Stormcats Islay Latest News

StormCats tackles Loch Ness but even Nessie couldn't catch them!!

Admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:30:32 -0500

Skipper Brian Mac Aulay with his MonoStorm 5.9 Tourer heads down the banks of Loch Ness, towing father of 4 Tim Davis at up to 29 knots, Tim was doing this 23 mile run non stop from Fort Augustus to Lochend for the charity sense scotland.

Read all about it in the Press and Journal

Stormcats Tope Fishing Festival 2010

Admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:51:50 -0500

The annual StormCats Islay Tope Fishing Competition took place on Lochindaal on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd August. Conditions on both days were variable ,with heavy swells to start each day which improved as the day went on; overhead conditions included most Scottish West coast weather including rain, mist, wind and sunshine.

Seventy anglers took part on 22 boats over the two days, a mixture of adult male, juniors and females. The £20 entrance fee is donated to charity, along with a large contribution from St James’ Place Wealth Management of £1000; the total raised was £2200 which is split between the RNLI and local charity Islay & Jura Sick Kids’ Fund. The majority of anglers are local to the island but there are regular competitors who travel form different parts of the UK to fish. Anyone interested in fishing this competition next year will be made very welcome.

StormCats are a local boat building company owned by Gus Newman who was the founder of this competition 5 years ago; he donates a prize of £400 for the heaviest tope caught over the two days and he enjoys seeing many of his boats out on the loch with keen anglers aboard. Other prizes are donated by local distilleries and businesses and are awarded for the second and third heaviest tope as well as heaviest fish and heaviest bag, alongside prizes for winners in the female and junior section.

Altogether eleven tope were tagged and released over the two days and this is a new record for this competition. Of course there were many more lost beside the boat, lots of runs that got away and extended tales of close encounters! We’re looking forward to receiving information about any of these tope if they’re re-caught somewhere else.

The smallest tope caught was 25lbs and unbelievably the heaviest tope prize was shared between two that weighed in at 44lbs each. The next size down was 43 lbs, all very close in weight. In previous years, we have had tope to over 60 lbs. All tope were in excellent condition and returned unharmed.

Having made contact with the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network through James, some of the Islay anglers are planning on taking part in the Sharkatag weekend next summer.

Storm Cats Tope Fishing Competition 21st and 22nd August 2010 Results
Tope
1 £400 donated by StormCats and bottle of Lagavulin
Shared by Gilbert MacLellan and Jason Mitchell, each with a tope of 44 lbs
2 Port Charlotte Hotel meal voucher and bottle of Kilchoman new release
Scott McGurn with a tope of 43 lbs
3 £40 donated by Anvil Art and bottle of White Horse
Lyle Heads with a tope of 36 lbs

Heaviest fish other than a tope
1 £50 from Islay Ales and bottle of Bowmore
Hugh Campbell with a lithe
2 Bottle of Ardbeg whisky and glass
Annie Gredley with a dog fish
3 Laphroaig whisky
Alex Williams with a mackerel

Heaviest bag of five fish
1 Bruichladdich whisky
Hugh Campbell 12 lb 10 oz
2 Jura whisky
Hilda Ramsay 4 lb 11 oz
3 Bunnahabhain whisky
Julie Stichell

Ladies’ Prize
1 £50 and tablet donated by An Gleann Tablet
Annie Gredley
2 Laphroaig whisky
Gillian McAulay
3 £10 and bottle wine
Julie Stichell

Junior
1 £50 donated by Billy the Butcher
Frazer Matthews
2 Fishing rod donated by Minty Cracknell
Millie Mitchell

New Model StormBreaker 710 Delivered

Admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:39:05 -0500

New Model StormBreaker 710 heads to her new home, The Anderson family of Melfort house.

Mathew and Yvonne have the first new 710 StormBreaker Tourer which on the delivery trip throught the Sound of Jura we encountered 3 mtr seas and heavy tidal overfalls, even thought the conditions were far from ideal the new model took it exceptionally well, we did the 56 miles in 2 hrs 20 min.(average 22 knots)

The boat is fitted out to Mathews and Yvonnes specific layout with custom made seats from Outhill seats which are to a very high standard, there is total seating for 11 persons, Garmin GPS, Garmin Sounder, Standard Horizon DSC VHF, a Fusion I pod music system and a Plastimo offshore compass. She has a top speed of 33 knots and cruises lovely at 24 knots fitted with a 115 hp Evinrude. and 6 hp Tohatsu Auxilliary.

StormCats Newst Model

Admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:41:54 -0500

StormBreaker 710 Tourer on sea trials. Full update coming shortly...

Islay Tope Fishing Festival 2010

Admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:42:21 -0500

Islay Tope Fishing Festival 2010 will be held on the weekend of the 21st - 22nd August. The start will take place from Bowmore harbour at 10 am - 5 pm booking in starts at 8,30 am.

Contact Jess or Gus on 01496 300129 for more details or email gus@stormcats.co.uk

The record for the competition so far is 64lb BUT last week a commercial fisherman allegedly had a 100lb Tope in Loch Indaal

StormCats 950 Explorer meets 950 Deluxe

Admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:09:27 -0500

During sea trials with StormCats New Explorer 950 called Ileach, we had the pleasure of the company of C&C of Ardmore a StormCat 950 Deluxe built in 2007 both boats hulls are identical but the interior layout is completely different. After tying both boats together and having a look at how similar they are we then took both boats out into the Tidal area around Ardmore point for a trial, Both boats were up to over 30 knots in no time and cruising around for the photo shots, Both boats have very similar handling characteristics. very stable, even at 30 + knots they are very comfortable with the added luxury of all the comforts of home.

Fly bridge boats are not your standard fitting for boats cruising the Scottish waters, but what a viewing point for all the varied nature, (we could see the minky whales from 12 miles away) we have on the west coast of Scotland and also for getting into the remote corners of the islands. C&C of Ardmore was even fitted with a bow ladder so you can put the bow of the boat onto the beach and step down onto dry land. You cannot do this with your standard Monohull as she would roll onto her side when she hits the beach, this is one of the many advantages of a Catamaran.

Stormcats Tope Hunter Involved in Rescue

Admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:26:01 -0500

A Tope Hunter 5.9, the Freebird of Cadgwith, owned by Steve Holyer, comes to the resue. All the details of the rescue are available from the article, a copy from a Cornwall news paper.

Well done to Steve and Hellen.

Click on the image for a larger version

News Flash - StormCat 950 Explorer

Admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:21:43 -0500

Stormcats launch there latest model, she has been custom built for a family in Argyll. She has sleeping facililites for 5 aboard with all the comforts of home, with the added bonus of a flybridge. She is fitted with 2 x 200 hp Evinrude E teks with a cruising speed of 24 knots and a top speed of 35 knots.

And boy what a boat she is, keep watching the site for more photos.

For a video of this boat and others click here

Charlotte Mary goes to Lochgilphead

Admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:02:32 -0500

A new StormAngler was delivered last week to her new owner in Lochgilphead, Argyll.

Team StormCats wish Allan all the best in his new boat.

New Designed Stormcats Coming Soon

Admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:59:39 -0500

Stormcats have a big wolf in sheeps clothing coming out in the next 8 weeks she is a new designed Stormcats which will offer customers more fuel economy, a new design and a new layout.

Watch this space for more news soon!