Tuna boat for Irish owner By Phil Lockley / South West Focus
UK sea anglers at present have their antlers locked with commercial fishermen over the minimum landing size of bass, writes Phil Lockley.
But many sea anglers now travel to Ireland to catch a species that is arguably a better tasting fish, a better (pound for pound) fighting fish and one over which anglers and commercial fishermen are not at loggerheads - tuna.
Two weeks ago, Somerset firm Lyme Boats handed over a fast (Vigilante 33) American-style charter boat rigged for catching tuna to Skipper Richard Timony from Co Donegal.
Other Irish commercial fishermen are looking at leaving the white fish industry to take up charter angling and one has placed an order for a Vigilante 33.
The Vigilante 33 was designed jointly by Plymouthbased Bruce Sexton-Barrow, and Lyme Boats' chief Brian Pogson. The design is aimed at both commercial fishing and the angling/diving charter market and has already clocked-up some impressive performance figures, according to Brian Pogson.
Skipper Timony, who has named his vessel Smoothhound, returned to Lyme Boats after previously purchasing from them a new 26ft fast potter, Nico.
He told FN that he had been successful at lobster fishing but felt there was a better future in charter angling.
He said: "I had a couple of fast charter boats before I went into commercial fishing, but I wasn't totally happy with them.
"I saw the Vigilante 33, which is a practical boat, big enough to sleep aboard and, for the poor weather we have all too often off Co Donegal, she has superb sea keeping qualities. She's a fine boat, she's economical and she won't burn a hole in my pocket.
"Some may believe that the engines I've fitted - two legdriven Yamaha ME432s with a total power of 630hp - are bound to be fuel hungry but that isn't the case. It's unlikely that they will ever be run at more than half throttle and an engine that runs flat out is always expensive in one way or another.
"I need the power-in-hand because although the tuna are to some extent on our doorstep, I need speed for searching and spotting tuna shoals. Also, anglers pay for fishing time and they don't like to spend time travelling at a slow speed.
"Having leg drives is also important. Outside my house is a small, tidal quayside and it would be silly not to use it - I just have to lift the legs and it's OK, the boat sits there safely on a soft bottom.
"I am used to having leg drives, as my last Lyme Boats' craft, Nico, which was powered by a Yamaha ME422, had a leg drive fitted and I had no problems at all, it performed excellently."
Lyme Boats is owned and run as a family business.
Brian Pogson is a former fisherman and trained boat builder, and his wife Julie and three sons - one of whom is currently studying boatbuilding at college - plus four local craftsmen complete the team.
Brian Pogson said: "We are very pleased with Smoothhound's performance.
On the journey back from Plymouth to Kilmore Quay it took Richard just under 12 hours to cover 240 nautical miles. There was a big swell in some places, like round the Lizard - the weather was simply against him, so we are delighted with his average speed of 20 knots.
"The total fuel consumption for the journey was 600 litres, working out to five gallons per hour for each engine.
There was a tank containing one ton of fuel on deck in case extra fuel was needed, but there was plenty in the wing tanks, so considering the extra weight we were chuffed to bits with a performance like that."
On trials off Plymouth Smoothhound achieved a top speed of 37.5 knots, but with tuning of the engines and/or propellers she will make her design speed of over 40 knots, said Brian Pogson.
Brian and Julie have developed their own style of wheelhouse that has the appearance of a North American fast vessel and has already gained many favourable comments.
The hull is aimed at the European market and Brian explained that the style may vary to some extent depending on the skipper's wishes.
"We have done away with the deepkeel design, because as soon as any keel is put on a fast boat the speed drops, " he said.
"Also, a wide keel adds to the lift of the hull and, once on the plane, that keel will force the boat to 'chine ride', effectively fall over to one side and stay there - it's a terrible problem we want to avoid.
Our design is not a mismatch of ideas, it's a top class fast workboat.
"We have designed a very beamy, deep V-shaped hull which has a three-chine design. The outer chine is massive, it has a four-degree downturn and all three chines run right through to the transom.
"With the mould we have the option to fit a small keel, which will not affect its performance, or a big tunnel, keeping the shaft at an optimum down-angle of seven degrees if conventional transmission is chosen.
"Or we can produce the boat with just a P bracket and hung rudder, or with protection for the rudder - there are all sorts of configurations available."
Skipper Timony has chosen a deck layout with the objective of spotting tuna and heading to the shoal as fast as possible.
"There was no need for a bridge deck to be fitted - why have more windage?" he said.
"I have a ladder to a viewing platform on the wheelhouse and that is ample. We will be covering many types of tuna line fishing, from using telescopic trolling poles mounted either side to trying live bait fishing - it's a matter of trial and error."
The vessel is also fitted with Oilwind jigging machines that will double as small winches for the tuna pole gear, and a Seawinch slave hauler for lifting the anchor and/or other duties.
Smoothhound is fitted out to a high standard, with stainless steel used throughout and an impressive package of electronics in the plush wheelhouse. A single bunk is fitted in the forepeak and twin fold away bunks are available in the wheelhouse.
It has full galley facilities, plus a toilet/shower and Skipper Timony is so confident of his craft that he has become the Irish agent for Lyme Boats and for Oilwind jigging machines. He says his two-stop journey to Co Donegal has already brought interest from fishermen and charter skippers from the south east and south west coasts of Ireland.