# Ankona SUV vs Mitzi 17T



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I would consider the 17 SUV instead of the 16. What's your budget? 
The 17 Ankona Cayenne Tunnel would probably be a better comparison to the Mitzi. Although I can tell you the SUV17 would be much dryer ride than the Mitzi, and a hell of a lot more comfortable. At least from my experience with the two boats. 
The SUV 17 would be around 13k rigged brand new. 
I believe the largest outboards I've seen used on an SUV is a 40 or 50. 
The Cayenne is rated for a 60 or 70 I cannot remember exactly.
I'm running a 60 ETEC on my Ankona Copperhead and love it.


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## contenderv07 (Jan 31, 2012)

Oh cool, I didn't know they had a 17, thats what I'm looking for. Is the 17SUV the largest Ankona makes?? 13k sounds really good. I'm trying to keep the price about 17k. I was thinking maybe a 70 e-tec...but I'm open to suggestions..I'm just looking to get the biggest I can and heard Ankona's are pretty sweet. thanks again for the help


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Oh cool, I didn't know they had a 17, thats what I'm looking for. Is the 17SUV  the largest Ankona makes?? 13k sounds really good. I'm trying to keep the price about 17k. I was thinking maybe a 70 e-tec...but I'm open to suggestions..I'm just looking to get the biggest I can and heard Ankona's are pretty sweet. thanks again for the help



If you want that much power, I'd definitely go with the new Cayenne. 
It's rated for a 60hp, I would assume a 70 wouldn't be too far of a stretch. But I'm sure the 60 would be fine. I'm over 40mph with my 60 ETEC on my Copperhead. 
The Cayenne starting price is $7355. That's for the hull, no motor or trailer. The Float On aluminum trailer should be somewhere around $1200-1400. And I paid under 6k for my ETEC. So you should be at or under 17k. It's labeled as a 17 footer, but it's really 16'11. 

Mavericks that are labeled 17' are actually 16'9. So that's typical for a manufacturer to round it off. 

I would definitely consider it. It's a great skiff at a great price. Especially for a brand new, built to order skiff. Rather than a production boat.


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## contenderv07 (Jan 31, 2012)

wow that is a good price!! I'm trying to get get rid of my carolina skiff, but will definitely look at the Cayenne when it gets sold. Thanks again for the help, looks great, price is great and a lot cheaper than an east cape ;D


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## johnmauser (Sep 9, 2009)

When you say higher hp, are you looking for a certain speed WOT? A 40hp on a 17SUV puts you in the mid 30's (mph) easily. Have no idea what the Cayenne runs with a 60hp.


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## johnmauser (Sep 9, 2009)

Just saw you are in Burlington NC, I'm in Swansboro NC if you want to take a ride in a SUV17. I think you'll be impressed.


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## contenderv07 (Jan 31, 2012)

> Just saw you are in Burlington NC, I'm in Swansboro NC if you want to take a ride in a SUV17.  I think you'll be impressed.


Awesome I may take you up on that!!! As for the speed question, Im looking for low to mid 40's... Some of the tourneys I get in, we have to get out and back (depending on how good we did ;D) pretty quick. If I could get faster, even better


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## zmgsvt (Jun 5, 2009)

I bounced around the same ideas a year ago. Also considered a pathy 17t. I was on the brink of calling to order an SUV just based off everything I had read off this site. Luckily someone sent me an email and invited me to fish on their suv. I liked the boat alot until it for rough coming in. I had already fished on a Mitzi 15, after getting soaked and beat up on the SUV I knew what I wanted. Anyone who says the ankona will ride through a chop better is lieing through their teeth or hasn't been on both.

The fit and finish is a little better on the suv. I personally believe the mitzi runs and drafts shallower. I would recommend checking out the cayenne though, looks like a sweet skiff.


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## TampaFlyGirl (Feb 15, 2012)

I have the Cayenne, and I'm running it with a 40HP Tohatsu....I had it out today and I'm still breaking in the engine, so I haven't hit full throttle with it yet. However, at 4,000 rpms, I was cruising at about 30 mph. It is a dry ride, and when I had it out yesterday in windy conditions, it handled chop really well. It gets on plane very fast and rides smoothly. 

As everyone else has said, Ankona is awesome simply because you can customize anything you want. I plan on adding some things down the road with Mel. He designs all his skiffs to allow for easy additions. 

I've had the boat out for the past two days, and I've received many compliments...it's a very sharp looking skiff, and it performs well too. I definitely recommend it. If you are interested in it, I can answer any questions to the best of my ability!


