THE PREDATOR 165 Sea Angler

The photograph above shows the new PREDATOR 165 SEA ANGLER from the Douglas Marine boatyard. With an improved hull design based on the proven hull of the PREDATOR 160 MK II plus the re-designed transom, it may look very similar and only a cosmetic change, but this is where the similarity ends! We believe the PREDATOR 165 Sea Angler is probably the safest boat of its class built in the UK today.

The PREDATOR 165 Sea Angler  has a built in “Life Ring”. What is that you say? READ ON!!!!.

HOW SAFE IS YOUR BOAT?

 How we tested the Predator 165

At Predator boats, we decided that being unsinkable was simply not enough for the new Predator 165. Sea Angler. A boat can be called “unsinkable”, even if it floats with its stern held down by its outboard motor and its bows pointing skywards like a rocket! What good is that to you if you are 5 miles offshore and your life is on the line?

We decided to make the Predator 165 special – we decided to build it with a “life ring” of buoyancy that would ensure that it floats level, even when swamped. We wanted the new Predator 165 to be one of the safest boats on the water. That is what it is and this is how we proved it. We subjected it to an extremely severe series of tests under the close scrutiny of an Independent Marine surveyor.

We started to load the boat with cast iron weights:-

We fixed weights to the transom and stacked them in the engine well to represent the outboard motor. In fact, the cast iron weights we used exceeded the weight of a 100hp 4 stroke Yamaha outboard motor, even though we only recommend outboard motors up to 80hp for the Predator 165.

We included a cast iron weight to represent the weight of the battery.

We then secured cast iron weights to the cockpit floor, weights that were so heavy they had to be lifted into the boat with a mobile crane!

Next, we opened every locker in the boat to make sure that no trapped air would help the boat stay afloat.

Then we swamped the boat by pumping nearly a thousand gallons of water into the cockpit before rolling the boat onto its side and forcing the side deck under water.

The boat was then held with its side deck under water for 5 minutes, thus ensuring that all lockers and compartments were thoroughly flooded.

When no more water could enter the boat, the Predator 165 was released and it immediately righted itself and floated level, with its side decks, above and clear, of the water.

Despite the weight of a 100hp 4-stroke Yamaha mounted on the transom, the massive cast iron weights fixed to the floor, hundreds of gallons of water in the cockpit, the Predator 165 was ready to be bailed and to take the crew safely home!

A series of similar tests were then carried out which involved suspending a 35kg weight from the Predator’s gunwale, representing someone in the water, pulling themselves into the boat and in effect, trying to turn the boat over. The new Predator 165 passed these and all other tests with flying colours.

On the basis of these extensive and very demanding tests, we believe that the Predator 165 is one of the safest small fishing boats you can buy on the market today.

In fact, the Independent Marine surveyor commented:-

“ I DON’T KNOW OF ANY COMPARABLE BOAT IN THE UK THAT COULD HAVE SURVIVED THE TESTS I HAVE JUST WITNESSED!”

SO, JUST HOW SAFE IS YOUR BOAT?

THE “LIFE RING” OF BUOYANCY

THE RE-DESIGNED TRANSOM

THE IMPROVED HYBRID HULL SHAPE

PREDATOR 165 - FIRST OUTING

BOYS AND THEIR TOYS!

OOPS!  I OPENED THE THROTTLE - WIDE!

LETS TRY A LITTLE TURN WHAT, AT 25 KNOTS!

!!!!! WOW!!!!!

AS “TOTAL SEA FISHING” REPORTED 

 “WHAT IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE IS THAT YOU CAN THROW THE HULL INTO THE TIGHTEST TURN CURVE IMAGINABLE. IT WILL LEAN OUT TO 45 DEGREES WITH THE GUNNEL CLOSE TO THE WATER BUT HOLDS PERFECT STATION WITH NO SIGN OF STERN SLIDE AT ALL. ALSO, NO WATER GETS BACK INTO THE BOAT AT ALL WHEN WORKING THESE EXAGGERATED TURNS, NOR WHEN RUNNING STRAIGHT INTO A HEADWIND. STABILITY IS EXCELLENT”.

NEED WE SAY MORE?