Jump to content

Horizon Scorpion 525 Review


Poddymullet

Recommended Posts

Long time reader first time poster 😛

Hoping to get some advice and make some fishing buddies along the way.

I recently moved from Sydney to Brisbane and have spent 50-60 hrs on Moreton Bay from Scarborough to Measure Mile to Tangalooma and the Pine and back trying to nail how to fish the bay. It's so very different than Sydney Harbour and close offshore. 

Have read a bucket load of reviews, blogs, forums etc trying to refine where, how, what and when best to fish. I can tell this is going to take many more hours, but that's okay I love to fish and love to be on the water. 

This leads me to my current dilemma .... after lots of research, weighing up the pros and cons I decided to upgrade from a 2 stroke 4.5m runabout to a brand spanking new Horizon 525 scorpion. I knew I was going to be making some trade offs in both price and capability but really wanted a new boat. Result is really disappointing based on my experience. Could be a dud boat, dealer, motor or just me. Would love to get anyone's feedback and advice. Hoping this also helps people in the same space I was before purchasing.

Requirements for me were:

1. 40k budget

2. Easy to trailer and launch by myself

3. Dry boat all year round 

4. Good internal storage and fishing room

5. Large underfloor fuel tank

6. Somewhere for the kids to rest 

7. Fish the bay with close offshore in the right conditions.

After hours reviewing I went with the Horizon. Upgraded the engine from the Yamaha F70 to new F75. Got it painted and dropped the live bait tank in and a storm cover. All up I drove away just over the budget at $40k. 

My verdict so far is that if you want to use the boat in the bay then stay home in anything over 5kts if you don't want to bounce around. I always knew I was going to get that with a pressed ali but it really is a bouncy boat. I was out the other week in almost glass like conditions and the boat still bounced. I was getting along back from Tangalooma to Scarborough at 24kts or so and I had to stand because I was moving too much in the seat. Stability at rest is okay but if you have two people on one side trying to get a fish you will lean suddenly unless you have a full tank of fuel. 

The other thing that bothers me about the boat is in a following sea you never feel 100% comfortable no matter what you do with the trim. This comes with the bay I know but still I wouldn't recommend this boat for fishing the northern bay unless it was pretty calm. For a family boat that you want to use fishing down in the Tweed or GG then I would say it's great. For the bay ... skip it completely. Someone mentioned getting some trim tabs to stabilise it but seems crazy to spend another $1k when it's still going to struggle.

I have been out on the bay in it when things have picked up to 15kts both sw, ne an all points of the compass. You can really tell why people call this thing scramble bay...you think you are pointing the right way and then you get hit from the side. I can now see the advantages of plat / glass and just 'pushing' though rather than just slapping all over no matter what speed you. 

So where to from here? 

I really should have bought a plate or glass boat 2nd hand with a good motor. 

What I am doing now? 

About to lose both balls and sell it to buy something else. I guess this what boats are all about but life is too short. 

But do I go to something like Formosa Sea Rod 520 which all reviews point to being a great boat for the bay and offshore, or do I get a glass boat like Baysports or Haines. I have been looking at the Baysport and it looks like the best value for glass for our conditions up here. 

My young son of 10 loves fishing and while I think a SC would be awesome I just know we need some protection when coming home and keeping dry. I am not a fair-weather fisherman at all.

I really want to spend more time outside the bay fishing some of the reefs too...

Advice really appreciated...

Cheers 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice looking boat (had to google the model).  Hopefully someone on here can help you so you don’t have to sell it.  I have heard (and may be totally wrong) that horizon boats have more of a rounded nose than a sharp v that some other brands have which doesn’t allow them to cut through chop as good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dude sounds like you hate your boat... I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not a boat expert so I cant really help sorry. I have looked for some reviews but cant find anything helpful...

The bouncing in calm water can often be from getting the trim wrong but you said you have been trying lots of variations so don't know... The old rule used to be trim it up until it cavitates then down just a little. 

Glass boats are heavier so they normally have a softer ride. 

