Legend Boats, anyone know about these?

[sperrin]

I've been looking into maybe getting a new boat this year and came across these Legend boats, there canadian made and look like a nice boat? They seem like the same kind of boats as Lund, Alumacraft or Crestliner ....Does anyone know much about these or if there any good? Here is there site.

http://www.legendboats.com/en/view/boat/category/full_windshield

Stevo

[Lifeguard]

Hey Stevo,
Did you get a Legend??  I'm within weeks of buying one, and was wondering what you think.  I'm looking at the Legend 18 xcaliber with a 115 Merc 4-stroke.  Any opinions on this rig would be greatly appreciated!!

[sperrin]

We did end up looking at some, but the prices at the dealers here in Manitoba were quite abit more then what was on Legends website. They look like an alright boat though. I've read reviews on both good & bad things about them. But overall I think there a decent boat. But I've never had one in the water.

We actually ended up buying a Lund Pro Sport Walleye 1600 with a 75HP Yamaha 4 Stroke on it. Really looking forward to hitting the water with it in the next week or so.

Stevo

[HighlandGlen]

i think youll be happier with the lund, ive never owned a legend but heard there just not made quite as well as the lunk or alumacraft, not as many rivets and smaller gauge aluminum is what ive heard, know of a few people that have alumacrafts that are very happy with them, my dads cousin owned Winnipeg Sport and Leisure till they sold and has an alumacraft, picked that over any boat he had in the store....personal preference or other knowledge...not sure, hope that helps, but there all good when there new im sure

[Lifeguard]

Well, I appreciate the responses.  Yes, the Lunds are definately a good boat, EVERYONE in my family has one.  The one thing I was looking at with the Legend is I like the idea of the welded seams (no rivets to leak), and the hull is warranted to never leak.  And actually, the Legends have thicker aluminum than the Lunds.  They have 0.100 aluminum on both the bottoms AND sides.  I really like the features of the boat as well, I just wish they weren't force feeding me a Merc.  I'd much rather have a Honda or a Yamaha.  Oh well, we'll see.  Thanks for the opinions guys and if anyone else has had experiences with a Legend, please post it, good or bad.

[sperrin]

Ya Im sure they all make a pretty good boat these days. But the welded seems was what first interested us to those legends also. They sound like there made quiet well from the specs I've read about them but I agree with you about being force fed the Merc motors....most of the legend boats are under powered from what I've heard.

Hope you find what your lookin' for.

Stevo

[5 X Master Angler]

Well, I appreciate the responses.  Yes, the Lunds are definately a good boat, EVERYONE in my family has one.  The one thing I was looking at with the Legend is I like the idea of the welded seams (no rivets to leak), and the hull is warranted to never leak.  And actually, the Legends have thicker aluminum than the Lunds.  They have 0.100 aluminum on both the bottoms AND sides.  I really like the features of the boat as well, I just wish they weren't force feeding me a Merc.  I'd much rather have a Honda or a Yamaha.  Oh well, we'll see.  Thanks for the opinions guys and if anyone else has had experiences with a Legend, please post it, good or bad.

If I am not mistaken the Mercury motors are made by Yamaha!

[Lifeguard]

Ya Im sure they all make a pretty good boat these days. But the welded seems was what first interested us to those legends also. They sound like there made quiet well from the specs I've read about them but I agree with you about being force fed the Merc motors....most of the legend boats are under powered from what I've heard.

Hope you find what your lookin' for.

Stevo

Yes, they are certainly underpowered if you take them stock.  I'm going to fork out to upgrade the motor from the stock 50 up to the 115 horse 4-stroke.  I can't imagine getting a boat that's rated for a 135 with only a 50 on it.  I can't afford to jump up to the Verado's.

And from what I understand, Merc and Yamaha combined forces on only one of their motors, and I don't remember which one.  It was supposed to a Honda killer.

[brycer]

Yes never ever buy a boat that doesnt have at least 85% of rated hp.  It kills performance and more so resale.
And as for a honda killer that wouldnt be hard as they are way behind everyone in 4 stroke outboard performance. 

[Lifeguard]

Ok, I just pulled the trigger on an 18 Xcaliber with the 115 hp Fourstroke Merc.  I'll be picking it up this weekend, so I'll give you guys some first impressions and then keep you updated on what I think of it.  Thanks to everyone for there opinions.

[sperrin]

Ok, I just pulled the trigger on an 18 Xcaliber with the 115 hp Fourstroke Merc.  I'll be picking it up this weekend, so I'll give you guys some first impressions and then keep you updated on what I think of it.  Thanks to everyone for there opinions.

Hey Lifegaurd....good luck on the new boat. Hope it turns out to be a good one! Im in love with our "new" to us LUND!!! The only problem is we didn't have it 10 years ago.

Tight lines,
Stevo

[Lifeguard]

Ok, as promised here's my likes and dislikes about my 18 xcaliber with the 115 merc 4-stroke.  I love the versatility of this boat.  Leave the back bench seat up, put all four pedestal seats in the bases behind the windshield, and put the bow cushions down, and it seats 8 pretty comfy with the possibility of nine if you want to put three across the rear bench.  Not great this way for fishing, but great for cruising.  Fold the bench down, and put a pedestal seat there and take out the bow cushions and put another pedstal seat up front, and you have a great fishing machine for four with front and rear livewells, a huge rear casting deck, a nice size front casting deck, and in floor rod storage.

