Boston Whaler 230 Vantage

Naturally, serious fishing is Whaler’s forte. The deep-vee hulls with elaborate running surfaces -- pronounced down-turned chines for lift and spray deflection, foam filling between hull and one-piece moulded deck for a quiet and virtually unsinkable boat -- make venturing offshore a joy.

Even when you chop a Whaler in half with a chainsaw and motor away in the remaining stub, even after you pump rounds of high-calibre ammo into the flanks, or run over the boat with a bulldozer -- as the marketeers have done previously-- these ‘virtually unsinkable’ boats still float defiantly.

It is upon this foundation that Whaler has sought to broaden its appeal. In the diversified world of pleasure boating, it’s not just about creating craft with a sole purpose in mind. The new 230 Vantage, the Swiss Army Knife of Whalers, is a multi-faceted, multipurpose SUV that has been designed as a crowd pleaser without compromising its varied roles.

The key difference here compared with other multipurpose bowriders is that the 230 Vantage is based on that aforesaid signature Whaler bluewater hull. It's no Great Lakes bowrider with a bit of token fishing kit to cut both ways. Not, it's a serious fishboat with some family comforts to do the all-purpose thing better.

We recently had the good fortune to test drive the award-winning Whaler 230 Vantage all-rounder off the Gold Coast on a picture-perfect summer’s day, one that beckoned boaters of all bents. One look around the Broadwater revealed rafts of water-lovers doing their own peculiar things. This one boat could be their universal answer.

There were scuba divers plumbing the depths along the breakwalls at Wave Break Island, retirees in floppy hats drifting in tinnies, families frolicking on the beach at The Spit, cruisers ploughing down the channels and, offshore through the Seaway, a clutch of fishing boats silhouetted against the horizon. One boat to sate them all: the 230 Vantage.

Realising that fishing is forever part of the Whaler program, there was the optional Fishing Package fitted with 53-litre livewell with light, raw-water washdown, stainless steel toe rails with under-gunwale storage shelf, and two stainless steel transom mounted rod holders.

The boat had the watersports tower with four rod holders, tow bit and optional bimini top; a windlass with stainless-steel anchor; bow table; solid counter at the amenity centre; bow filler cushion, freshwater shower, Fusion stereo upgrade and more.

The as-tested price of the tricked-up Whaler 230 Vantage with the 300 horse on aluminium trailer with disc brakes, dual-torsion axles, guide-on stanchions, LED lights and spare tyre was $167, 857.90. The Starting price is quoted as $128,000.

The wraparound seating and plush sculptured backrests, backed by solid recessed grab rails, create a truly comfortable bowrider when you take on the family and/or friends.

Drink-holders are at hand and, when you lift up the seat bases to reveal the concealed storage, you might notice the plumbing system draining ambient water or spilt drinks from those holders back under the deck. This, the gas struts on all the hatches, and a 12V outlet in the bow are just a few examples of the deep level of design.

The bowrider amenity is further enhanced by a drop-in table that can be relocated in the cockpit and we’d order twin tables to create separate adult and kid’s lunch settings from bow to stern. Recessed speakers let you crank up the music in both zones and there’s a swing-away recessed ‘wind dam’ door to keep the cool breeze channelling back into the cockpit during winter sorties.

Storage behind and below the helm and co-pilot consoles is big features and essential on a multipurpose boat for stashing the broad range of gear typically needed on a whim. Ahead of the portside helm, a hatch opens to reveal a walk-in space with dedicated fender holders that might double as dive-tank racks . The supplied Whaler bucket can be accessed through a hatch near the helm, so you can toss your rubbish away, and there’s loads of room left over for stashing covers, seat cushions, and so on.

Should fishing take your fancy, unsnap the bow cushions and toss them into the helm hold. Voila, an instant bow casting platform. Recessed cleats and nav lights will help lines free flowing. Drop in an optional infill and you can create even more casting space and, later, with the infill cushion, a sunpad for catching up on sleep.

Meantime, ahead of the co-pilot is an aft-facing door leading into a moulded WC/changeroom featuring a portable toilet with pumpout, small moulded sink with spray rinser, and enough room left over for changing into swim wear or stowing carry-on items. Between the two consoles and a cavernous lockable storage hold between the helm seats -- reaching well forward so as to swallow skis, a bundle more rods, and so on -- the 230 Vantage is ready to serve.

The cockpit was well shaded during our midday run by the bimini top trailing off the powder-coated arch with those rod storage tubes and a high pulling point for air-chasing wakeboarders. The two-person co-pilot seat has a reversible backrest and, when folded flat, morphs into the best daybed on the 230 Vantage.

There’s a transom lounge for carrying more crew, while the inbuilt moulded amenities centre behind the helm features upmarket solid counter/servery, sink, knife and drink storage, and a portable Igloo cooler below. You even get a cutting board that drops into the sink recess. Everything but the cold chicken and salads for your family lunch.

