2018 EYRA 20 hour update.

Just wanted to offer a few thoughts on my 2018 Eyra after making several trips and spending a good bit of time riding/testing the new rig. I previously owned a 2014 so I was already very familiar with the Eyra Hull and Mercury 250 pro xs 2 stroke. Same hull, same engine. Mostly equipment changes and some new additions from bass cat.First off, the aluminum trailer upgrade is spectacular in my opinion. This thing is beefy! It trailers great and looks great as well. Very happy that I went with this upgrade for our brackish waters in South Louisiana. Im still on the fence about the Stalker wheels as I wanted the Bass Sport wheels but they were not available at the time. Im getting used to them but would entertain trading or selling once the Bass Sports are available if anyone is interested. A simple change but one that was much needed is the day box with the separate storage lid. This is much more convenient and increases an already very efficient storage platform. The new push button deck lighting is a very nice upgrade over the old flip lights. The coffin storage compartments on the front deck are lined with non skid material on the bottom which is nice. The Coffin storage on the front deck is one of the main reasons I went back with an Eyra. It really is a better mouse trap in my opinion. Everyone gets a kick out of the Bass Cat logo lighting on the carpet and the puddle light on under the step up on the trailer. The Kicker stereo is very nice. I like tunes while Im on the water and this system sounds really nice and can be blue toothed to your music on the phone. The new seats are very, very comfy. They offer more support laterally and more cushion and they look better. Very nice upgrade here. I switched to Humminbird Helix 10s on this one instead of Lowrance HDS 9s on my 2014. So far I really like them. Yes, I miss the touch screen but I had so much trouble with my Lowrance touch screens going out on the 2014 I didnt want to go down that road again. The sonar is sharper on the Helixs and the side imaging is sharper. The Helix base map is much better than the Lowrances and I put the La. Delta card in with the satellite imagery and it is a really good chip for down here. The Hummindbirds are also much easier to see in the sunlight than the HDSs were which was always a pain. I went with the Ultrex trolling motor which by now most of you know is well worth the money. I know its heavy and may affect top end slightly but my feelings so far are that it is worth it and then some. It took me a trip or so to get used to the Ultrex steering but now its like money! Im still learning all the little features but love it so far. I had an Atlas Hydraulic on the last one and this one has the Bobs hydraulic plate. The atlas was a nice plate but the Bobs is better in my opinion. Its much faster and I do mean much faster. It allows me to take off in shallow water with the plate all the way up and its fast enough that I can lower it without too much blow out as I get up. This is important to those of us fishing and running in extremely shallow water. I had One power pole on my 2014 and this one has 2 power poles. The advantages are obvious and I am glad I went with the dual poles. Performance wise, I havent played with props much and Im running my Old 24″ Fury 3 blade (Ronnie Gilbert tuned) for now. I figure after my 20 hour service Ill start messing around with top end to see what this one will really do. This prop on my 2018 is about 1 mph slower than my 2014 which is not a bad trade off considering the weight of the Ultrex and the second power pole. 77 mph with just me and a full load of tackle and fuel and 75-76 with 2 people. I know that isnt the speed most want from and Eyra but it will run considerably faster with a 25 or 26 fury. Im sure I will see 80 with this rig once I start playing with props a little. But the overall performance of the 24″ is really good and underrated in my opinion. One very impressive stat. I have the smart-craft gauges with MPG display and so far Im averaging 4.4 MPG and at optimal cruising speed of about 50-55 mph Im getting 5 MPG. Most of my cruising is at 50-60 mph so take those numbers for what they are worth. That is impressive to me as we make plenty of long runs down here. At top speed of course it drinks pretty heavy at 3.3 MPG. It seems to be more efficient than my last one and seems to lift a little better. I think thats pretty good numbers for a big boat with a 250. Ill update with some performance numbers after my first service but Im very, very pleased so far and feel like everything above was the right choice at this point. Chris CoupelPaulina, La.