Boston Whaler 170 Dauntless

Whaler doesn’t do things by halves -- unless you count the time founder Richard Fisher cut his twin-sponson 13-footer in half in 1958 and drove away in the unsinkable rear-section -- but prefers instead to over-deliver on all fronts. So we’re pleased to report that since Brunswick Corporation bought the company in 1996 it’s stuck to that tenet and hasn’t skimped on quality.

That strategy has earned the brand a legion of loyal followers and made Boston Whaler an over achiever in Brunswick’s diminishing boat portfolio in what is an otherwise challenging market. In short, there’s nothing quite like a Whaler and buyers know it.

This brings us to the 170 Dauntless, a centre console with a more skiff-like beamy hull than, say, the Outrage bluewater boats. It’s partly Florida flats boat, partly inshore and offshore boat, mainly with a fishing bent, but absolutely at home taking the family for a fun day afloat. Concurrently, superyacht owners might see it as a top-shelf tender. A mini SUV if you like.

An upgraded 100hp Mercury four-stroke outboard with 20in long shaft -- 90hp is standard and minimum power -- with standard Baystar hydraulic steering graced the transom, while the boat arrived at the ramp on a factory-fitted galvanised trailer without brakes. Thus, a four-cylinder car can tow the neat rig.

The options were mainly factory fitted, including must-have anchor roller, bow cushion, removable cockpit table, transom rod holders, bimini with boot or sock, console and helm seat covers, Fusion stereo and safety gear. As a package, the bottom line was $66,952, but you can get one from $49,800 with a 90hp Mercury ELPI EFI four-stroke outboard.

Of course, you can buy more boat with a different badge for the same money, but it won’t be a Whaler. If you have owned a few boats over the years and are now ready to downsize to something great for gadding about inshore waters, fishing for big lizards on lures, downrigging for kings in the harbour, trolling here and there, and then picking up the family, the 170 Dauntless definitely deserves a slot on your shopping list.

For the family, there are clever pop-up quarter seats in the transom corners, the helm bench has a three-position flip-over backrest so you can face those seats, and there’s a drop-in cockpit table upon which to lunch. An overhead bimini grants shade, while a single swim step and ladder aids access to the water.  At the same time, high rails trace the boat to act as useful handholds while also increasing internal freeboard. Moving about the boat is a breeze.

Want to fish? Hey, presto! The quarter seats flip neatly away to create an aft casting platform, the lunch table stows, the bimini rests in a sock (and removes altogether), while the helm backrests fold back to the driving position. Then you remove the sunpad cushion up front over the casting platform.

Add a bow-mount electric and you’re in stealth mode and, with just 0.28m of draft, ghosting about the flats is easy. Along with the four heavy-duty aft rod holders for trolling is a mid-transom four-barrel rocket launcher. There are another two console-mounted holders for carrying six rods on the run.

As with any clever small boat, there’s a place for everything and everything has its place on the 170 Dauntless: a result of ground-up thinking regarding storage. The large underseat storage bin can be optioned up as a live-bait tank, the mother-in-law seat ahead of the centre console is actually a padded cushion on a portable cooler, while a large hold inside the centre console module offers dry storage for your safety gear. Under the casting platform lives a full-blown and sizeable anchor well. But there are no side pockets or rod/paddle racks.

Meanwhile, all the heavy-duty deck fittings are through bolted, screws for the piano and other hinges are super solid and recessed, while the lids on the hatches are perfectly fair on both sides thank to the RTM aka the closed-mould process.

Underway, the square bow, broad beam and most of the forward volume actually ride clear of the water, allowing the main deep-vee central hull to do its work and slice the swells. While we didn’t venture offshore, the unsinkable self-draining boat is more than capable of heading there in reasonable weather.

The 132-litre underfloor fuel tank ensures a full day’s boating, there’s an automatic bilge pump for good measure, and the battery is fitted in a box. When we checked the bilge access it rated as very good. Really, nothing is left wanting or left to say.

Yet to be driven, our brand new boat was eased onto the plane and we cruised at first at moderate speeds. On this skiff, you assume a fairly upright position standing at the helm and, for additional crew, alongside. But as time wore on, we were fairly ripping the boat around the turns and all the while we felt secure and surefooted. It helps that the hull turns nice and flat, with a touch of cavitation in only the tightest arcs.

My notes regarding performance read: dry, nimble, speedy top end. The official figures from Whaler are for a 90hp rig, so our 100hp upgrade probably gave about two-three knots better speed. In other words, top speed is around 40 knots at 5900-6000rpm; fast cruise at 4500-5000rpm returns 27-32 knots; and the all-important economical setting of 4000rpm sees 24-25 knots for a range of more than 200 nautical miles.

But let’s face it. A boat like this is intuitive to drive, you’re not going to be beholden to numbers and stats, and will advance the throttle, trim the leg till you’re a tad free, and just head off to do what you want to do. It certainly didn’t take us long to be at one with the 170 Dauntless, cruising the flats and dashing about the Broadwater where the boat would excel.

A better skiff is hard to imagine and boats like this just make the job of critique a total pleasure. Difficult to fault, the big little Whaler is exceptional and, as we said at the outset, this is a benchmark inshore boat.