Switchable blue/white courtesy LED lights will make the 230 Vantage just as inviting for dinner cruises. But fishing is likely to take precedence. To that end, if not that of the fish, the Vantage 230 is a seriously offshore platform. With a flick of the wrist, the rear lounge folds away.

For fishing you get toe kicks tracing the cockpit, padded coamings, a good spread of heavy-duty rod holders and under-gunwale gaff, net and rod racks. Flip the base of the co-pilot lounge and there’s a decent integrated and plumbed live-bait tank. And if you don’t want to fit outriggers for offshore trolling, no worries, those high holders on the fitted arch will substitute.

The self-draining deck, deck hose, walk-through transom door and large non-skid platforms either side of the outboard add to the fishing and fish-landing ability of the 230 Vantage. Not to mention retrieving boarders and skiers and swimming kids. There’s just so much potential.

Our suggested itinerary? Pick up mate pre-dawn, launch and blast offshore for the hot bite. Stow your catch on ice in the central underfloor well. Gun it back inshore, pick up both families, inflate tubes and tow tykes. Stop for lunch and carry Igloo with food to beach. Catch 40 Winks afterwards on the sun and day beds. One more run then head home with everyone sated.

See what we mean about crowd pleaser?

Underfloor, towards the transom, is a large deck hatch revealing terrific access to the bilge liner and some key engineering items including the 420-litre polypropylene fuel tank and sender, automatic bilge pump, and dual battery trays with switch. The boat had 68 litres of freshwater for its cockpit sink and head sink sprayers. All seacocks, pumps and skin fittings are labelled and easily accessible.

With though-hull bolted heavy-duty 316 stainless steel deck fittings, the famous Whaler Unibond construction with foam filling for a one-piece monocoque boat, and big-boat thinking on the engineering front, the 230 Vantage is hard to fault. We reckon the 230 Vantage is class leading and exemplary in the wide world of production boats.

Spinning a 17in four-blade stainless steel prop on the big 300 Verado, the 230 Vantage explodes into life and planes in just eight seconds. We have encountered calmer conditions offshore from the Gold Coast, but with about one metre of sea and swell this was most certainly a fishing day. Seaway conquered, we were on our way…

At the desirable 4000rpm eco cruise revs, the 230 Vantage slotted into the groove like a Hornby model train on tracks. Trim tabs let you keep the boat on an even keel and you can plane all day in heavy weather at 3000rpm. Knock off 500 revs and you will settle into eight-knot lure-trolling mode for about 17.5 litres per hour.

According to the official data, the 300hp Verado/230 Vantage combo returns a range of 203nm at 3000rpm/15.2 knots, best figures of 268nm at 3500rpm/18.8 knots, but near enough the same range of 267nm at 4000rpm/23.9 knots, dropping to 258nm and 226nm at 4500rpm and 5000rpm fast cruise speeds of 29.3 and 33.5 knots respectively.

Top speed is a sprightly 44.9 knots at 6380rpm! Flying we were. The 300hp is also the most economical of all three 225, 250 and 300hp engine options. Needless to say, the Brunswick boat and engine brand were perfectly pared and, as with four-stroke outboards, crazy quiet and super smooth.

Yep, performance is hard to fault. There’s plenty of low-down grunt for pulling skiers, shifting a big lunch load onto the plane, and running out through the rough stuff including a lumpy bar to the fishing grounds. Such is the seaworthiness we would have absolutely no trouble raiding The Shelf in search of tuna or marlin. Or hitting an offshore island with the Bazookas. Options, options…

Piece it all together and it’s not so much what the Vantage 230 can do as what it can’t do that is the question. It would make a nice boat for those thinking about downsizing.

More Whaler magic and, for this salty scribe, a delight to drive and test. You can get around the 2.59m beam for towing with a basic permit. Or rack and stack it, leave it tied to your pontoon or on an air dock. In which way, it’s a boat you’re bound to use often.

Priced from: $128,000 with 250hp Mercury Verado FourStroke
LOA: 7.06m
LOA with platforms: 7.51m
Beam: 2.59m
Weight: 1769kg dry, hull only
Maximum Weight Capacity: 1361 kg
Swamped Capacity: 1814kg
Persons Capacity: 10
Maximum Horsepower: 300hp (224 kW)
Minimum Horsepower: 225hp (168 kW)
Deadrise at Transom: 20 degrees
Fuel Capacity: 420.18 litres
Maximum Engine Weight: 318 kg
Transom Height: 25" (0.64 m)
Water Capacity: 75.71 litres
Bridge Clearance: 1.63 m
Bridge Clearance with Tow Arch: 2.51 m
Engine: Mercury 300hp Verado FourStroke with s/s four-blade 17in prop