If you are unhappy with the boat you have the right to take it back for a refund? I hope someone smarter than me can help more. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey DropBear, boats okay just doesn’t suit me in reality...I do have some issues with the dealer (Burleigh Heads) that I’ve been patient with before going social so to speak. 

I can see it’s benefit for other applications just not in the bay. I actually find the boat reviews are full of praise but little practical advice. They never say “don’t buy the boat if you want to do xx”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Poddymullet said:

Did they change their name recently 🙂

Yep, didn’t know had changed until I just googled it. Was looking at buying a new horizon through them 2yrs ago, but wasn’t happy with the boat. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey bud sorry to here of your lemon, I’d bite the bullet accept a loss sell as a near new rig somone will buy eventually. I’d almost always go the second hand option in that price range. If you be patient you can get some good rigs under 40 k off gumtree that would satisfy both bay and offshore easily. One of my mates used to have a similar size horizon and the quality was on par with yours. Good luck with your next option

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I would not, purely for the Fact that you’ll nine times out of ten get a far better bargain going private and keep thousands extra (the dealers are buying from private owners just like me and you the doing some mostly aesthetic mods and then marking up price to get a profit) . When buying second  hand big boat don’t hesitate to go  out on a water test in choppy conditions. If they want to sell the boat they will do this, then after that spend $150 on a mobile outboard Mech to go over the engine he will also most likely be able to tell you what ever else you need to look over eg trailer, corrosion etc. ps don’t be ashamed to throw low ball offers my boat was initially advertised on boat sales for 50k and I ended up getting for under 40k

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JCM are one of the better dealers very ethical ,honest and helpfull. In the past were very helpfull in sponsoring the forum in early days.

Buying from a ethical dealer you do get a guarantee of title and a warranty a fair bit of Crawfords stock is on consignment and is open to negotiation. They do have a rigorous inspection of all their stock before accepting it for sale.

The decision is up to you.

Cheers

Ray

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Poddymullet said:

Thanks @jon for the advice...would you ever purchase 2nd hand from a dealer? JCM at Tingalpa have been really helpful but now a bit wary around dealers

Its a tricky one. I bought a bargain second hand when I didn't know what I was doing. It cost me about $2k and a weeks work fixing it up. 

Tingalpa have a very good reputation. They are pretty honest with their opinion. You will pay more than if you hunt around for a bargain if you know what you are doing. Its a tricky game worth spending a lot of time getting right. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hi AFO'ers (is that what we are?),

Thought I should update everyone on where I landed and for anyone else that stumbles across the thread. 

The good news is that there is nothing wrong with boat or engine. It went back to Horizon who did further testing and spoke at length with Scott the owner who was very professional - 10/10 for customer service. Marine Tune / Gold Coast Boating Centre had the boat first and I am sure they did something because the boat now rides a lot better than before. They increased the pitch by 1 and I got the boat to 34mph on the weekend, which is rocket fast. Still not a fan of their customer service even though I did end up dealing directly with one of the owners who is was nice. 

In the end I have taken the plunge and bought a 2008 5.9m glass walk around cuddy...it's built by Lewis who purchased the original Yamaha Southwind moulds. Nice deep V to help with chop and the chines keep it reasonably stable at rest. Will provide an update once I take delivery of it later this week. 

Thanks for the advice / tips / recommendations !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congratulations on the new one and hope it does everything you want.

After owning a 5.3m fibreglass Centre Console which I really liked, I upgraded to a walkaround cuddy cabin like you.

It is a big difference having some shade for protection and even in 15 knots bay chop not getting wet is bliss. Benefits I found are I'm not as tired at the end of the day, all the fishing gear requires far less servicing, dry storage for gear, sleep over night in comfort and I have not use my wet weather gear since selling the CC. You can still fish off the front in calm conditions and getting to the anchor is easy. Don't really see many fibreglass WA's here. I went to one of the boat shows here just to look at fibreglass WA's and would have been lucky to have seen 2 on display and they were not of the quality I wanted. Cannot even member what makes they were because I dismissed them straight away.  They are common in the US market so I bought a US boat here in OZ.

