Damn pangas are awesome. Easy to trailer, no complicated steering or trim systems, easy to beach, fuel efficient and can handle heavy seas. Very impressive all around hull. They should be more popular in the western world, but we’re too fussy to adopt these great hulls.
Better than you might expect. With the right prop You should be able to get up on plane and cruise with a light load in the mid 20 mph range. This engine would be light; and easy to pull start. I would be very happy with this engine for my use; but if you want to haul heavy loads or go fast than a bigger engine might be better.
I tow the Eduardono Corvina 25 with a Minivan and it tows it really good. I pulled it out at a Saltwater Ramp that was pretty steep and no problem. I have the Corvina 25 with a Wood Floor and 5 Bench seats. All that weighed over 1300 pounds, without the floors and seats it's about 950 pounds. Panga Warehouse in Florida said I didn't have the pulling power. I pulled out the 2200 pound rig ( Boat, Motor, Aluminum Single Axle Trailer ) with ease. Didn't even gun the engine to pull it, it came out very easily. You listen to the pickup truck guys you'll think you can't tow anything. I didn't fall for that crap, I grew up towing a 2600 pound rig with a 1973 Ford LTD -rear wheel drive. The tires spun in the slime and still pulled the rig out of every saltwater ramp I went to on Long Island.
I have a 18’ Imemsa with a 40 Yamaha and we went out Boca Grande and survived 8’ seas in 20 knot winds. We didn’t think it was that bad until we got out there because we were protected behind Cayo Costa in the bay Area. Never again. I think if I had a lesser boat we would have been swimming that day.
You just gotta love all the replies saying this is not a 4-6 sea state... it’s like the most common comment that I get. To all you posers claiming to know about wave height cause you been in big seas and this ain’t them... do you have video? If you did it would look much smaller than you remember them. Remember that the small video you are watching on your smart phone does not show depth of field... it is real life stereo vision that gives depth of field. This is why even gnarly steep slopes look flat on video... and sea states look smaller. I ain’t selling nothing here... just a quick random video that I put up almost ten years ago now of a boat that always kicked butt and never let me down... even in 4-6 foot NOAA declared seas that turned a 40 foot Newton dive boat around in its tracks that I passed this morning as it was heading back in as I was heading out. For anyone who knows the Florida Keys... this is day one of the mini lobster season and we were the ONLY ones that went out past the reef that day... on a normal day there woulda been a hundred boats out there... ‘nuff said. I sold this boat 8 years ago... I still miss it. Would buy it back in a heart beat. Anyone got an Imemsa for sale?
From the start I said "I've been in the ocean at 20 mph in a skiff, and the waves are going by very slowly." At 1:37 you can see the GPS says 14.8. And that looks more like a three foot chop than six foot waves. At six foot they would be above the boat except when the boat was on the crest.
Hi James, Love the panga but I have two questions How was the forward visibility from the tiller steer position way aft? How did the sun shade affect the boats trim and balance at cruise? Must have watched this 500 times, freight to Australia is the big issue. $$$$
There are a lot of Asian countries that build them closer to you. Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, China. And there are some AUS companies that import them. There are a lot of cool AUS bar crossing inshore tinnies. Some with hydrofoil options.
Hello! That looks like Sombrero Reef lighthouse? looks like you love this boat for the Keys waters then? Seaworthy with a super shallow draft! Best of both worlds!
No not all all. Very light control forces. No problems handling it for anybody. Some people did have problems with the pull start though For me first pull every time. For my wife... she was never able to start it once despite he strongest and most heroic efforts.
Everyone that describes Japanese fishing boats, describes them as pangas; they seem different: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ssJRdRIK620.html Are they the same geometry, as the japanese Yamaha design or are they different?
"Panga" as aterm is often misunderstood to mean a small open boat... that is really not what makes a panga a panga. Panga is the latin American originated word meaning "machete" for a boat design conceived by Yamaha; specifically to attempt to sell more outboards in Latin America. It worked... the Japanese created the best boat design yet for the average latin American's needs; and sold them cheap as way to really sell more engines. They also did not try to limit the design; not prosecuting small boat designers from using there design or even directly popping molds off of the original Yamaha hulls... as they really just wanted to sell more engines. As I understand it it was one of the first attempts at computer aided design. A "true" panga meets several criteria... this is from memory and knowledge that is years in the past; so take it for what its worth. 1) Sharp bow entry with a more prominent bow above that can keep the bow from swamping as it plows into a wave 2) Delta pad running along the bottom of the hull 3) Length to width ratio of around 4:1 or greater 4) Infinatly variable deadrise This really creates a hybrid boat that has some high aspect ratio (narrow) highly efficient displacement properties; but that is easily able to transition into a fully planed state with no limitation on top speed At high speed it rides almost entirely on its delta pad; limited wetted surface drag and giving the efficiency of a flat bottomed boat. This means that the boat is super efficient at displacement or planing speeds; with a nearly perfect transition between the two phases... allowing the boat to travel at any speed; so you can travel comfortably and at the ideal speed in any sea state. Although designed for small simple vessels; the hull works equally well on larger boats; and those larger craft in Japan especially really meet most of the design criteria of "true" pangas. The decision to use panga design elements on larger vessels is really a design issue balancing two variables... the long slender hull with sharp entry is very fuel efficient; but rolls a lot especially when at not moving. With the price of gas today; its surprising more western boat manufactures have not chosen efficiency over rolling resistance and gone with a panga inspired design on a larger craft... but they sure as hell do in Asia.
