Another New 175BR Owner - First Impressions-gctid401341

Glad you like your new toy. There are a lot of good guys (and gals) here so welcome aboard.

New 2012 175BR owner here. Not new to boating but my first bran' spankin' new one. Had it for about three weeks now and thought I'd share my impressions.

I live in Newfoundland, Canada (stuck out in the middle of the North Atlantic) so it will be used for freshwater fun, trout fishing and sea scooting. I've had it on a couple lakes (we call them ponds here) and on the ocean twice. Spent a couple hours the other night drifting with a massive school of capelin which brought the Minkes in and they were breaching all around us. What a sight!

Overall I can honestly say I am extremely pleased with the package. There are downsides but IMO minor ones so for anyone considering the 175 here are my thoughts:

Negatives:

First and foremost, lack of gauges. MPH, RPM, fuel and volts? That's it? Really? Thankfully, it is wired for trim, oil, temp, etc. and won't be a huge issue installing a multi-gauge or two. Just have to find a pod that will blend into the existing gauges.

Second, helm seat. Not sure if this is a true negative because it is comfortable when sitting, I just don't sit much, prefer to kneel and would prefer to have a back to back on the helm side as well. I do like the swivel aspect when lounging and it does create some extra room behind it so maybe I'll learn to love it.

Positives:

The new engine cover. Really helps with the engine noise, but the thing I love about it is the new design, mainly for fishing. Strap a plastic tray about 4-5 inches deep on it and the fish come up on the swim step and into the tray. No more fishy carpet!

Economy. As far as boats go this one gets fantastic mileage as long as you're not wide open all the time. Cruising at 20-25 per and she can go for what seems like forever.

Handling. We get some windy conditions in these here parts but she handles the waves very nicely indeed. The night we were whale watching it got a little rough on the way back (3-4 foot swells) so running into the waves at any kind of speed was not an option but I kept her at about 8-10 per and, aside from a couple splashes it wasn't a bad run at all.

In all I'm really pleased with the decision, no buyers regret at all. I did pick up a second prop since the 21 she came with leaves a little to be desired on smaller bodies of water so I got a 17 to have some real fun on the smaller ones where wide open running ain't gonna last long anyway. Have to watch the revs but man, does she come up fast with it.

Anyway, hello all. Already got some helpful info here and looking forward to more and maybe sharing some of my admittedly limited knowledge.