G3 Sportsman 19

[TheSilverFox]

I put this in the tin forum but I guess I should put it in here. I came here first looking for owners so I'd imagine others will too. I haven't had it on the water yet since I just picked it up yesterday. I will try to update this as I put some time on the boat. I bought the carpet model. It came with a Lowrance 5" GPS mounted in dash and from the looks of it that's as big as you can fit unless you cover up some of the gauges. A 7" graph could probably be mounted with a custom mount that wouldn't be too bad or "in dash." I had them install the power pole sportsman model. I also had them change out the SHO motor and put a F150LB grey motor on it. It currently has a 19 Yamaha prop on it. Seems small but we will see.

[Cape Fear]

Nice looking boat! I left the dash area covered where the graph would go and opted for a Lowrance Elite 9" mounted to the right of the console. The dealer only had a 6" ram mount at the time but I am going to replace it with a 6" Balzout like I have on my glass boat.

[TheSilverFox]

Thanks. I have a couple Helix 9s I'm going to put on it after I break in the motor in. I want to make sure everything is right with the boat before I put too much time into setting it the way I want it. I left the Lowrance 5 since it was already installed by the dealer. The front unit wasn't installed and I'm not going to use it anyways. I think it may have the same transducer so I will probably keep it in case I rip the other off. The side scan transducer looks like it's going to be difficult to get right. I will probably have to put it on the port side.

I do like the storage space this boat has. The 2 center compartments are huge. I'm not a fan of the slope in the front one but I may change my mind after I use it. The back one has a divider with tackle storage on one side. The other side slopes like the front. All of the boxes are carpeted as well as the lids too.

[Cape Fear]

I used a cargo net that would divide the slope from the flat part of the storage unit to keep things from sliding back. I keep life jackets, throw cushion and a few items towards the very front. The netting has worked out very well. I don't carry a lot of gear in this boat like I do in my bass boat so storage has not been a problem. I leave the 2 back compartments empty so my partner has a place to put his tackle there.

[TheSilverFox]

Where did you get the net? I thought about a piece of plexiglass... but then I read where someone said they used a net (may have been you if you've ever posted that before on here) and that sounded like it may work better. I figured life jackets would be what I'd put up there also.

[Cape Fear]

I got it from Amazon and it is made by Rig Rite. They came with 4 clips to attach the netting. Some fabric stores carry netting for making backpacks and such but our local store was out of it when I was in need of some. You would think G3 would carry more accessories for their boats.

[TheSilverFox]

There's really no nice way to say this... if I was running G3 I would fire anyone and everyone involved in advertising and social media. The G3 Sportsman show is a joke. The guy in the camouflage 19 that I'm assuming they sponsor sucks. The guy doing the reveal video for the Sportsman series boats doesn't even know the specs of what he's trying to reveal. It's a total cluster. I've spoken with their social media person and who ever that is sure didn't do anything for helping me make my mind up about G3.

It's kinda like they know there's a market for a bass rig in the mod v boats and they just want to be in it but don't care enough about it to go out and try to own the market. I told them my thoughts on it but I doubt it's going to make a difference. We shall see.

[Datkins]

What length net did you buy?

[Cape Fear]

I absolutely agree with you Silver Fox concerning obtaining information on the G3 website. You would think in this day and age they would have a owners board to help exchange information on their product. I know the owners board on Bass Cat's website has helped me tremendously over the years. Maybe if more G3 owners find out about the forum on this site we can get more exchange of information.

[Cape Fear]

What length net did you buy?

It was the Rig Rite 1400. It was the closest thing I could find that would cover the area.

[Datkins]

Awesome. Thanks

[TheSilverFox]

Got the first of the 2 hours of break in done today. That was painful... and cold. Really like the boat so far. Probably got 2 1/2 -3 hours total on it.

[Datkins]

Yeah that break in period sucks

[Cape Fear]

The break in period is a killer indeed. When I did my first 2 hours of break in I picked a lake that I wanted to do some detailed graphing to make the best of it. I still need to put a few more hours on mine to finish the initial 10 hour period but when the daytime lows are in the 20's and highs are only in the mid 40's it may be a while.

[TheSilverFox]

Man am I lazy. Boats still sitting in this garage with all the equipment boxed up ready to be installed. I've sent the transducers off to Humminbird for exchange and I imagine they will be here within a few days. I waiting around sending them off since we went out of town for Christmas and then again for new years. I didn't want them sitting on the porch for someone to steal. I'm figuring that I'm going to have to go to a 20P or 21P prop. I haven't run the boat much but from what I've seen running in the river it looks like it's going to top out at 50mph but have more trim and rpm to spare. I want to wait to load the boat before I make any changes. I know I can turn it over 6000 and I didn't gain any speed after 5800 or so.