking at a cat probably because you want a good ride. For 50 grand ballpark it either glacier Bay, older worldcat 266, seacat sl5 but they are getting old, prokat, maybe a Calcutta, and twin vee is too shallow of a hill. Freeman money and you can find a nice used sportfisher.

 

That's a good point - for $100K you could get a Blackfin 33 with 375hp Cats.

But an inboard twin diesel is not a "drop it in the water and go" type boat, like a world cat with 4 strokes...

Cheers
James

 

and there is a much higher maintenance bill and slip fees and....

 

$1,000 per year per foot...

 

Another strike against an inboard diesel with a superstructure: I get sick on those things! The one other boat I would consider is a HydroCat with inboards. The inboards combined with the 10' beam make for an outstanding platform. I saw one for sale on Yachtworld several years ago. They wanted about $90K for it, and it was thus out of my reach.

I know someone who charters on one out of Corpus Christi. He loves it. His has outboards.

Coffee is finished. Time to go hop through the yard. Happy Easter everyone.

 

I have a 2003 Worldcat 270TE with twin 225 Honda 4 strokes. Best boat I've ever had for running offshore. Have been getting 1.6mpg consistently but replaced the high & low pressure fuel filters at end of last season so hoping to get better this year. The boat handles moderate seas very well, but I don't think I'd want to be out in 4-5's in it (or any other boat for that matter, except maybe the 72' steel hull shrimp boat my Dad built back in the 80's!). It does get a little squirrely in a quarter following sea. An autopilot is a must otherwise you'll have quite a workout fighting the wheel. My Simrad autopilot is an older model and a bit finnicky. Upgraded all my electronics last year & now thinking about replacing the AP as well.

Absolutely love how much fishing room the Worldcat has. Nice high bulwarks too, and I'm a tall guy so that's appreciated. Nonskid deck that's easy to clean, and doesn't cut your knees to shreds. WC also went the extra mile with the little things....easy access to pumps, wiring, etc. Only complaint I have so far is the macerator pumps can NOT handle fish scales. The pumps don't cut the scales up at all, and instead they end up plugging up the discharge port. Burned up several pumps this way. WC routes the discharge lines in a loop up the bulwarks behind the rod holders (so the boat doesn't sink if you lose a hose clamp). At the top of the loop they have a fitting which restricts the discharge line quite a bit. I took those fittings off & installed new discharge lines with no fittings. This helped some but the lines still gets plugged. Only solution I came up with was to put a plug in the drain holes or rig a screen over them so you can scoop out scales before pumping them out, but that's a PITA. Anyone else have problems with this? I know this question belongs in a separate thread.....

The last thing I'll say is, the Worldcat folks are OUTSTANDING when it comes to helping their customers. You'd think fittings, etc. for a 2003 model would be hard to find but anytime I've ever needed anything they come through like a champ. Last time I ordered something (specialty PVC valve for the live bait well), they sent me two of them via overnight mail and didn't charge me a dime. Now THAT'S service!

 

I just sold my 2670 with 2016 150 Zukis. I loved that boat. It was the biggest feeling mid range boat I've every ran, and I've been a captain for 15 years. The only reason I sold it was because it was my personal boat and I seem to have too many people that want to go with me and it was getting crowded. I just bought a 3300 vx Hydra sport with trip F250. It is twice as big and burns twice the gas but I promise that GB will leave me in anything over 3 foot. You wont be sorry going with the GB.

 

If any of you cat owners, especially in the 26-27' range, are looking to head out and could use a hand splitting fuel, please let me know. I'm currently debating between a 24.5* V hull or a Cat hull.

I haven't fished offshore in years, but I'm a Coastie and know my way around a boat.

Thanks!

 

Also remember 26 glacier bay center consoles were offered with both 180 gallon fuel and 240gallon fuel capacity which would be enough for floater trips.