| Skeeter WX 2100 |
| By: Go Boating Test Team | 6/2/2008 12:57 PM |
| Last updated: 6/2/2008 12:57 PM |
Skeeter’s new-for-2008 WX 2100 was designed for northern big-water anglers. This multipurpose, multispecies fishing machine features a very deep V and 25 inches of freeboard for taking on the roughest water, including the Great Lakes, on the kind of days most anglers would stay home.
The WX 2100 boasts a huge front deck, five pedestal seat bases, seating for seven and enough storage to swallow up all the rods, tackle and even watersports equipment you can throw at it. Its transom is designed to accommodate both a kicker motor and a transom-mounted trolling motor. This full-featured fishing machine also comes with a matching tandem-axle trailer with disc brakes, a spare tire and a swing-away tongue.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
One glance at Skeeter’s WX 2100 will tell you that this boat is a complete fishing package. Our test boat was powered by a Yamaha F250 four-stroke, a Yamaha 8 hp four-stroke kicker for trolling and a Minn Kota Terrova trolling motor for holding the spot, even in strong winds. It comes standard with two flush-mounted Lowrance X135 fishfinders (bow and dash). It is also equipped with a livewell and two baitwells.
A handy feature is the extra-long cable for the foot control that allows you to operate the trolling motor from anywhere on the boat. The deep, center rod locker could easily handle eight rods — without a rod organizer. There’s a baitwell located on the port side, just in front of the driver’s console.
A built-in cooler is located amidships as you step through the walk-through windshield and down into the cockpit. The helm features a sporty tilt steering wheel, an ergonomic dash with a full complement of recessed gauges, a 12v power point and livewell controls. Our test boat was equipped with a Jensen AM/ FM/CD stereo (upgrade). The gunwale rod lockers — port and starboard — can handle trolling rods up to 10 feet. The snap-in cockpit carpet is standard and makes cleanups a whole lot easier.
Moving aft, two jump seats are flanked by a recirculating livewell that runs on a timer (port) and a baitwell (starboard). The 8 hp kicker (optional) on our test boat was tied into the main engine’s steering system, but it’s also available with a tiller handle. An integrated engine-mount transom boarding ladder is a great addition, and one that makes re-entry both easier and safer.
PERFORMANCE
Our 1,950-pound deep-V test boat exhibited decent acceleration, planing in 5.3 seconds and reaching the 30 mph mark in 9.2 seconds. We reached a top speed of 55.4 mph at 5800 rpm, near the top of the engine’s maximum rpm range. The WX 2100 has a maximum hp rating of 300, and equipped as such, would easily surpass the 60 mph mark. Our optimum cruising speed was a respectable 34 mph at 4000 rpm. At that speed, the WX 2100 has a range of 225 miles.
With little chop on the surface during our test, the best we could do was create some wakes of our own to test the WX 2100’s rough-water ride. As expected, the ride was dry, even in hard turns, thanks to all that freeboard and a full windshield, and the deep-V hull mowed down the 2-foot wakes effortlessly. We’d have preferred actual big-lake conditions, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.
This article first appeared in the June 2008 issue of GO Boating Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
