Hi there,
I have the Raider 18 Cuddy version. All in all the Raider is an excellent boat. You could do a hell of a lot worse. In my opinion a lot of nonsense is written about many small boats that usually simply comes down to ego. We all like our little boats and often consider them great when in reality that fact is simply based on what we have ACTUALLY experienced! In a nutshell the Raider is a high performance craft that is at an afordable price. It has many things going for it. In my opinon first and foremost this is fuel economy. I have recorded a round trip of 50 mile on the GPS which i done on a single 25L tank of petrol. This was in a flat calm sea but even still for those not in the know, this is mind blowing fuel economy on an 18ft boat. This was keeping to 23mph which is still a respectable speed with an 80hp four stroke engine.
Another big plus with the raider is the height of the gunnels. At 3 ft and a grab rail all round and also grab spots all over the boat this makes for a boat you would find very hard to fall out of. You feel very secure in a rolling sea inside a raider. when being thussled about there is always something to grab onto no matter where you throw your hand. This is something i particularly like about the boat.
The Raider is also a pretty stable boat as far as lean is concerned. She will lean if you put enough weight on one side like all boats will but in a normal balanced situation, two anglers can stand on one side without the boat leaning over. if this is done up at the helm position for whatever reason she will lean but will stop deada nd then lean no more. this is the only situation in which the boat leans really which is a big plus.
The Raider also has a very big deck area for fishing which if you normally just fish with one companion makes for a complete dream as far as space is concerned. real luxury. When it comes to to performance in choppy water the raider is very good and rarely slams. Compared with some of the seahogs on the market it certainly performs a lot better. with towing in mind i use a 4x4 but we spent the first year with the boat towing and launching her with a buddies 2L diesel Mondeo. This was a little dodgy on some slips but for the most part worked fine.
One of the design features Raider harp on about is that the boat is made from a different type of fibreglass matting that flexes more and absorbs shock better than standard materials. I don't know how much of this is true but the boat hull certainly flexes a bit and the hull slap of big waves is evident. I'm still undecided as to wether this is a good or a bad thing? Certainly if what they say is true then it is to be expected.
The Raider is an unsinkable craft. The hull apparently is split into chambers between the suport struts that are sealed with air inside. This means should the boat be holed than only one chamber is burst and the boat will still float. Some boats use bouyant foam which can lead to trouble if water gets into the hull. The foam can become water logged and when it freezes in winter can cause expansion problems all of its own...
When compared with the Warrior 175 there are a number of points that should be considered. I have not been out in a 175 but do know a couple of anglers that have one and by all accounts it is a heavy boat. It is also what most consider to be the best small angling cuddy boat. The difference between them is that when the sea gets really rough the 175 will plough through it banging and jumping but will still manage it at full throttle. The raider will manage it too but you will slow her down as you would a warrior 165 in the same sea. This obviously paints the 175 in a very good light when thinking of heading 30 miles out.
On the flip side what also needs to be considered is that the 175 is a much heavier boat and requires a 4x4 end of story. It also costs €10,000 more than the Raider. The deck area is slightly smaller and the fuel econmy is not near as good. This is a major factor if you already are shelling out big bucks to run a 4x4 for every day use and then have to run a boat that is heavyish on juice.
It really is down to what you can afford and how seriously you take your fishing. The Raider 18 is an excellent craft and performs exceptionally for a large small boat. It will out perform many of the craft that are available on the current market its performance in chop really is very good.and on par with the warrior 165. The Warrior 175 however is exceptional by the accounts i am told by those who own them.
All in all i am very happy with the Raider. It has so far been nothing but a pleasure and been well able for the fishing i do. I do not know how much faith i put in any manufacturers claims about anything so i am not going to pretend to back these up. It is worth mentioning though that the Raider was origionally designed and built by Raider themselves until the owner died and was then bought out by John Nicholson who origionally provided the trailers for the craft. The boats have since started to be manufactured in Poland instead of the UK. This has lead some to believe they are not of the same quality they once were as costs have been cut. I would argue that since the boat was origionally designed by a good boat builder that it is unlikely John (A trailer manufacturer) would mess around with a winning design. There is far too much to lose in an industry based on reputation. Manufacturing the boats in Poland simply makes economical sense. Having said that Warrior seem to have a reputation that is unsurpassed and produce a craft that is a lot more expensive but seem to spare no expense to produce a very high quality standard. Warrior it seems sell their boats with all the high quality fiittings fitted already. It seems to be their marketing strategy. With this in mind it makes sense to me that Raiderhave found their niche in the market just under the Warrior 175 that will suit those of us out there that don't have the money to splash out on a 175 first time round.
Hope this helps a bit.
Last edited by The Dirty Fecker on Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.