I really appreciate you posting this. Please post more. My father and I have a 25' w/ 115hp on order....in Cape Coral from Roger. I'm so excited I can't tell you.
Great boat!! I have a 24' down in Honduras. Used a 40hp at first and would get on plain fine. Even with a heavy load. Just took a while. Than switched to a 115hp cause I gotta get where I'm going now
I'm not familiar with the Panga, but she looks pretty good to me. Does that have a deep V hull? I assume (heaven forbid:) that it does. I have fished in Puget Sound and been caught out in 6 ft. standing waves so I recognized the 6 ft. seas you were talking about. I had to get over a half doz. of those standing 6s with my little 14 ft HiLaker! I made sure that that never happened again! ;) Thanks for posting.
I finally got my eduardono panga built in Colombia. Its 22.5 feet and handles great in all weather conditions. I like eduardono versus the Mexican version because it has ZERO wood in the hull so no chance of rot. I get a lot of looks mostly in awe. The ones who don't like the boat simply don't get it. IMO the traditional panga is the best keep boat secret in the united states. it kills me to see people taking out huge loans to finance a $50,000 bay boat for trout fishing. People are stupid i and want to learn the hard way. I cant believe these boats are not more popular
+Timothy Heasman 6ft wave is possible even if it looks like waves were 12inches tool on the video. It's hard to catch wave height on camera. I myself took videos of 30knots, 12ft seas (bottom to crest) and on screen it looks like it was a nice sunny day. Disapointing !
thanks for your video. I am from Hong Kong that we always to have rough water situation, and yesterday I had 6 people on board with my fiber glass boat 21.8 feet (something from Chinese boat factory product BTW) with a Yamaha 115 2 stroke outboard on rough sea, seem same as this video trimming up the and let the boat head up a little bit and it make the boat going much more better! But guess how many fuel for my 36km trip....it included I use a 18hp our tohatsu outboard for trolling about 4 hours, the whole trip used 42 liters of gas. Although sprays all of our head, but it ride pretty good when I found I trimming up. I was surprised that your E-tec 65hp pushing some heavy gear plus man on board in rough sea still getting a BEAUTIFUL mpg, I think if i repower with E-tec 115hp should be much more better in future.
I grew up with these boats.Very reliable boat. We would go out 10miles deep sometimes on very ugly conditions. We wouldnt be rare to see 6ft seas, i remember the prop would come out of the water as we went down a wave. He has a 48 yamaha enduro and 22fter. My other uncle has. 25fter with a 78 yamaha enduro By far the most reliable boat out there. i want to get a 25 footer myself with maybe a 90
Hi James! Awesome panga you have there! I'm in the market for a new boat, and stumbled on Imemsa Pangas. I'm looking at a "BA W25" model and was wondering how you liked yours? Would you buy another one? Also, is there any way you could make a video tour of your boat? I'd love to see how you refitted her and your thoughts on Imemsa boats, or tips I should know. --Bill
Definitely a great boat. I build Pangas as a hobby btw. The comment about sea heights was meant as a joke. People in the South Atlantic tend to exaggerate wave heights and the further you travel west the much more powerful the ocean becomes and you really get to see what true wave height is all about. For instance people that surf on a so-called 6' day in California shit their pants when they see a six foot day at Sunset (Hawaii).. From my years piloting boats a six foot sea is one where you can't see over the tops of the waves when you are in the trough. From your camera angles, I don't see any spots where I can't see the next wave.
I love this boats. Have experienced them in mexico many times. They usually push em w tiller 40’s. But totally agree with you on wavw height. For a low boat like these 6’ waves would look like walls. 1-2’s w a 4 sec freq. at best.
