I went to the Norfolk boat show to tie-up a deal on the Ranger 21ec but after spending around 45 minutes in the boat, I decided to pass up the opportunity to own one of these little tugs – here’s a few reasons:
1) Small Cabin - The cabin is too small for anyone – I seldom go out by myself and with two people in the cabin, it’s too small and confining. Bring a McDonalds Hamburger and drink with you and leave the goofy stove and sink out of the boat. No one is going to cook and wash dishes in this boat – it’s a joke! Put a good second seat in the boat so a guy can convince his wife the 60 grand was well spent and she doesn’t have to sit on the stove while under way.
2) Seating problems – the helm seat is totally wrong for the boat – Ranger should have come up with a better device for folding the seat down – you have to almost touch you toes to grab the rod to erect the seat - then while bent completely over, you have to plug the support in – I can’t imagine doing this with any type of seas going on so generally speaking the seat is either up or down most of the time.
3) Knee Problem - When I finally got perched in the helm seat – my knee’s were jammed right up against the wheel – to make matters worse – when I looked down I found my wet dirty shoes (it was raining) sitting right on the birth cushion, put a damn foot rest on the boat.
4) Passenger seat - The passenger seat is a joke - unless you’re bringing a 75 lb teenager with you - the seat is almost un-useable. You have to babysit the seat bottom when lowering it to prevent a 250 lb person from crushing your stove. In addition, the foot-rest is entirely too high.
5) Poor Egress - You can’t get in the cabin – the helm seat almost closes off the entrance of the cabin – luckily, I’m pretty thin and I had to turn sideways and the seat still was up against me. The majority of people in the US cannot fit by that seat. To make matters worse – they used bent sharp stainless steel hinge - so now you have sharp metal edges up against your body and clothes!
6) Beam too narrow – make the damn boat with a 7ft beam – it would handle better, roll less (use the same trailer) and this would give you another foot of space in the cabin and allow a normal person to enter the cabin without doing bodily damage trying to get by the seat. In addition, this would open up the aft walk-around’s by the engine.
7) Engine totally wrong – Hey, this is the 20th century - people have places to go and a schedule even when they are out in the boat. Even if you have all day, you still would like to get where you’re going so you could sit in the boat and enjoy it. The slow speed severely limits your distance from port – I assure you, you’re going to get real tired of only going on short trips and seeing the same exact scenery because of the slow speed. Another problem is you have wind up the little engine to 2500-3000 rpm to even cruise – all the while listening to the racket while the little engine is busting it’s butt to maintain 8 mph. Most small trawlers can idle the engine and do 8 knots. I had a Mainship 30 with a 150 hp Cummins and it used less fuel at the same speed that the Ranger tug does and it was almost silent at high idle. Bottom line, the engine is WAY TO SMALL for the boat. Take those damn batteries out of the engine compartment and put a decent motor in the boat. There is no reason why any boat can’t do at least 15-20 mph. What if you have an emergency or a storm coming? Put a 50-75 hp engine in the boat and instead of turning 3000 rpm you can turn 1000-1500 use less fuel, and have less noise and a big smile on your face as you actually see the shore moving by you. For you guys who like to go slow, you can still do that and save even more fuel.
8) Bow Thruster – Thrusters are dirt cheap now – Ranger should leave some of the standard items off - like the sink & stove and others and put a thruster in every boat they sell - even if you have to charge more for it – I guarantee they would sell twice the boats. I would gladly sacrifice even my refrigerator for a thruster. While I’m sure all the expert seaman can dock the boat without a thruster, the majority of the people who by the 21 are not and trying to back that boat in a cross wind or current is a handful for even a seasoned pilot. The 21 is a boat with a glitter of options make a thruster standard equipment.
Anyhow – I hope I didn’t offend any of you guys on the forum - please don’t get me wrong – I love the Ranger Tug concept and design – what could be more fun than a little trawler. Bottom line, facts are facts, Ranger needs to address these problems -not everyone weighs 100 lbs and happy to go 8 mph and spend 65K to do it.
