Put to the test, any reservations were dispelled the moment I opened the throttles, for this 12.7 tonne composite GRP package returned a most respectable top speed on my GPS, of 33.5 knots. Twin 600hp may seem a little under-done but remember these engine and drive combos with their twin-prop thrust are reputed to offer a 20% increase in performance, over conventional shaft drives.
He definitely wasn’t exaggerating about this robustness aspect features such as braided aircraft fuel lines, the unique 400mm diameter by two metres long carbon fibre drive-shafts, the extremely good access to the engines and mechanical peripherals, the clearly labelled and neatly laid out hoses, S/S tubing and wiring looms, the rubber grommets where these hoses passed through body members, the white gelcoat finish and the fans and lighting – were all clear evidence of a manufacturer who went the extra mile to ensure its product was up to the task. “Nothing is left to chance,” McCloy explained, “These boats will be subjected to a much harder life than normal, so everything has to be built accordingly.” This whole ‘floating floor’ in fact hydraulically lifted as one to provide very good access to an engine bay that was to the point of being almost obsessive in its presentation and general attention to detail. There was one other not-inconsequential item that remained obscure, until that is Australian Cabo distributor Game and Leisure Boats MD Graham McCloy explained that the engines were under the helm on the next level up from the cockpit. And for those who felt the need to venture forth onto the bow, an easy step up, grab handles, a reasonably wide walkway and a very sturdy bowrail assembly – ensured it was a safe exercise forward to the anchoring feature at the bow. Complete with pump and aerator, it was more a bath than a live-bait tank – it was huge, exaggerated perhaps moreso by the inspection window which added another dimension. The American ‘Release’ game-chair was in this instance temporarily replaced by a stand-up light-tackle ‘station’ the other noteworthy aspect at the transom end of the cockpit, apart from the padded coaming bolster pads and flush coaming-top hawse hole each side which prevented (tackle) lines snagging, was the 180-litre live-bait tank. The outward-opening transom door and its associated bridge were strong enough to withstand the associated pressures involved when backing up and the 316 S/S hinges, well, they would support the harbour bridge! Here I got my first evidence of attention to detail too the hinge screw slots were all aligned. The slightly smaller fuel tank (to make way for the Zeus configuration) sited effectively between the two carbon-fibre drive shafts, was in the bulkhead void between the engine bay and this aft lazaretto.
The two hatches at the rear provided access to the Zeus drive (smaller hatch of the two) and to the lazaretto which housed the steering and provided copious wet storage space. There was plenty of storage space in the side hatches and the two moulded in-floor kill tanks complete with plumbing, macerator pump and refrigerator and/or freezer plate if you required it, were large to say the least. The whole cockpit which incidentally I roughly paced out at 4m x 3m, was in fact all about fishing and quite unashamedly, in this respect nothing else mattered. In true sportfisher tradition there was no boarding platform, but nonetheless it was still an easy climb on board, over the lower coamings that are so much a part of the rich tapestry of a bonafide sport-fisher. There was certainly no mistaking from a distance however, that this was a fairly serious fishing boat, for walking down the marina the ‘’double-spreader’ Rupps Riggers game poles and the associated C-Fab two-level (above the hardtop) anodised aluminium tuna tower did sort of give it away.
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