I still really like CC but when I down size will I buy another, I'm still not sure. Cross that bridge when I cross it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 16/07/2018 at 9:48 AM, christophagus said:

 

17 hours ago, Luvit said:

Congratulations on the new one and hope it does everything you want.

After owning a 5.3m fibreglass Centre Console which I really liked, I upgraded to a walkaround cuddy cabin like you.

It is a big difference having some shade for protection and even in 15 knots bay chop not getting wet is bliss. Benefits I found are I'm not as tired at the end of the day, all the fishing gear requires far less servicing, dry storage for gear, sleep over night in comfort and I have not use my wet weather gear since selling the CC. You can still fish off the front in calm conditions and getting to the anchor is easy. Don't really see many fibreglass WA's here. I went to one of the boat shows here just to look at fibreglass WA's and would have been lucky to have seen 2 on display and they were not of the quality I wanted. Cannot even member what makes they were because I dismissed them straight away.  They are common in the US market so I bought a US boat here in OZ.

I still really like CC but when I down size will I buy another, I'm still not sure. Cross that bridge when I cross it.

Thanks @Luvit ...still haven't taken delivery yet but will next week. Cause I fish a lot on my own I am getting a Launch & Retrieve latch added ... it's a must in my books 🙂 Will update everyone with some picks with some fish hopefully. 

What did you end up getting? Did you go up to a 6m? The only ones I have seen locally are the CruiseCrafts...would love to get one but they are not cheap. 

I'd love to get a SC but with kids etc it just becomes impractical not to mention it's nice having the shade and with the walk around you get the xtra room to throw slugs around at Macks etc. 

Couple of pics 

 

IMG_1551.jpg

IMG_1558.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, christophagus said:

that is a nice looking rig mate, hope it brings you plenty of fishing mojo

if you ever want a decky/buddy to fish with let me know, i live in North Lakes too. Id be happy to repay the favour in my boat when i can mate

Me too!!!!! Can’t blame the tools as they say unless you are the tool 😛 

I’ll pm u and let’s lock in some time for sure!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Poddymullet said:

Thanks @Luvit ...still haven't taken delivery yet but will next week. Cause I fish a lot on my own I am getting a Launch & Retrieve latch added ... it's a must in my books 🙂 Will update everyone with some picks with some fish hopefully. 

What did you end up getting? Did you go up to a 6m? The only ones I have seen locally are the CruiseCrafts...would love to get one but they are not cheap. 

I'd love to get a SC but with kids etc it just becomes impractical not to mention it's nice having the shade and with the walk around you get the xtra room to throw slugs around at Macks etc. 

Couple of pics 

 

IMG_1551.jpg

IMG_1558.jpg

Very nice.

The Cruise Craft is a very nice boat, however when I looked at them they did not have self draining decks. If the had I think I would have bought one.

I was going to put a Launch & Retrieve latch for launching alone but, l was too tight to pay out the dollars. To get around it l have a nylon rope secured to the winch pole with a loop on the end. Before I launch l put the rope on the bow sprite I now have or one of the cleats on the bow. release safety chain when boats in water, loosen the winch cable till the boat slips back 2 foot and there is tension on the rope holding the boat. I jump on the front, walkaround to start the motor putting it in forward gear to release the tension on the rope. Walk back to the front and release the slack rope from the cleat. Now ready to reverse off and dock it. It takes next to no time to do, quite often I can launch before people with 2 helping out.

When retrieving the boat I place the rope on the winch roller, get in the boat and drive it on. Keep it in forward gear to hold in position and loop the rope back on to the cleat.  slowly drop the revs and the boat slides back to put tension on the rope. Turn the engine off and lift it, jump off the front and winch it the last 2ft back onto the trailer, attach safety chain. All done and the rope I had at home. 

I ended up with a Grady White 208 walk around 6.2m..

