Boat Reviews

A RECENT pristine day on Moreton Bay saw me on the water testing a boat I’ve had a soft spot for since a young age: a Formosa Centre Cabin. Specifically, I was commandeering the 580 Centre Cabin in Tomahawk V2 Offshore hull configuration, as supplied by Australian Marine Centre with a 140hp Suzuki fourstroke outboard. Constructed from 4mm plate aluminium …

THE thought of buying a centre console had been on my mind for a couple of years and it wasn’t until I attended the 2018 Brisbane Boat Show that I knew what model my gut was set on. At the time I had absolutely no idea Cruise Craft manufactured a centre console, and seeing this boat for the first time …

THOUGH I had seen plenty of Aquamaster boats over the years at ramps and boat shows, I had not had the pleasure of testing one out, so when Rod from Australian Marine Centre asked the question, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only did a boat test allow me to get out of the office, but we decided to launch …

WHAT do you look for when browsing the market for a tender? Like most, you probably want something small that will easily hoist onto the back of your larger boat, top of your car or at least tow well behind your boat when under way. And like many Aussies, you’ve probably seen the ubiquitous Polycraft Tuff Tender mounted on the …

FORMOSA Marine is certainly one of the more innovative boat-building brands operating today. In the 20 years since its inception, the business has gone from strength to strength and the Formosa range has continually expanded, including adding the Sea-Rod sub-brand to its portfolio in 2011, with a plethora of innovations along the way. I recently found myself on the Tweed …

IT’S often said in the marine industry there is no substitute for length, and that is certainly the case with Sea Jay’s new 5.38 Avenger Sports model. The Sea Jay Avenger Sports line-up already looked pretty good, with models ranging from 4.25m to 4.88m, but this new 5.38m example has raised the bar again. Not only is it half a …

ONE boat to do it all. One boat to capably fish the bays, rivers, creeks and offshore. I didn’t have my ‘one’ picked until I recently tested the Australian Master Marine 5700 Sea Class centre console off the Gold Coast. As far as plate aluminium boat builders go, you’d be hard pressed to find one better than AMM. Customisation and …

I RECENTLY fitted a Lowrance Hook2 9 GPS/sounder to my boat and have subsequently tested the product. This sounder features an inbuilt GPS with map as well as sonar with CHIRP, StructureScan and DownScan all in one as a standard unit. The unit only runs one transducer, which simplifies installation. Straight out of the box it came with everything needed …

GOLD Coast boat building company Horizon Boats has hit the mark delivering quality sportfishing boats with the new-for-2018 Northerner range. The Northerner line-up consists of six models ranging in size from 4.15m to 5.4m, giving anglers plenty of choice when deciding on a boat. Already a popular choice for keen fishos, the Northerner has seen a few upgrades for all …

AS much as it is awesome fun to run around in flash big new rigs for boat reviews, sometimes it is good to get back into something that would suit a mix of boaters from the first-timer to the hard-core fisho and crabber. In this instance I’m referring to the Stessco Catcher. For many years, the 4.3m Stessco Catcher was …