Viking 52 Open vs. CABO 52 Express

Just for the basics, the non skid is weird on the Viking, its like sand paper where as the Cabo has a nice non skid, the bite on it isnt too much so you cant clean it(like a Tiara =D)) but just right. The fish boxes opened up in like sections, not one big door. Also something about the gunnel. There were some other things but I forget.. Either way, whatever boat you get it will be great, but we really enjoy the Cabo.

At a later boat show with the recession and stuff, I asked a guy from the Cabo factory about yacht sales and he said that overall their sales werent down much, and there were many more buyers over in Europe while the US market was a bit little slower.. but that was like a year ago when the Euro was a bit stronger.

Anyways, I have loads of photos from when we visited the factory and updates that they sent us.. some of the boat/monster wake and some of a couple of big eye tunas we caught. let me know if you wanna see them.

dunno how to resize the pics. there already on photobucket.

These photos are from when we first visited the factory: (note the neat wires, they are all labeled and the manual says which is what so if there is an error at sea you could probably fix it)

The last image is when the boat was delivered. The 45 is the largest size they deliver by truck, I think, the 52 is tankered the whole way. Obviously to Europe too...

Fishing Photos:

Cruising out to the canyons..


Trolling before night


Sunset


Trolling photos from the tower




End Result...




Heres the baitbox side with the Freeze Plates.. these are great even though its an expensive option.. keeps the fish, nice fresh and cool. I cant find the photo from the other side where theres a ice chipper installed into the baitbox so you can make ice a sea.. never need to buy ice again.

One more of the tower:

Nice boat, and what a gorgeous day. Is that Star Island you're at?

What engines does yours have? I've run most all engine combinations in the 45' and seem to like it with c18's the best. It cruises at 30.8 knots with them. The 45' likes to run with the aft tank full and transfering the bow tank down and keeping the aft tank full and some trim tab at cruise.......The 45' is my favorite in the entire lineup, Cabo is coming out with a 52' FB boat this year.

Actually the 52' is trucked to the east coast as well, but only as far as Savannah, GA where props are installed and engine startups done and it is then usually run down to Fort Laud usually for tower/electronics/ etc. (many of the US dealers like pipewelders) or to be shipped overseas.

Cabo is the only company in the Brunswick lineup posting a profit right now from what I've heard. There sales are down all over, regardless of what you've heard. They made 130 boats in 2004, 76 in 2008, and 60 are slated for this year. Also Cabo used to build spec boats and then sell them after they were done to a dealer or overseas to keep the production line full, now they are only building on orders.

Which one

TK
I've fished on both but smaller versions. The Cabo works so well as a pure fishing boat, you can get them rigged both for East or West coast fishing. For Med or Red Sea fishing, IMO a West coast rig is closest, with some tweaking.

For a bit of cruiseing thrown in, the Viking is a good option. I know you have the big boat, so a real, pure fishing boat around your home port(charter option?) the Cabo may be a thought.(my fave).

Fish

Advice1,

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When I worked at the Viking service center many of the captains of the 52's said they would rather be on a 52 than a 56 or 48. I only heard nice things about them. The 52 express and a high HP package is a bit skittish at higher speed however. Vikings wiring is labeled every few feet with the function on the wire if I recall correctly (IIRC), so there is no disadvantage in wiring. IIRC the 54 was introduced in '07- the 52 has been around for longer. I may be corrected by someone on that though.

ah yeah, your right it is trucked to GA.. someone told me they ran one up to MA to install a tower in the middle of the winter withouth any top on it =D. my dad has the 1100 MANs.

TK

Sorry bud,

On the East Coast we fish mostly near the surface, first 30'.

On the West Coast, Pacific, which is much deeper and less swelly so we use down-planers and go a bit deeper.

Near the Italian Coast, down passed Malta towards Libya, the swordfish are on the surface but the tuna go a bit deeper, hence the down-planers.

25 years knocking-about does help also.

Fish

p.s. I forgot to say the Viking is one of the the best looking boats on the market, you could spend all day looking at it.

We call them "Down Riggers" here. Basically a large heavy lead Ball that lowers the flasher with bait a 100+ feet for the real BIG boys.

Nice illistation of 1 million rigs you pay your skipper for, tough call to go with the ball or flat planes

I prefer a wire line myself with a 48 ounce weight on it and a shock leader. Planers and downriggers are too much work. hehehe

to be honest , both the Viking 52' Open and the Viking 52' Sport have also the three cabins option and with MAN 1360 they reach 40 knots too ( with a much lower fuel consumption ..... )