Bribie.thumb.jpg.ffec3a2cbc966289c976c87aea56d52b.jpg

 

I'm usually in the north part of the bay where the good fish and people live. 😝 If you ever see me on the bay come and say hello.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Luvit that's an awesome looking rig! I am Northside as well...North Lakes actually so bound to see you out there and will give you a holler if I see you. Although still green behind the ears going offshore in the boat so baby steps to get started. Any advice for launching from Scarborough and good grounds to test / build skills around? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have only been out from Scarborough a couple of times and fished over Dunwich and around Peel island. I mainly launch at Bribie Island and fish from Tangalooma to the Cape Moreton and beyond. You will have more success if you can fish during the week. Many boats zooming around can make fishing harder. 

I arrived from Victoria 6 years ago now and had to learn new ways to fish for different species. This is where this site and it members were very generous with their information. The search function is hours and hours of useful information. 

Another way to pick up tips is to have an annual subscription to one of the fish magazines. I keep them and go back to them and read the month later edition than the one I  expect to fish. Example if fishing in Feb l will be reading March edition which will be full of February reports. 

Or get out with as many people as you can and learn that way.

It’s the funnest. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed ... as a fellow southerner although no Mexican it's definitely a different type of fishing here...but that's what makes it so fun. Thanks for the pointer on the the mags...read the Queensland fishing monthly on a regular basis but might look for some back editions. 

See you out there  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Luvit said:

We could catch up on the water one day and fish together in different areas. Just have to wait till l get my boat back. 

I'd be keen on a tag-along trip up your way (or Mooloolaba) Wayne. Haven't been further than Cowan Pt (from memory) yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 24/07/2018 at 3:00 PM, Luvit said:

Very nice.

The Cruise Craft is a very nice boat, however when I looked at them they did not have self draining decks. If the had I think I would have bought one.

I was going to put a Launch & Retrieve latch for launching alone but, l was too tight to pay out the dollars. To get around it l have a nylon rope secured to the winch pole with a loop on the end. Before I launch l put the rope on the bow sprite I now have or one of the cleats on the bow. release safety chain when boats in water, loosen the winch cable till the boat slips back 2 foot and there is tension on the rope holding the boat. I jump on the front, walkaround to start the motor putting it in forward gear to release the tension on the rope. Walk back to the front and release the slack rope from the cleat. Now ready to reverse off and dock it. It takes next to no time to do, quite often I can launch before people with 2 helping out.

When retrieving the boat I place the rope on the winch roller, get in the boat and drive it on. Keep it in forward gear to hold in position and loop the rope back on to the cleat.  slowly drop the revs and the boat slides back to put tension on the rope. Turn the engine off and lift it, jump off the front and winch it the last 2ft back onto the trailer, attach safety chain. All done and the rope I had at home. 

I ended up with a Grady White 208 walk around 6.2m..

Bribie.thumb.jpg.ffec3a2cbc966289c976c87aea56d52b.jpg

 

I'm usually in the north part of the bay where the good fish and people live. 😝 If you ever see me on the bay come and say hello.

Man, that is a sweet looking rig.....for a glassy 😜.

Love the steep entry point and raised bow. Very nice. Looks horn with the riggers on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so it sounds like we have a plan brewing for a session? I will be new to my boat as well and keen to explore the flinders / hutchies etc so happy to offer some spots too for advice etc as it it is all new to me...should get the new one this Friday and plan on doing some testing over Saturday to get a feel for her before stretching the legs too far...weather is looking bloody awesome for offshore though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Poddymullet said:

so it sounds like we have a plan brewing for a session? I will be new to my boat as well and keen to explore the flinders / hutchies etc so happy to offer some spots too for advice etc as it it is all new to me...should get the new one this Friday and plan on doing some testing over Saturday to get a feel for her before stretching the legs too far...weather is looking bloody awesome for offshore though

Looking at heading to the Cape on Saturday mate if you wanted to tag along and meet at Yellow Patch or something. I'm keen to learn Tempest more, got an 80+ snap there this time last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...