How have you tuff tested your boat?

[PileDriver]

Ok fellow boat owners, we all know Triumph/Logic boats are the toughest boats on the water. A quick view of Triumph’s website can confirm this, but my question here is to the owner/operators of these boats. Hence, what is the worst thing you have ever put your boat through and just how well did it survive?


As for myself, having owned both a Logic and then a Triumph for the last 6 years I have definitely bumped a few docks and always amazed at the resilience of these boats. However, this is not the worse that has happen to me. About 2 months ago, we were returning from a successful day of chasing the early spring redfish in west Galveston bay. The weather was beautiful with a slight chop in the bay. So I decided to let my young guest take over the helm on our return. The young skipper (14yo) was listening to my commands and handling the boat well as neared our approach to the channel which leads to our subdivision’s canal system, so I figure I would allow the youngster to bring us all the way in. As we entered and passed the first set of channel markers, we were dead on course and cruising at around 25 knots, with the chop hitting us off the port. The young skipper was listening well and keeping to the port side of the channel in order to compensate for the chop, but as we approached the second set of markers, we were dangerously close to the port marker so I told the skipper to steer to starboard. Well, this was our undoing as a classic case of over correction ensued and when combined with the chop we were face to face with the starboard channel marker. Since there was absolutely no time to react we took out the pile (12” diameter) at full cruising speed just off the port bow (right over the port bow cleat). After impact I was able to gain control of the boat and came to a full stop. To my udder amazement, we were all unharmed and a quick survey of the boat found it to be seaworthy and in fact better then seaworthy. The same could not be said for the pile as it now laid completely over, which of course was reported to the local marine enforcement. Once we got the boat back to my dock and I was able to take a better look, I found the following, rub rail was knocked loose, bow rail was bent, and a rub mark on the hull. Yep you read it correctly, after that impact the hull only had a slight rub mark. Hence, a little elastomeric, some new SS screws the rub rail was back in place, a well placed foot and the bow rail was as good and new, and about 30 minutes with a heat gun and the rub marks were history! Hence, I full endorse Triumph’s claim as the world’s toughest boat!

PileDriver

[NCangler]

Great story and glad noone was hurt. I hate to ask but is that where your username came from?

[PileDriver]

Lol, as a matter of fact, it is! My current boat had remained nameless for almost 3 years, as I could never really think of anything I wanted to call it. Well after it took that pounding I figured it was only natural to name the boat "Piledriver". The fact that no one was hurt was amazing and actually has made not only me, but my fishing companions feel a lot safer in the boat. I can only imagine what a glass boat would have looked like.

[McSpadden]

PileDriver,

Many of my friends wanted to name my boat "Pinball" after my first incident of bouncing off trees on a local creek. That story and a more recent one where my boat won a match against a Ford Ranger can be found here.

Indestructible Triumph boat stories

These boats are definitly tough!!

[PileDriver]

Thanks for the link and the stories, glad to see I am not the only one that has had his boat tuff tested!

[BostonFisher]

Great story PileDriver! I can't beat that story I did put my new 195CC to the test a few weekends ago. I was drifting for flounder in the Boston Harbor and we got into some skates. My friend hooked a particularly fiesty one and I was helping him get it off the hook. All of sudden we hit something! It was a channel marker bouy. We drifted right into and and bounced off. It hit us on the starboard side and didn't even leave a mark although it seemed like a big impact at the time. Luckily my engine didn't make contact and everything was fine. Obviously I need to pay better attention when I'm drifting

[Jan from Humboldt]

Those types of tests as the boat will take a lot more than I can these days.

We don't stop as fast as the boats do when we plow into something, but we do stop when we fold over the steering wheel and that smarts.


I know my boat is tough, I just don't need to test it.

[Ewags1]

Why buy fiberglass? This boat didn't pass the test! I think we should get an insurance break for owning a Triumph.

[PileDriver]

wow outstanding pic, I wonder what speed they were doing.

[MolarBoater]

Other than launching my Bay 190 onto the concrete with barely a scratch, it has survived many trips with 5 young kids doing everything they can to destroy the boat. Other than the T-top/monkey bars, the swim ladder has been my best investment as per the kids!