New Rampage 340 w/ IPS Makes Sportfishing History

We got on the new Rampage 340 at the
dealer meeting this summer before the first boat was even finished. The hull and
deck were complete, but the builder had not finished the interior, so had loaded the
boat up with lead pigs and concrete blocks to bring her up to the 17,200 lb. spec.
Nevertheless what we experienced when backing the boat down will be noted
in fishboat
history as the start of something very new and exciting. 

The business end of the new Rampage 340 as seen at the builder's dealer meeting this summer.

In the sportfishing boat world change comes at glacial speed. How different looking
is this year’s sportfisherman – from virtually any brand -- from the one they built
10 years ago? Recently we asked a builder what was different about his new convertible
and he said there was “more crown to the flybridge deck.” In fact, there is little
change on these boats for a number of reasons, one being that relatively few units
are sold and if they radically changed them every year no one could afford the re-tooling
costs. Plus, fishermen are by nature traditionalists.


Evolution to Revolution



The new Rampage 340 is the 33’ model that has evolved. But rather than being a glacial
change, this one may well be one giant step forward for the whole category of sportfishing
boats. You see, the 340 comes equipped with twin Volvo Penta 435-hp IPS 600 units
– and the boat is one of the very first hard-core fishing machines built in America
with pod drives.



The folks at Volvo Penta have been saying for quite some time that the IPS system
was made to order for offshore fishermen, but most traditional builders have been
waiting for someone else to try it. Now, the Rampage folks have.


The Back Story



Our Director of Testing, Capt. Robert Smith, traveled this summer to the Rampage
dealer meeting to test hull #1, the prototype. Earlier in the summer the hull had
been trucked from Oconto, WI to Chesapeake City, VA to the American home office
of Volvo Penta. There she would be fitted out with a pair of IPS 600s.



Hauling new hulls or boats to the Volvo Penta test center has more or less been
standard operating procedures for American builders trying out their first IPS drives.
They send the hull, or nearly complete boat, to Virginia so that Volvo Penta’s engineers
and designers can make sure first hand that the proper hull modifications are made,
installation is correct, and performance is maximized. For boats that are built
from scratch expressly for the IPS units, Volvo Penta is usually asked to get involved
in the design process right from the beginning.



This procedure is unusual, but then there has never before been an innovation quite
like pod drives.


On the Road Again



Once Volvo Penta was satisfied with the boat’s performance --sans deck but loaded
with weight to simulate the 340’s finished displacement -- she was put on a truck
and rushed back to Oconto. There the factory put the deck on, and as we said, filled
with lead pigs and concrete so the boat could be demonstrated at the company’s annual
summer dealer meeting – and, be tested by Capt. Smith.



A video was made of Capt. Smith’s performance trial and it is currently being edited
and you will see it in a few weeks. But a chat with Capt. Smith will leave little doubt
how impressed he was with the boat’s handling characteristics, especially backing
down. Smith said, “We backed her down hard, putting her through her paces, bobbing
and weaving, going from forward to reverse in the flick of a wrist, cork-screwing
port and starboard to chase an imaginary billfish hell-bent on staying off somebody’s
office wall. Once you have seen this boat in action, there should be no doubt in
your mind about the efficacy of pod drives on a sportfisherman.”



The twin IPS 600s pushed the 340 to 41.6 mph WOT getting 1.0 mpg. Her “best cruise”
was in a range that stretched from 2500 rpm, going 24 mph and getting 1.32 mpg to
3250 rpm going 35 mph, getting 1.23 mpg – virtually the same mpg throughout the
range.



For Capt. Smith’s complete test and video, keep an eye on these pages.



See tests of five Rampage Sportfishermen…