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> I bounced around the same ideas a year ago. Also considered a pathy 17t. I was on the brink of calling to order an SUV just based off everything I had read off this site. Luckily someone sent me an email and invited me to fish on their suv. I liked the boat alot until it for rough coming in. I had already fished on a Mitzi 15, after getting soaked and beat up on the SUV I knew what I wanted. Anyone who says the ankona will ride through a chop better is lieing through their teeth or hasn't been on both.
> 
> The fit and finish is a little better on the suv. I personally believe the mitzi runs and drafts shallower. I would recommend checking out the cayenne though, looks like a sweet skiff.


It's what I do. I lie through my teeth. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6phXE0ZGEA

:-?


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

> I had already fished on a Mitzi 15, after getting soaked and beat up on the SUV I knew what I wanted. Anyone who says the ankona will ride through a chop better is lieing through their teeth or hasn't been on both.
> 
> The fit and finish is a little better on the suv. I personally believe the mitzi runs and drafts shallower. I would recommend checking out the cayenne though, looks like a sweet skiff.


For the record....here are the last two skiffs I have owned.

Mine was the one on the far right (Mitzi 15)









Ankona SUV 17









Both are great skiffs for what they are....small poling skiffs. Both have good entry into a chop for poling skiffs. In heavy chop...15-25 MPH....either skiff is going to be rough. They are poling skiffs. They have relatively flat bottoms, so you are going to feel it running through rough conditions.....really no matter what boat you are in you are going to feel it to some degree. In terms of which one rides better, the length of the SUV gives it a better ride and the sharp entry nose lets it cut through chop better. The rolled sides of the Mitzi allow it to be a dry ride for a 15' skiff....but not necessarily better, IMHO. As far as running or drafting shallow.....I floated both skiffs in 5"....I guess you could run them shallow but I do not run on the flats so I cannot give a true measurement of running depth. I don't have a lot of space between my teeth so it is difficult to get anything through them.


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## cutrunner (Jun 8, 2010)

> I bounced around the same ideas a year ago. Also considered a pathy 17t. I was on the brink of calling to order an SUV just based off everything I had read off this site. Luckily someone sent me an email and invited me to fish on their suv. I liked the boat alot until it for rough coming in. I had already fished on a Mitzi 15, after getting soaked and beat up on the SUV I knew what I wanted. Anyone who says the ankona will ride through a chop better is lieing through their teeth or hasn't been on both.
> 
> The fit and finish is a little better on the suv. I personally believe the mitzi runs and drafts shallower. I would recommend checking out the cayenne though, looks like a sweet skiff.


This topic seems to get beat up pretty hard on this site, but for good reason.
We all tend to forget we're on a MICRO SKIFF, not a 35' Jarret bay. Ive ridden on a lot of boats, its kinda my job. And the reality is with our skiffs, they all will pound in a chop. Trimmed down or to the sky. Its the nature of the beast with a small flat bottom, little to zero deadrise hull. The only option is "sit in the back". But, the thing that does change in the ride of a skiff is how wet or dry it can ride. And sometimes you just cant judge by looking at it, thats all there is to it, period. No matter how much bow flare a skiff may have, or whatever chines, wherever. Water does weird things, it can litterally ride up the bow flair and come right up over the bow. So what im trying to say is you can never look at a boat and say "oh, it has a sharp entry and a bow flair, it must be a dry boat". Bs! Never buy a boat without a seatrial. Buy whatever works for you, not hype, or good people trying to help you. I bought my Hobie powerskiff because it suits my needs. My are is mostly all deep water live bait fishing, so draft isnt as critical, but how i rides is. Which is why i bought a boat with variable deadrise and 18degrees at the transom. Obviously not a shallow draft boat, but i dont care, if i moved to the keys, then i would buy a different boat.


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## nate. (Nov 12, 2009)

i had a mitzi 17t for 6-1/2 years. loved that boat.


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## contenderv07 (Jan 31, 2012)

Thanks for everyone's input. The only way to settle this is to wet test them... Rough to me might be a cake walk for someone else, same goes for wetness.....I appreciate all of the comments though, it lets me have some things to look for when testing...

and Nate, if I had my choice I'd get an east cape vantage, but they are WAY out of my league, gorgeous boats though


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## johnmauser (Sep 9, 2009)

> I had already fished on a Mitzi 15, after getting soaked and beat up on the SUV I knew what I wanted. Anyone who says the ankona will ride through a chop better is lieing through their teeth or hasn't been on both.


The mitzi15 rode better? Did you also previously ride the mitzi in a rough chop like you did the SUV?

Not putting Mitzi's down (they're cool), just wondering how you are comparing them?


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## Jacob_Johnson (Sep 15, 2010)

Mitzi Skiffs have a relatively dry ride for what they are, i have a 16 with a 40hp and love it. Drafts in 5-6" and ride great.. could not be any happier... except I top out at 31mph... might want to improve on that one day.


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