While I haven’t fished out of Westport on a Ranger Tug, my experience with them is that they are just as seaworthy, if not more so, than many of the boats I see going out past the bar. I’ve been out there on a 24’ Pursuit a few times and it felt more squirrelly than rough what’re was on my R-25. I’ve been out in 6+ foot waves on that boat and the boat felt like it would handle way more than we were interested in. The new twin engine option on the R-27 would make me much more comfortable going out there with it. It’s not the fishing boat the Duckworth is. The Ranger Tugs are made for something else, but they should be capable of handling the bar and the water out there.
That said, the Ranger Tugs are cruising boats more than fishing boats. If your primary use for it is fishing, you may want to look at the Cutwater C-288. It is also built by Fluid Motion, but is slightly more focused on fishing, rather than cruising, so it has a live well for your tuna bait, and comes standard with downrigger pads rather than as an option, bigger motors, and a stepped hull design that’s supposed to perform even better in rough water, for example. It is more money though, and the R-27 is a really versatile boat, so I don’t think you’ll be limited with that one either if the cost is a major consideration.
