Boston Whaler 180 Dauntless: Fishing Boat Review

Boston Whaler is famous fishing for its unsinkable foam-filled centre consoles. But with the addition of the optional All Activity Tower, the popular 180 Dauntless broadens its appeal. Fish the flats, bays, harbours, estuaries and big rivers then back up for your family flings trolling the tykes on tubes.

OVERVIEW
- A big beamy inshore boat and play platform
This 180 Dauntless has Boston Whaler’s famous DNA. It’s a classic centre console based on a proven formula, a best seller popular with sportfishers, flats fishers, bay and harbour anglers, but also families hunting for a safe and simple fun machine.

To this end, there are rod holders and drink holders, casting platforms that converts to seating, an optional live well and a standard portable Igloo icebox, comfortable cushions and fishing space, shade from a bimini but an open centre console when you want it and leave the top down.

With the optional All Activity Tower, the multipurpose application on this 180 Dauntless goes further. The boat becomes a top fly and flats light-tackle platform, with a raised perch and rod holders for spotting the fish, while at the same time giving you an elevated tow bit for improved watersports capability. Troll the tubes!

With a few other options, this inherently stable, self-draining, bay-style centre console rates highly for no-fuss fishing and family boating. Safety, seaworthiness and a degree of sportiness are part of the appeal. The boat looks good, with a bit of the ‘skiff life’ to it. Its broad forward sections make it a dry centre console, too.

Some boaters in big cities like Sydney give these boats a coat of antifoul and keep them in the water. The beamy hull is self-draining and foam-filled, with 16 degrees of deadrise and big reverse chines for terrific stability. The 25in transom carries an extra-long shaft outboard for added seaworthiness. On road, the rig weighs about 1800kg and it looks keen for action.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- A great all-rounder enhanced by the options
You pay a price premium for the Whalers, but the boats exude quality. From the heavy-duty 316 stainless steel deck fittings to the fair mouldings, foam filling, wiring and engineering, it’s all consistent across the Whaler range from the 110 Tender to the 420 Outrage.

Our Boston Whaler Dauntless 180 was factory rigged — so nothing is left to chance — for the standard Mercury 150 XL EFI outboard. This is a 41-knot-plus boat with a 300nm range at 20 knots cruise. Performance is just something you don’t have to worry about and the 3.0L displacement has torque for pushing a crew load and towing the kids.

For local use, the importer Queensland Marine Centre optioned this big 18-footer with anchor roller and split bow rail, which add to the ease of anchoring and access, with a white rub rail for looks, and bow cushions for comfort. The bimini top will be welcome by the family in summer, but you can drop the top when casting or leave it at home for those dedicated fishing trips.

To sate serious anglers, the boat had the optional forward livewell, a raw water wash down, and the aforesaid All Activity tower that doubles for towing tubes. There was also a Fusion stereo fitted to the boat, which we cranked up during our early morning Botany Bay test, after launching from the Australian spec dual-axle I-beam Ez Loader alloy trailer.

All this comes with a ticket price $95,160 including registrations, safety gear and drive away. If you want to add more gear, you can attach wakeboard racks to the rear rails, perhaps add a custom fixed bimini top as they do in the US, and there’s a simple rear towing bar option instead of the full ‘tower’ if you want more of a leaning post at the transom.

Some serious fish-finding electronics with side scanning ability, a handful of rods and a loaded tackle box, plus some tubes and a 12V air pump would do us.

LAYOUT AND DESIGN
- A wide-beam centre console with a big load-carrying capacity
The split bow rail and cockpit rails enhance your safety and boost freeboard in this inherently stable boat, while the stainless steel deck gear from recessed cleats to navigation lights underscores the saltwater intent. Non-skid deck all round ensures safe footing and, in fact, this is one of the most surefooted and stable low-profile 18-foot centre console ‘skiffs’ we’ve been aboard.

The bow-casting platform doubles as a sunpad and seating with the cushion in place. There are nearby drink holders. Lift the moulded lid on a gas strut and you find dry storage and an anchor well with a robust deadeye. This fully lined compartment drains overboard.

The mother-in-law seat ahead of the centre console had the optional livebait tank beneath, making the forward casting deck a great place from which to pitch baits and lures. There were also six vertical rod racks for storing your sticks.

The flip-back helm seat switches from driving position to aft-facing lunch position, when you might pop the bimini for shade. Beneath is the pull-out portable Igloo cooler, letting you hit the beach for a picnic with family.

The full-width rear casting platform is a key feature, but it conceals a flip-up three-seater passenger seat that otherwise folds flat for casting space. The swim ladder is concealed and with flush hinges and catches, the rear deck is reasonably snag free.

The raised All Activity Tower and casting platform adds to the flat’s fishing appeal, with the elevation improving your fish-spotting scope, plus your get a couple of extra handy rod holders for stowing outfits between drifts. You could add an electric engine with remote and drive from up here, a power pole and more kit to create a hardcore flats boat.

Thanks to the great stability of the 180 Dauntless platform, you feel safe on your feet on this rear raised casting platform. In rough water, standing on the lower casting platform, it will double as a leaning post. Then for casual family days, it’s a decent seat for doing lunch and a ‘springboard’ for the kids.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- The foam-filled unsinkable legend with heavy-duty engineering
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a foam-filled self-draining hull, especially the Whaler models that have stood the test of time. This hull is beamy, with big above-water shoulders and flare to shed water. The 16-degree deadrise is moderate to enhance that key stability factor.

The boat feels really buoyant and will carry a load of up to eight people, six people just fine, a family of four in comfort, and two fishers will be right at home. There’s not a huge amount of storage space due to the foam filling and the infloor 200ltr fuel tank, which has hatch access to its sender.

