36 express

[captadamr]

Hello,

I am new to this forum. Currently own a 71' 45 sportfish, and am looking into buying a 1985 36' express sportfish. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this hull, or the convertible 36'. Any input would be appreciated.

Adam

 

[Capt.Erich]

No experience with a "36 Express", but I know that driving a 1996 39 Express it a real trip. Many SF hulls that are converted to "express" boats have the same issues. The bigger they are the less visibility you have as they are not designed typically to ride horizontally. They usually ride with 10 to even 20 degrees of bow rise to cut through the waves. With the helm typically placed just aft of midship, there is a lot of boat obsctructing your view and in rough water you will see a lot of sky. Also, Hatterases are not what I would call a "dry" boat. There is a reason that most modern SF boats don't have windows on the brow and we have all been in the pilot house on a sunny day with the windshild wipers working away... (really, it's ok to admit this). Anyway, combine this with poor visibility... well you get the picture.

With all that said, express SF boats in general, provide an excellent platform for trolling for the grander we all dream about and... they are just dead sexy.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

We have a 1986 36 Convertable. Great hull, great shape, very dry in waves. I love the full length keel as we have no autopilot and the boat tracks straighter than some boats with an autopilot. The props are in pockets and that prevents them from hitting when you run aground. In fact the bottom of the blades are about a foot above the bottom of the keel. Ours has gas engines and still tops at 24 knots. I think you will love the way this hull handles, the way it rides, and its seakeeping ability. It handles great throughout the entire speed range. Good luck.

 

[captadamr]

thanks for the replies, what hp are your gas motors, the hull i am inrested in is powered with 390hp GM6-71.

 

[ADaily3224]

I have the same boat as Maynard, 36 1988. Mine was converted from Gas to Diesel, 350HP Cat 3116. My observations are about the same as Maynard's. On the plus side the ride and handling are really quite good, and my boat is quite dry. I had a 37' Hatteras a few years ago, which is also a wonderful boat but it had a different hull shape above the water line, quite a bit less flair, which resulted in a fairly wet ride. But it was so good in a head sea that I didn't care. With the 36 there is very little rolling in a sea way, it's stable, easy to handle, stays put, it has the best sea keeping of any boat I have owned.
On the minus side, it's a bit slow, needs a lot of power to push, makes a big wake, points it's nose in the air a bit. I remedied some of the pointing by trimming the spacers inside the trim tab tubes. The 36 express is a good looking boat, has less weight, and they all seemed to come with the big engine options. I'll bet it's a great boat to run, probably much faster than the sedan or sport fish model. I don't think you can go wrong and they are very reasonably priced.

Tony D

 

[Maynard Rupp]

thanks for the replies, what hp are your gas motors, the hull i am inrested in is powered with 390hp GM6-71.

They are 350 hp. Crusaders. Those engines are capable of running wide open at 450 hp. all day. The 350 hp version is more like a big sewing machine. i was able to get them idiling smmothly at 450 rpm. The problem with that is the boat would not move when in gear at idle. With the 3 to 1 reduction gears, the shafts hardly turn at 450 engine rpm. I found that 800 rpm in neatral works great.