Report from Sean,

Specification:
Seaswirl Striper 2301 W/A
Length 7.30m (23' 8")
Beam 2.57m (8' 4")
Weight 1100Kg
Engine 5.0 Volvo Penta Petrol inboard/outboard
Category B
Country of manufacture: USA
Price new £39,000 (3 years ago)

More details on full specification can be found at
http://www.seaswirl.com

This was my first offshore capable boat. I had seen it in the local boat yard the previous year and looked at it with great desire. It is one of the best looking fast fishing boats around. It basically looks like a mini big game boat. I was delighted when I found out it was up for sale. The boat yard was able to offer me a really good deal on it, so I snapped it up.

After owning an 18ft open cuddy boat with a 75hp Mariner, this was like moving from a Ford Focus to a Porsche. It had a top speed of almost 50mph. I was once able to get from the Hood entrance in Portland Harbour to the Shambles West Buoy in 4 ½ minutes. But as most people realise conditions have to be perfect to allow speeds like that. There is also the addition al danger of hitting a submerged obstacle, which could easily end up killing you.

The Striper is a purpose designed fast fisher. It has a walk around design, allowing for a small cabin and easy access to the bow for both fishing and anchoring. A bimini hood with heavy duty plastic and canvas wrap around curtains protects the helm position. The propulsion is based on a 5.0L Volvo Penta petrol engine and a Bravo inboard/outboard leg.

A bathing platform allows easy access to the cockpit via a transom door.
The gunwales are slightly lower than I prefer. They could do with either being 15cm higher or having stainless steel rails fitted all round.
The deck is self-draining with 2 smallish drain holes, this need to be at least twice that size. I once had a big wave come over and I had to accelerate rapidly to get the water out of the transom door to prevent floundering.
At the rear of the cockpit is the engine access and cover. This takes up quite a lot of the cockpit room. Next to the engine cover is fitted a good-sized live bait well. It has an electric pick up pump that ensures your bait stays fresh and alive even when not moving.
4 Rod holders are fitted into the gunwales. They are offset to allow 4 rods to be trolled at once without tangling the lines. There are 6 additional rocket launcher type rod holders mounted on the bimini hood.
Both a fresh water and seawater pressure wash system are fitted in the cockpit to allow showering and wash down of the boat.

The engine bay is well laid out with plenty of space to get to everything. An automatic fire extinguisher is fitted as standard, as well as an extraction fan than needs to be run for 5 minutes prior to engine start and during trolling to prevent explosive gas build up.
Bilge pumps and pumps for the fresh water and seawater pressure wash are located in the engine compartment. Twin heavy-duty batteries and their charging and isolating controls are opposite the pumps.

A lot of thought has gone in to the helm position. Everything is well laid out and to hand. All the instrumentation is easily viewable and good-sized rocker switches operate the lights, wipers and other electrical ancillaries. There is plenty of room for a GPS, fishfinder and Radar. A lockable electronics compartment is fitted in the bimini top. I used this to house my VHF radio.
Two fully adjustable seats for the helmsman and a passenger give 360° rotation. This allows the seats to be turned round and locked for fishing. Under each seat position is a large storage area for life jackets, flares, buoys and the likes. There is also 2 inbuilt tackle boxes, ideal for lures and hooks.

The cabin drops down from the helm position and is separated by a fairly flimsy door. There is just enough room to sleep 2 people over night with a small fresh water sink, but no cooker. A full sea toilet is fitted inside the cabin, but is just covered with a cushion and affords no privacy.

A deep V hull design ensures that handling is good and very fast with most of the spray being thrown away from the boat. Electrically controlled trim tabs are fitted. I found that these had to be continually adjusted to keep the boat stable at speed. I think that due to its fairly narrow beam, it could have easily done without them. If anything it made the boat unstable.

Whilst at anchor the boat had a tendency to wallow a bit, which could at times make fishing a bit uncomfortable.
Rough weather handling was good. I got caught out in a force 7-8 a couple of times and was able to get back with few troubles. The only scary times when the sea was beam on.

If you are looking for a very fast safe fishing boat, then you could do worse than look at one of these. I was able to get out to some good offshore marks very quickly and then fish them in relative comfort.
I believe the main problem of the boat is the lack of space to fish within the cockpit. It will fish 2 without any problems, but more than that and it starts to get crowded.
The other major problem with this particular boat is it is a petrol engine and a VERY thirsty one at that. I was averaging 6gph at 20 knots. With no petrol available at the Weymouth, I needed to either put it on the trailer and take it to the garage or carry loads of jerry cans down to refuel it. I have talked to the new importers in the UK, Medway Bridge Marina Ltd; they tell me there is now a diesel version.

Likes
Very fast.
Good looking.
A proper fishing boat with loads of rod holders and tackle boxes built in.
Good size live bait well with continual circulation.
Easy to keep clean with a good power washer to help wash down.

Dislikes
Lack of cockpit space.
Gunwale needs to be higher
Small anchor locker
Very uneconomical.
Petrol engine.

Equipment Fitted
JRC 1000 Radar
Garmin 220 GPS Plotter and Fish finder
Lowrance LCX-16ci GPS plotter and Sonar / Sounder

Disclaimer:
Everything written in these reports are based on personal experience and the individual's opinion only. I have tried my best to present the facts correctly, but I/we take no responsibility for any mistakes or omissions.