Aspen C90 vs Ranger tug 27

[JollyRogers]

We were looking for an efficient stable platform for the short wave length waters of Lake Michigan. Before settling on a Ranger 29S, my wife and I took a long ride from Virginia Beach up the Eastern Shore to Maryland to look at both a Ranger and an slightly used Aspen 100 in the very same yard. We sea-trialed neither boat. We were seriously considering the Aspen 100 as the boat to beat on paper.

In person, there was no comparison despite the higher price tag for Aspen. The quality of the Aspen, after little use, was poor to say the least. The pilot house door no longer closed without great effort. The finish was already chalky. The berth area had carpeted over bolts that were wearing through and the interior was quite spartan in comparison to the Ranger. Access to the helm wiring was odd and unattractive from the main berth.

We left the yard with a clear (if dry) conclusion the Ranger was the better boat. Later that year (2017) we sea-trialed a Ranger 29S and were also impressed by its attitude in the water and overall performance (thanks to Reed Yacht Sales).

Finally, 3 weeks ago, we bought our 2016 (splashed 2018) 29S after saving the money to buy one.

Last Thursday night we foolishly put ourselves out in 5'-7' waves off of Michigan City, Indiana heading toward our home port of New Buffalo, Michigan. Though it was not a fun 10 mile ride with waves crashing into and over the port bow, our Ranger performed like a champ as did the Volvo Penta D4 260.

My two cents based on first person up close comparison.

 

[S@LTD]

We sea trialed the C100 and the R27 along with several other Fluid Motion models. From an engineering standpoint the efficiency of the C100 is really something. Cruise all day at 18 kts at less than 3 gph and the D3 Volvo doesn’t even sound like its breaking a sweat. Really nice cockpit too. Larry and Nick, founder and son, are great guys. For us though trailering is a big factor. Some of the ramps we use simply do not have the maneuverability room necessary for this boat (length and width). The C90 was better but cockpit was too small and engine access tough. From the admirals perspective she felt it was too noisy for sleeping with water slapping on two hulls, bathroom access was funky design/small given size of the boat, was very utilitarian for the money and too much space was lost for amenities and storage with the Cat design. Fluid Motion fit our preferences best.