Tested By Capt. Bob Smith
The Tracker Tournament V-18 is a pure fishing all-aluminum welded rig that just can’t wait to get in the water and on the fish. She has a limited lifetime warranty on her DuraTrack Deep V hull which is ideal for tournament-level fishing. She is designed to deliver a smooth dry ride in the chop and we had the chance to test that when we took her out on a wind-blown Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, MO. We had chop up to steady white caps on two afternoons and the V-18 handled the lake with ease, and rarely felt any spray at the helm when driving her.
The V-18 has a 12-volt, 52lb thrust, 42” shaft foot controlled trolling motor up front by Motorguide. The foot control is bolted into place in the center and is not in a well. Switch control for trimming the motor are up in the peak. The casting deck has space to put a folding casting chair on a pedestal up front. You have a good amount of room in lockable bow lockers. Two long lockers capable of storing seven foot rods are on either side. A molded dry storage box and another padded locker are in the centerline of the bow.
The cockpit sports three-across seating with a slide adjustable helm seat. The port and center seat fold and are hinged to get you to more storage underneath them. The cockpit is both deep and roomy. The port seat has a rod ramp for securing rods when running from hole to hole. Instruments are arranged in an arc over the wheel, and the white colored faces with black lettering are easy to read. Ignition and bilge switches are to the left with aerator, recirculator and navigation rocker switches to the right of the wheel. Access to the fuse panel and a fire extinguisher are under the helm station. A Lowrance X47 fish finder is standard on this model and is just to the right of the helm.
The large stern casting deck on this boat is inviting. You can place a casting chair in the center spot if you like. Aft storage features lift out storage boxes with five tackle organizers in the port box and another huge dry box on the starboard side. Just aft of these boxes is another hatch that opens up to give access to the trolling motor battery and charger, and to the main starting battery.
The standard trailer with this package is a custom drive-on trailer with EZ Lube hubs, carpeted bunks and folding tongue jack. It also has retractable safety cables, swing-away tongue and a high gloss finish.
Standard specifications for the Tournament V-18 call for a 75-hp Mercury outboard. You can boost that up to a 150 XR6 or a 150 Optimax from Mercury. She is 18’2” long and 86.75” in the beam, and she carries a transom height of 21.5” with a healthy bottom width of 69”. The V-18 is constructed of .100 gauge 5052 marine alloy for durability and has a hull weight of approximately 1,115lbs. Her standard package weight with transom saver is 24 feet and without the transom saver it’s 22’ 10”. Standard package width is 7’10.25” and package weight is 2,145lbs.
Our test rig was outfitted with a Mercury 125 outboard with a 12 ½ by 23 aluminum prop. When we tested the Tracker Tournament V-18, we found she climbed up on plane in only 3.9 seconds. When we tested speed, she was consistently at 30 mph in only 7.3 seconds. We found her best cruise to be at 3500 rpms which registered 38.7mph on our Stalker Pro radar gun. At cruise, she burns 6 gallons per hour and has a sound level of 82 dBa at the helm. We achieved a top speed 45.5 mph turning 5400 rpms. At this speed she burned 11.9gph and had a sound level of 94 dBa at the helm. Cruise range was 176 miles and top speed range was 141 miles on her 41 gallon fuel tank.
If you’re looking to run the club tournaments and want the ride of a deep-V hull but the performance of a sturdy aluminum bass rig, the Tracker Tournament V-18 is worth your time to check out.
