I was at the Horse and Jockey, St. Petersburg, Florida, talking to a lady that her and her husband had just bought a new Aquila Power Cat. She asked me what I thought of the Aquila compared to the Horizon Cats. I guess since I knew the dimensions, range of each, horsepower, and so on I knew what I was talking about. I told he all my knowledge comes from Youtube Videos and reading reviews. It set me to wondering which was the better cat to buy. I know Horizon Builds quality yachts but from what I've found out about Aquila they build a pretty good one also. What are you opinions of Horizon versus Aquila?
No comparison....as you inferred, Horizon is 'yacht" quality. Aquila is a Chinese mass production build. Like comparing a Searay or Azimut to a Sunseeker or Hatteras.
The Aquila may be Chinese mass production but the Aquila 36 is an appealing, relatively inexpensive boat for day use and weekending. Twin outboards, sprightly performance, and two smallish cabins with their own heads. Ample seating to take out a nice group of friends or family. A lot to like about it. Horizon power cats are much bigger and vastly more expensive.
Aquila boats may be made in China, but they were designed and made for charter use by the Moorings, a large, experienced charter operation. I would think the Moorings has learned how to design and spec a boat for intense usage, ease of maintenance and reliability over the years.
Yeah you would think that. i don’t think mooring is known for using quality boats in their charter fleet. Still made by our enemies.
Actually, Aquila power cats were built for the Marine Max charter fleet and to be sold by Marine Max, not Moorings. Having done bareboat a couple of times on the Aquila 48, we found it to be a terrific purpose-built boat - but, relatively speaking, a price point boat to be sure. The Horizon PC is another class.
Keep in mind that most charter fleets are fairly new… let see how this Chinese boat hold up 5 to 10 years down the line