2019 Sea Cat 565CC review

South Africa's Sea Cat range of powered catamarans launched into Australia in mid-2018. These tough, compact, seaworthy boats are enormously popular in their home country where anglers routinely launch their boats straight into the surf to head out for a day's fishing.

To this end, Sea Cats are purpose-designed for off-the-beach launching with features such as high bows for wave breaking, protective stainless steel keel strips, engine power-head rollover bars, unsinkable levels of foam flotation, and low transoms to quickly shed water from inside the boat.

Most Aussie anglers have access to decent boat launching facilities so some of the Sea Cat's more extreme features (such as the rollover bars) have little relevance Down Under. That said, our offshore sea conditions can get just as rough and dangerous as elsewhere, hence the success and popularity of our own powered catamaran brands such as SharkCat, NoosaCat, Kevlacat, Sailfish, and more.

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As a powered catamaran enthusiast, I welcome Sea Cat to our shores. The boats are quite different to locally designed models, smaller and more compact, but eminently suited to our coastal sea conditions. I see the Sea Cat range as complimenting the Australian-built boats, not competing against them.

The Sea Cat range runs in size from 4.65m and runs through to 6.36m. Most models will be available in Australia through selected dealers. The first boat to arrive was the Sea Cat 565 Centre Console we tested recently, paired with dual Suzuki 70hp four-stroke outboards.

Sea Cats arrive in Australia well equipped with standard factory features and gear so there is marginal difference in the cost of a base boat package and the boat we tested. For the former, figure on around $91.5K when paired with dual 60hp Mercury four-stroke outboards and a tandem-axle alloy braked trailer.

You get a full-featured fishing boat fitted with a dual-width centre console with folding screen, overhead T-top bimini with rocket launcher, helm lean-seat post, a large, self-draining cockpit, underfloor foam flotation, hydraulic steering, built-in cooler, rod holders, horizontal gunnel rod racks, multiple storage compartments/kill tanks, transom live well, coaming padding, the aforementioned stainless keel protection strips and outboard engine roll-over bars, dual batteries, fuel filters, and more.

Our test boat added a vinyl hull wrap, Simrad GO7 fish finder/GPS plotter, VHF radio, removable bait board, an offshore safety gear pack, and an engine upgrade to dual Suzuki 70hp outboards – lifting the drive-away price to $99,990.

Buyers can option the Sea Cat 565CC with a pair of Mercury 90hp counter-rotating four-stroke outboards for an extra $9600.

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One of the often forgotten advantages of powered catamarans is that the squared off bow shape of these craft allows for a wider, larger forward deck area than with a traditional vee bow monohull. This is very much in evidence with the Sea Cat 565CC, to the extent that the fishing deck in the test boat is larger than the rear cockpit at around 1.0m long x 1.84m wide.

Stessl Marine's Tim Stessl said customers could ask to move the dual-width centre console up to 300mm further forward. This would enlarge the rear cockpit at the expense of forward deck space, but there would still be more standing room at the bow than in a vee bow monohull.

Moving the console further forward would also balance the Sea Cat 565CC a little better, as it feels slightly stern heavy underway unless the crew is standing or sitting forward of amidships.

Also impressive in the Sea Cat is its high 760mm freeboard and vertical angle to the side decks and forward bulkhead that allow you to stand very comfortably up against them to fish from the bow of the boat in rough weather.

In dead calm weather I'd also be tempted to climb up onto the foredeck and chuck lures from this broad, reinforced platform.

Built into the forward deck is a large anchor well with a reinforced hatch, bow roller and bollard.

Beneath the foredeck there are two very large storage lockers, accessed via two equally big hatches in the forward bulkhead.

Our test boat’s forward compartments were used to stow life jackets and safety gear, with more storage locations located closer to the helm. For a 5.6m trailerboat, the Sea Cat has a remarkable amount of storage space.

As well as the two big bow compartments, there is a locker under the padded bench seat in front of the console, dual storage compartments built into the lean seat post, a good-sized locker under the steering wheel at the helm, and two massive underfloor storage compartments that double as fish boxes.

Our test boat had four sub-floor compartments, but the two forward compartments on each side housed our test boat's removable 55L fuel tanks.

The standard boat comes with dual built-in 130L fuel tanks, but the test boat was ordered with removable fuel tanks for easier re-fueling in remote locations where the boat needs to be kept in the water – and the tanks need to be removed to be filled.

The Sea Cat’s helm console is quite traditional in design in that it has the steering wheel mounted in the centre with the throttles alongside to starboard. I personally prefer the more contemporary layout that has the controls offset to port to allow for the crew to stand more comfortably beside the skipper.