Hi All and thanks James to confirm my thoughts! My little SKIFF550 with 40 HP and hand tiller works just fine! 23kts at 4500RPM! Can't get 55RPM right now, have to check the problem!... See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1xoPAAkUI5I.html Cheers guys!
Oh and for what its worth I eventually traded to a 4 bladed stainless steel prop that was designed to provide even more "stern lift". The now prop actually improved low speed handling even more, allowed it to get on a true plane a few MPH slower, and kept the nose down even lower; I only lost around 1mph at WOT
One of the reasons I posted this video was to demonstrate how well the boat performed on low HP; these same hulls are often used in Mexico with 40hp engines and still run great. When people try to "Americanize" these boats and add huge heavy engines the balance of the hull is thrown off, and the become stern heavy and bow light, and begin to pound and come down very hard and have excessive bow rise when trying to get it to plane off. People then go and install trim tabs to force the nose down, which of course increases drag and reduces efficiency significantly, so now they need more fuel etc etc.... A nice light simple panga is a beautiful thing and perfect in its simplicity, and should be powered with the engine they were designed for. Every individual panga has its own performance attributes and they all handle differently; IMHO the Imemsa W-25 demonstrated above is the best handling of them all, at least of the dozen or so different panga hulls I have spent a significant amount of time in. Most of the Americanized versions with heavy liners, massive battery banks, heavy oversized center consoles and modified hull shapes are not true pangas, they are panga influenced v hulls (and some of them are down right horrible and even dangerous; I test drove one of them in 2 foot slop and got my ass beat and almost ejected from the hull on a small wave) so please don't confuse these very different types of boats when making generalized assumptions about a "pangas" performance. The video above showing the w-25 speaks for itself.
James Raniolo Hi James, I hired a W-25BA in Cancun and wished I could have brought it home with us to Australia. Your choice of boats here is poorly built aluminium pigs or 25-40 year old fibreglass "projects". I would like ship one here to Perth (18,000 miles away) put a tower on it with clears to keep the cooler breezes off the kids. To compensate for the wind resistance I was thinking of the new light weight Bigtiller Merc 90 four stroke. Too much power? Anything to watch out for with these?
Dont worry about the haters. They are used to big named brands. They arent aware that the 25 ft panga can draft 6 inches and can get 9mpg with a 70hp, or that the 18ft panga can move over 40mph with a 40 outboard, can draft around 4 inches, and the hull only weighs in at 450 lbs. Their loss. Let them spend more for their Makos, Grady whites, and Sterlings.
Oh and far as the chop. I know from experience that when you film a rough day or take pictures of it, it never looks as bad as it really was. The way the bow was coming up you should be able to gauge that unless you have nevwr been in 6 ft swells.
Something same as Hong Kong in here, i saw so many of boater using FRP boat built from China but install a heavy motor on it, as I saw there most of them didnt do weight balance from 21-25 feet, all just raise up the bow and pound hardly all of the time, specially in Hong Kong water so many giant ship in out and ferry travel all the time, ship's waves really terrible.
James Raniolo thats very true id like your technical analisis, japanese design its all the benefit... true engeneering, pangas are efficient work horse
What's up with all the haters claiming these are not 5-6 foot seas? Video doesn't show it real well but I have no reason to exaggerate about the conditions, it is simply a video shot and posted somewhat randomly showing what a simple tiller controlled boat without trim tabs can do offshore. Greg, I can assure you that a 6 foot sea is exactly the same whether it is in The Atlantic or the Pacific... and the video in the first section the size of the seas quite clearly, and NOAA records don't lie if you care to look it up. This video was shot in the morning of the first day of mini-lobster season near Sombrero light house(seen in background) off of Marathon in the Florida Keys... there should be two hundred boats out there this day and there is only one, mine. This area is perhaps the most congested boating waters in the nation, on the most congested day of the year and we are the ONLY ones out there. On the way out we had to come straight into the swell, and did so at 12-14mph and passed a bunch of other boats including a 40 ft Newton dive boat getting its ass kicked; we were THE ONLY boat that made it over the reef to the good dive sites that day; and for lobster mini season in the keys that's saying something. I took my limit of nice big bugs on the first dive. I sold this boat and moved to Wyoming; but I have a deal with the guy I sold it to that when he sells it, I get first dibs.
Nice video, but not 6' seas. That looks like an average day off the California coast and we get all kinds of boats heading over to Catalina and the Channel Islands on much, much bigger days. Don't get me wrong. I love Pangas and am building a 26' right now, but that aint 6' seas. I have lived off the Gulf (Mexico), the Atlantic (Florida), Pacific (California) and Hawaii. A 6' sea in the Gulf and Florida is considered a 3' sea in California. In Hawaii it's considered chop.
