Hello My name is Alex and i´m from Spain. I´m looking for an open water skiff. I´m thinking on buying a virus turbo skiff, but i´m not sure yet. Anybody has experience with this kind of boat?

Thank you

-- Alex (alopez@zabaltzen.com), September 17, 2002

Answers

Ola I've got one and it is very stable but not very fast. I have an old Vancouver and in rough water, I'd rather use the Virus for a 10+ mile row in chop. It also has a much larger storage capacity in case you want to do overnight trips. It's so heavy and made of such thick plastic, I wouldn't be that concerned in hitting a submerged log. Saludos, JD

-- JD Schaefer (jdrows@attbi.com), December 26, 2002.

Hi Alex, I would say JD has a virus Yole, not a turbo skiff, as he talks about slow and heavy with thick plastic bottom and stable. The turbo skiff is fast and light, has no storage space to speak of and is not stable unless you're comparing it with a racing shell. If anyone out there has a Virus "Turbo Skiff" could they please weigh it without the riggers (ok to leave the slider tubes attached) and email me the results (The bare hull should weigh 22kg) thanks ... Robert

-- Robert Smart (robert@planetsea.com), February 18, 2003.

Hi Robert

I´m thinking on buying the turboskiff, but i´m not too sure if it would be possible to row with it in choppy waters. Have you tried it in that conditions? I saw the photo at the the virus web page, but i would like your opinion about this boat.

Thank you Alex

-- Alex (alopez@zabaltzen.com), February 19, 2003.

I'm also considering roto-molded open water boats -- interested in any opinions re Virtus Turbo II (sliding seat vs. sliding rigger) and the Alden Horizon 17. Also looking at the LittleRiver Sprint which is fiberglass and reportedly good in rough water as well as the Alden Single 16 (but am concerned about max functional weight capacity on the Alden).

-- Dave Fish (dfish@shore.net), March 01, 2003.