Otherwise, the layout of the console is commendable. There is space for engine gauges, radio head units, and the switch panel, along with two semi-water proof compartments for bracket-mounting electronics and navigation gear.

If you prefer to flush-fit your fish finder/GPS, the Sea Cat factory will blank off either one or both of the standard electronics boxes to give a flat fibreglass fascia wall. That said, I personally prefer the configuration on the test boat that had the Simrad display bracket-mounted in the larger of the two compartments, viewable behind a hinged, clear acrylic screen.

To assist with garaging the boat at home, the small windscreen at the top of the helm console folds forward and down. The stainless steel-framed bimini also lowers to reduce the height of the boat for trailering and storing.

We noted earlier that the rear cockpit is modest in size, but moving the console and the helm lean seat post/storage box further forward can enlarge it.

Key cockpit features include the centre transom live bait tank with viewing window, walk-through access between the two Suzuki outboards, padded side coaming bolsters, horizontal gunnel rod racks, dual padded transom seats, enclosed transom battery storage lockers (that also provide bilge access), and those rather large engine power-head roll-over bars.

Given that we don't really need rollover protection bars in Australia, consider ordering the boat without them. However, there is not a lot of freeboard at the stern of the Sea Cat so these bars double as very effective hand rails.

I have driven South African-made powered cats before and the first thing you notice about them – at least in comparison to locally made twin hull boats – is that they are surprisingly manoeuvrable at speed. Most Aussie cats turn slowly and with an outward lean angle. The Sea Cat 565CC and other narrow-beamed SA cats can turn on a five-cent piece and lean inward like a regular monohull.

So when I steamed out of the Gold Coast seaway during our sea trial and ran smack-bang straight into 2.5m vertical seas, I was able to spin the Sea Cat almost within its own length and then return to the safety of the harbour.

This superb high-speed manoeuvrability really is a key and important feature of the Sea Cat. I can't think of a current model Aussie-made powered cat that turns quite as well.

As well as its great handling, the Sea Cat is also very soft riding, dry (for a cat), stable at rest and underway, and superb in a following sea.

The gradual slope or rake to the stem of the Sea Cat's two hull sponsons combines with the pronounced chines and wave breaker tunnel to surf the boat safely out of deep wave troughs, instilling the skipper with confidence when running the boat before the sea.

My only reservation with regard to the Sea Cat's on-water performance is that I found it to be slightly stern heavy with two adults standing at the helm. For this reason, and as noted earlier, I would advocate shifting the console forward 200mm - 300mm for a better fore and aft boat balance.

Moving the console forward would be even more important if you were to fit larger, heavier engines, although I did found the dual Suzuki 70hp outboard engines were more than sufficient for offshore work. The engines were very well propped so the test boat had ample power and acceleration from idle and through to the mid range, before topping out at a relatively slow 31.4 knots.

If you need a higher top speed you might consider optioning the boat with a pair of 90hp outboards, but I am not convinced they are needed.

Performance

*Both engines

Maximum range on 95% of 110L fuel supply: 112.40nm @ 4000rpm

The Sea Cat 565CC is a ripper addition to the trailerable powered catamaran market, especially as there are very few boats available in this market segment. The boat needs a few tweaks here and there to make it just right for Aussie waters, but it is otherwise a very capable sea boat and an excellent coastal fishing platform.

Model: Sea Cat 565 Centre Console
Hull length: 5.65m
Beam: 2.3m
Deadrise: N/A
Hull weight: 750kg
Weight on trailer: 1950kg (est)
Maximum power: Dual 100hp
Engine as tested: Dual Suzuki 70hp four-strokes
Fuel capacity: 2 x 130L in-built tanks
Fuel capacity as tested: 2 x 55L portables
Flotation standard: Basic
Maximum persons: Six

Priced from: $91,500 including dual Mercury 60hp four-stroke Command Thrust extra-longshaft (25-inch) outboards with dual Vessel-View gauges, hydraulic steering and stainless steel propellers, tandem-axle aluminium braked trailer, 12 months boat and trailer registrations, and an inshore safety gear pack.

Price as tested: $99,990 including dual Suzuki 70hp four-stroke extra-longshaft (25-inch) outboards, tandem-axle alloy braked trailer, vinyl hull wrap, Simrad GO7 fish finder/GPS plotter, VHF radio, removable bait board, 12 months boat and trailer registrations, and an offshore safety gear pack.

Supplied by: Stessl Marine