New Boat

[rob roy]

Hi Guys,

New to this forum, i've recently sold my boat, and i'm going to organise a test drive of a Quicksilver 580 Lightning, powered by Mercury 135 optimax, i have done all the negotiations with the dealer and i'm fairly happy with deal, but i have not been able to find any info on boat tests on this brand, as i'm a bit of a novice i would appreciate any advice on what i should look for on the test, or better someone who has one or knows of someone who has one and if they are happy with it.

Regards Roy

[a boat]

Good Morning Roy, the Quicksilver range of glass boats are made in NZ and marketted here by Mercury. I have been in the 5.8M and the hull is OK, a bit light and in my opinion a bit dated in fitout and finish, but when we were looking at selling them the price was right, but we still chose not to stock them. I think the price should be around the $45K for the package you are looking at, even less if it is a superceeded model which I know the dealer here in Sydney has left in stock. I heard a rumor that they are not stocking them anymore so back-up might be an issue or it could be wrong all together-I would ask.

The OPTI V6 is a powerful and fuel efficient engine but in my opinion, after running heaps of them, they are too noisey compared to the other "Clean Tec" engines on the market. Best thing to do is, as you mentioned, go for a run and see if you like the boat and engine for yourself.

You should also check out the 580 Breeze Haines Hunter we have listed in the "Boat of the Week" section because it would not be much more than the Quicksilver in terms of price and it has a lot of options and is a far superior boat in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents worth,

Huey.

[rob roy]

Thanks Huey for your opinion, i realised that the Lightning is a superceded model, and the price i had negotiated was just over 38k, i'm not too bothered about the noise of the 135 optimax, been working on aircraft for 35 years and i'm as deaf as a post, i'm a bit concerned about what you said about being too light, does this mean that it'll not be very stable in a bit of a swell or chop? I'll keep my eyes open for that, i am at the upper end of what i can realistically afford, and i had looked at the 580 breeze but it was out of my price range, i had a haines signature 460 bowrider which i have just sold, and i was looking for something a bit bigger with a cuddy cabin, hopefully the Lightning will be as stable and handle the chop as good as the Signature or i'm back to the drawing board again, i'll let you know how i get on.

Regards Roy

[rob roy]

Hi Guys,

Took the lightning out for a test drive yesterday, weather was probably too good for a proper evaluation, but we took it out of the heads at Botany Bay, there was a bit of a swell, it seemed to cope alright with that, purposely caught the wash of some big cruisers, and it cut through without a worry, performance was above what i had expected ie. holeshot,[ my previous boat had a four stroke] i have to agree with Huey the optimax is noisey, well it was more the throaty noise that i have to get used to compared to the four stroke, but at the end of the day i was quite impressed with it and it hopefully will do me for a lot of years as i have bought it and pick it up next week, also with the navman 6500 gps combo all connected up with smartcraft.

Regards Roy

[johnno]

Well done robroy

i wish many hours of happy boating

[a boat]

Good Morning RobRoy, thanks for getting back to us with your thoughts. I am glad you liked the boat and the V6 OPTI are very powerful and will give you the best fuel economy of any "clean" engine, the only downside is their noise and make sure you are on top of servicing and we are replacing the compressor belt every 2 years because it is not that expensive and if that fails the outboard stops dead. One thing I would suggest, if I may, is getting the Navman 6507 which is a much better unit becasue of having twice the pixel count as the older 6500. It should not cost you any more than a couple of hundred dollars to upgrade from the older 6500.

I wish you many happy hours of boating with your new rig,

Cheers,

Huey.

[achjimmy]

Congrats, what a great moment picking up yor new boat.

[rob roy]

Thanks guys for your input, very excited about picking up new boat, just have to learn how to fish better than what i've been doing, Huey, will ask dealer about upgrading to navman 6507, and make sure compressor belt is changed every two years, achjimmy what a great name, reminds me of what my mother used to say to my dad when she was annoyed with him, he was called jimmy and being Scottish it was said on quite a few occasions.

Regards Roy