You don’t get side pockets, but you do get a small amount of lockable console storage and a bit of storage under the aft seating. The lockers in the transom corners give you access to battery breakers, bilge pump breaker, and a swim ladder. We’d expect that aft battery locker to be watertight, but would prefer to see the battery location under the centre console to be frank. Bilge access is via a plastic hatch in the splash well.

That said, the boat’s waterproof wiring is well tested and extends to waterproof switches on the wide centre console, which was fitted with hydraulic steering for the 150hp EFI Mercury FourStroke. There are 12V accessory plugs and USBs, a central engine-function panel, and enough space to mount a decent, say 12in, nav screen. The Smartcraft instrument facia could be shifted across to make way for a 12in ahead of the helm, as these relay NMEA2000 engine data anyway.

Overall, the 180 Dauntless is a high-quality build and boat with a timeless and time-proven centre console layout. A crossover in the range, it’s not deep sided like the Outrage and has less deep-vee, but it has a broader 2.46m (8ft 1in) beam than the 190 Outrage and is a lot bigger boat that the 170 Dauntless.

ON THE WATER
- Stable, dry and efficient
One of the great things about prerigged boats like this is that they work out of the box. According to the official figures, the 150hp EFI Mercury FourStroke actually has better mid-range performance and slightly better top end than the Mercury 150hp supercharged Verado.

Top speed with an 18in prop is officially 41.9 knots at 5800rpm. On test, with a tight motor, I hit 41.7 knots trimmed out at 5800rpm. So that sounds about spot on. At 5500rpm I saw 38 knots, while fast cruise at 5000rpm gave 36 knots.

The 150hp EFI FourStroke seems to excel in the mid range. There’s great throttle response at 4000-4500pm for 28- 32 knots smooth cruise. You range is about 260nm at these snappy speeds.

Back down at 3500rpm you get an agreeable family and no-fuss cruising speed of about 23-24 knots, where you can still spot fish, not smash the tackle and relax into the ride. You range jumps to about 300nm, using about 18.17lt/hr or almost 2.5km/litre.

The figures are even better at 3000rpm and 18-19 knots where this boat is happy to cruise and plane in adverse weather. You range is a tad more than 300nm and the engine isn’t working at all. But with the 3.0L displacement, it’s got great low-down grunt that will come in handy for towing the kids on tubes or boards at these speeds. The boat planes down to 2750rpm and 15 knots.

While you can’t push the boat as hard as deep-vee, the 180 Dauntless proved remarkably dry during our test. We roamed around Botany Bay in a fair wind and didn’t get wet. Drifting the flats, the boat was wonderfully stable.

Punching around the wind waves, it didn’t get untidy. It's actually quite playful and, like a good skiff responds to the wheel, it slides rather than snaps through the turns. At 3500-4000rpm, the rig purrs and feels superb.

VERDICT
- Five-star fishing and family Whaler
Centre consoles serve a lot of purposes these days and the 180 Dauntless is designed to please the educated fisher and the family. Some of the promo shots show mum at the helm, young kids on the flip-up rear lounge, and a Labrador on the forward casting platform as the boat scoots along. Other pics show the parents flicking lures and then tossing Frisbees at a beach picnic on a sand cay. 

We tested the All Activity Tower and imagined stalking fish on the flats, casting to flathead, firing out flies at pelagics, all the while wearing the latest flats fishing attire and probably using an electric on a mount. Having fished with Nomad Charters on the Great Barrier Reef, skiffs like this excel up over the reef and the broken coral ground, too. It would be a cracking boat across the top of Australia and as a tender to a mothership.

That’s the beauty of the 180 Dauntless. The centre console straddles a lot of camps without compromise. This is a premium multipurpose 18-foot family-and-fishing skiff and one of the longest serving boats in the Boston Whaler fleet. The timeless design, Whaler badge and build, proven performance and functionality have enduring appeal.

LIKES
>> Simple, integrated and intelligent deck design
>> Enhanced fishability via live bait tank and All Activity Tower
>> Family comforts by way of flip-up seating
>> Top performance from the 150hp Mercury EFI FourStroke
>> Premium build quality and timeless design
>> Great stability from a dry wide-beam hull with fine entry

NOT SO MUCH
>> Battery storage might be better inside the console rather than a rear storage bin
>> The Smartcraft engine gauge panel on the dash could be moved across to make way for a MFD nav screen LCD display that relays engine data via NMEA2000
>> A pretty decent price premium for an albeit premium boat

RATINGS
Overall rating: 4.87/5.0
Mechanical/equipment: 4.95/5.0
Packaging and practicality: 4.95/5.0
On-the-water performance: 4.95/5.0
Value for money: 4.75/5.0
X-factor: 4.75/5.0

Specifications: Boston Whaler 180 Dauntless
Price as Tested: $95,160 with Mercury 150 XL EFO FourStroke and options including All Activity Tower, anchor roller, split bow rail, white rub rail, bow cushion, livewell, bimini top, raw water wash down, stereo, Australian spec alloy, regos, safety package and more
Priced From: As above
LOA: 5.51m
Beam: 2.46m
Weight: 929.8kg dry weight
Deadrise: 16 degrees
Transom height: 25in
Min/Max HP: 135/150
Engine: Mercury 150hp EFI FourStroke outboard w/ three-blade 18in prop
Fuel: 200 litres
Persons/max weight capacity: 8/907kg
Bridge clearance no bimini: 1.47m

Supplied by:
Queensland Marine Centre
Unit 10, 71 Shipper Drive, Coomera, QLD, 4209
PO Box 104, Oxenford QLD 4210
Call (07) 5591 7032
Email sales@qmc.com.au
See Queensland Marine Centre
See Boston Whaler