The full stand up top with side and aft curtains as well as bow cover come STANDARD with the boat, and work very well.  I've already been caught out on the river by a few thunderheads, and was able to stay dry and comfortable and continue fishing.  A top should be standard on every boat.  The factory stereo included with the boat does the job, but is nothing great, and the speakers are mediocre at best.  The swim platform is great when you want to go for a dip, but can be a little annoying when fishing out of the back.  The lowrance x-50 fish finder SUCKS!!!  I've tried playing with the transducer several times, but it usually cannot track bottom unless you are pretty much stopped, and even then sometimes it won't find bottom.  It's also told me that I'm in 150' of water when I was in about 12'.  Not impressed, I think it's going to be replaced this coming summer with a Humminbird 997.

Now, I've already done a small mod to my setup.  The stock setup took FOREVER to get on plane, so I added a Stingray 1 fin to the cavitation plate.  Now it jumps up on plane with no hestiation.  Top speed before the fin was about 42 mph, now that has dropped to about 38mph, however I'm still not done playing with it yet.  The merc also idles right down and trolls very nicely as well.   The hull carves the water pretty nicely, however the reverse chines on it are pretty small for a boat this size.  I've taken it out in some of the bigger waves, and it certainly handles the waves fine, but there is a good chance you are going to get wet in the big stuff (unless you put up your top and curtains).  I'm thinking that when it comes to hull design, there are others that do it better.

Now a few of my pet peaves.  Number one has to be the lack of clearance when you want to trim the motor up for shallow water.  I like to explore the shallow bays and creeks I come across while fishing, and if the bench seat is up, it is impossible to bring the motor up to creap into the shallows, things improve somewhat with the bench folded down and a pedestal seat there, but it's still a little too tight.  Also, if you fold the bench down, you cannot leave the two rear pedestal seats in there bases, and it's probably less than an inch from being able to do it.  I'm sure they could have tweaked the design a little to allow this to happen.  Also, I don't know why they didn't take the design for the front casting deck from the 18 extreme and use it in the 18 xcaliber.  This would have given a larger livewell AND more storage up front.  I think what they have now is a waste of space.  It sure would be nice to have somplace to store those bow cushions onboard as well.  The travel cover that I got with my boat is great and sucks all at the same time.  The cover itself is great, and works well.  The snaps that are used to attach it to the boat suck.  It would be fine if they would stay together, but the snaps literally fall apart.  When I picked up they boat, after they had taken me through everything, we put the cover on, and it was missing about 6 snaps already.  The dealership went and put them back on for me before I left, but I'm continuing to lose a few.   I'm going to take it back to the dealership at the end of the season and get them to replace the missing ones.  Hopefully there were just a bunch of bad ones.

All in all, I'm very happy with my boat.  Is it the best boat on the water, well that depends on what you want to do with it, but if you want a boat that is great for fishing, but can be a great family cruiser as well, then definately have a look.  Want strictly a hardcore fishing boat, there are probably boats that are a little better than this one, however this one still does it very well.

Update:   Had it up to 45 mph going into about 2 foot waves and a headwind this weekend with the fin on.  I can't wait to take it out when it's like glass and see what I can get out of it.  Had it in 5 foot rollers too, and it handled them beautifully.  Very happy with this weekends performance.

Update:  Now had it up to 47 mph, and still had a little left.  I backed off because I thought I was starting to over rev the engine, but after looking in the owners manual I still had about 700 rpm to go before I hit the recommended top rpm for WOT.  Still more playing to do.  Might try a different pitched prop as well.  Loving my boat more every time I take it out.

[sperrin]

Great review!!

Really detailed, thanks for the update. That would have helped us out alot when looking for a new boat.

Stevo 

[lapworth2005]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Legend Xcalibur 16 with a Merc 75 4-stroke. Would this size and power be good enough for fishing and some watersports (tubing)?

If need be I will go bigger to a Xcalibur 18 with a Marc 115 4-stroke.

[Lifeguard]

Certainly would be good enough for some fishing, and as long as you don't plan on pulling more than one waterskier/wakeboarder at a time, I would think it'll be alright for watersports as well.  My buddy has a 16 foot Crestliner with a 70 hp 2-stroke, and he's good for about 30-35 mph top end.  His two stroke has alot more low end torque compared to the four strokes though and that is what you would need for watersports.  I would talk to the dealer about it, if they are a reputible dealer they should be able to give you some good advice without pushing for the upsell.  

One thing I would recommend is that you look at a stingray hydrofoil for on the motor.  My 18 xcaliber with the 115 4-stroke would have had a nasty time pulling up a skier because it took forever to plane without pulling anything.  Now I'm sure it would have no trouble at all.

Another thing that I'm looking at for on my boat is a Propulse propeller.  It is a composite propeller that you can very the pitch of the prop on the water using an allen wrench, as well as you can replace a broken blade with an allen wrench just in case you find that log or stump.  If you want more info, do a search on youtube for Propulse.  I haven't tried one of these props yet, but it looks to me like it would be worth it, even if it's just to figuire out what pitch of prop you would want in say a stainless or aluminum prop.  It would be great for playing around with the pitch to find the right balance of low end grunt for watersports and performance.