Blackman Boats @ Fred Hall Show

[Al Gagnon]

All boats have their problems. Each person decides what he wants and what he will give up. As for my Outerbanks When it gets squirley, back off the fuel. I operated boats going in all directions and they all have various weakness's. Thats is why the operator needs to counter steer or change course or do what ever it takes to compensate. If I was in a storm, I would rather be on my Outerbanks. Some boats do not drift well, then use a sea anchor to change your position. If the boat rolls, put more weight down low in the bilge area or on deck. Many solutions to problems. Just my opinion.

[DOGHOUSE26]

There is a disadvantage to having a flush deck on the 26. The flush deck results in a higher center of gravity, the result being the terrible down swell ride of the Blackman 26. I personally would opt for the engine box for this reason.

I've ridden on a Radon 26 and on a Blackman 26. The Radon 26 I rode is a flush deck boat. The Radon hull is not as good in a head sea as it tends to crush the waves as opposed to slice through them. Down swell, there's no comparison as the Radon has got it all over the Blackman. Frankly, the Blackman ride down swell is downright scary and represents a huge design flaw. Why people are willing to pay so much for such a flawed boat escapes me. They should have redesigned this boat long ago to address this deficiency.

I won't question the construction quality of the Blackman as they do hold up well. My Blackman 20 is a 1983 model with diesel I/O and is holding up well.

Blackman 26s don't have the problem any more! And actually it was only a problem if you were too stupid to remember to back off the trim tabs a little bit when going downswell. The Radons and Davis Boats will always be beaters up into the swell; however if your fishing in the lee of the Channel Islands you're rarely beating straight into it for very long. I'd take a blackman over the other 2 on a trip to SCI from San Diego any day because a beater will always be a beater!

Power has solved the downswell problem; now that my 1987 Billfisher has been repowered with the 260 D4, I can pretty much pick where I want to ride on the following swell and a fully loaded cruising speed 500 RPMs below recommended max of 3500 gives me 25.6 knots and W.O.T. is a little over 32. I generally loaf around @ 2650 which is about 20.6 knots.

[Mac Attack]

I am on my 3rd 26' Blackman, two Billfishers and a 26' Express. I primarily fish Catalina and SBI and frequent San Nicolas Island. If you know what your doing, going downsell is not that big of deal and definetly not a design flaw. I would sure love to have that D4 like the Doghouse, maybe one day. All my boats have or had the 41. Just my 2 cents