1) Small Cabin - The cabin is too small for anyone – I seldom go out by myself and with two people in the cabin, it’s too small and confining. Bring a McDonalds Hamburger and drink with you and leave the goofy stove and sink out of the boat. No one is going to cook and wash dishes in this boat – it’s a joke! Put a good second seat in the boat so a guy can convince his wife the 60 grand was well spent and she doesn’t have to sit on the stove while under way.
2) Seating problems – the helm seat is totally wrong for the boat – Ranger should have come up with a better device for folding the seat down – you have to almost touch you toes to grab the rod to erect the seat - then while bent completely over, you have to plug the support in – I can’t imagine doing this with any type of seas going on so generally speaking the seat is either up or down most of the time.
3) Knee Problem - When I finally got perched in the helm seat – my knee’s were jammed right up against the wheel – to make matters worse – when I looked down I found my wet dirty shoes (it was raining) sitting right on the birth cushion, put a damn foot rest on the boat.
4) Passenger seat - The passenger seat is a joke - unless you’re bringing a 75 lb teenager with you - the seat is almost un-useable. You have to babysit the seat bottom when lowering it to prevent a 250 lb person from crushing your stove. In addition, the foot-rest is entirely too high.
5) Poor Egress - You can’t get in the cabin – the helm seat almost closes off the entrance of the cabin – luckily, I’m pretty thin and I had to turn sideways and the seat still was up against me. The majority of people in the US cannot fit by that seat. To make matters worse – they used bent sharp stainless steel hinge - so now you have sharp metal edges up against your body and clothes!
6) Beam too narrow – make the damn boat with a 7ft beam – it would handle better, roll less (use the same trailer) and this would give you another foot of space in the cabin and allow a normal person to enter the cabin without doing bodily damage trying to get by the seat. In addition, this would open up the aft walk-around’s by the engine.
7) Engine totally wrong – Hey, this is the 20th century - people have places to go and a schedule even when they are out in the boat. Even if you have all day, you still would like to get where you’re going so you could sit in the boat and enjoy it. The slow speed severely limits your distance from port – I assure you, you’re going to get real tired of only going on short trips and seeing the same exact scenery because of the slow speed. Another problem is you have wind up the little engine to 2500-3000 rpm to even cruise – all the while listening to the racket while the little engine is busting it’s butt to maintain 8 mph. Most small trawlers can idle the engine and do 8 knots. I had a Mainship 30 with a 150 hp Cummins and it used less fuel at the same speed that the Ranger tug does and it was almost silent at high idle. Bottom line, the engine is WAY TO SMALL for the boat. Take those damn batteries out of the engine compartment and put a decent motor in the boat. There is no reason why any boat can’t do at least 15-20 mph. What if you have an emergency or a storm coming? Put a 50-75 hp engine in the boat and instead of turning 3000 rpm you can turn 1000-1500 use less fuel, and have less noise and a big smile on your face as you actually see the shore moving by you. For you guys who like to go slow, you can still do that and save even more fuel.
8) Bow Thruster – Thrusters are dirt cheap now – Ranger should leave some of the standard items off - like the sink & stove and others and put a thruster in every boat they sell - even if you have to charge more for it – I guarantee they would sell twice the boats. I would gladly sacrifice even my refrigerator for a thruster. While I’m sure all the expert seaman can dock the boat without a thruster, the majority of the people who by the 21 are not and trying to back that boat in a cross wind or current is a handful for even a seasoned pilot. The 21 is a boat with a glitter of options make a thruster standard equipment.
Anyhow – I hope I didn’t offend any of you guys on the forum - please don’t get me wrong – I love the Ranger Tug concept and design – what could be more fun than a little trawler. Bottom line, facts are facts, Ranger needs to address these problems -not everyone weighs 100 lbs and happy to go 8 mph and spend 65K to do it.
