Boston Whaler 320 Outrage

Big-city big-fish grounds are changed places these days. Take for instance Sydney's not-so-secret Browns Mountain during the all-too-rare recent yellowfin tuna bite.

Sure, you see those tried-and-true Caribbeans, Marlin Broadbills, Rivieras and a few old workhorses - say, Mariner 43s - drifting for sharks or blue-eye or trolling for tuna. But the little-boat fleet bears scant resemblance to how it was just a few years back.

Buoyed by a strong economy, an even stronger dollar and fuelled by the wheels of global capitalism, the small-boat gamefishing scene off Sydney looks more like a mixed fleet from, say, Carolina or Florida.

In other words, it's a pretty funky fleet of fishers that operate out of big-city ports like Sydney these days. Among the big-named boats working the grounds are the likes of Boston Whalers, Grady Whites, Hydrasports, Prolines and Seaswirls. Presumably, these boat come at the expense of our Haines Hunters, Seafarers and Signatures.

In terms of performance, the Boston Whalers are the short-priced favourites with impressive wet-track form. The new flagship 320 Outrage is the biggest centre console in the range. It hasn't so much of the traditional Whaler flared thing happening up front, but more of a high-speed Miami Vice look about its sleek lines.

Coupled with twin Verado 275hp supercharged four-stroke outboards, the 320 Outrage delivers speed without killer fuel bills; fast travel times with comforts; and a fitout that lets you fish stand-up tackle well into the night, land that leviathan tuna or blue marlin, and speed home from 40 nautical south of where your hooked the fish four hours ago.

DESIGNS ON DEEPWATER
Spend time on these benchmark boats and you can't help but redefine your understanding and appreciation of good hydrodynamic design.

The 320 Outrage, the largest outboard-powered boat Whaler has ever built, is foam filled, smooth riding, and wonderfully fitted out for hardcore fishing and high-speed commuting.

The unsinkable hull can support a payload of engines, gear and crew of 2177kg when swamped. That is, while keeping the outboards' powerheads above water.

Those outboards will give you an extraordinary range from the 1135lt fuel capacity. Revolution four-blade 17in SS props were the perfect match. The props revealed no cavitation across a wide trim range. The only time they sucked air was when Yours Truly got the boat airborne.

While the state of the sea wasn't exactly pleasant, with a brisk 20kt wind driving up a 1.5m building swell topped with white horses, it wasn't uncomfortable heading east in this boat. In fact, when I turned to head home I was bemused by the fact that I had already travelled several sneaky nautical miles from land. Such was the ease with which this boat goes places.

Among the so-called Accutrack's hull features is a special keel pad - I suspect a kind of delta plank of flat section - designed to enhance low-speed planing.

Despite its lithe looks, the boat certainly seemed to carry the weight of those two big Verados without dragging its tail.

This is important for truly heavy-weather boating, where sub-20kt cruise speeds might be called for; or, perhaps, for lugging a lunker back to the gantry. 

BIG-BOAT FITOUT
Those of you familiar with Boston Whalers would expect the big-boat deck fittings and deep anchor locker fitted with, on this boat, a windlass and remote control. The bow-casting platform was topped with grippy, but not painful, non-skid.

Attach the infill cushions and you create an instant sunpad for appeasing the family or for kicking back aboard. With some kind of custom collapsible canopy, you could create a camper out of this boat.

Underneath the casting platform is a giant wet well with overboard drains for keeping the catch or lunch on ice. Dotted about the self-draining deck are rodholders, drinkholders, speakers for the marine stereo, stainless steel toerails and padded coamings for support when leaning outboard.

You can derive the kind of confidence needed to trace a seriously big fish from this boat.

Passenger-wise, it's a good boat to get around. Sturdy stainless steel grabrails are where you intuitively reach for them. In calm water, the impromptu seat ahead of the console might come in handy. In fact, at rest, four people could sit around the bow and do lunch as if it were a second cockpit.

Having said that, the layout has been designed for speedy bow-to-stern access. I reckon saltwater fly-fishers would find the boat very much to their liking. So would deepwater jig fishers, for that matter; and those anglers who are into tossing top-waters in coral country.

From transom to bow, the boat has a huge amount of freeboard and stability; even, I suspect, when fully loaded with fuel, fishing gear and fishers.

Storage is, as ever, a Whaler strength. Though appearing long and lithe, the 320 hull has surprising depth, as illustrated by the standing headroom inside the centre console and the size of the underfloor storage well in the bow. There are storage pockets up front and abaft, dedicated moulded recesses for stowing the fire extinguisher and/or EPIRB, and two built-in lockable rod lockers so you can go ashore at tournament time.

Behind the centre console are two huge insulated in-floor fish coffins, downrigger weight holders - downrigging for kingfish or yellowtail is really starting to catch on Down Under - and rod-storage racks. The bait-rigging centre with everything from knife and tool holders to sink and the world's deepest livebait tank is a work of art.

NICE FOR A CHANGE
A lockable door leads under the console to a cavernous change room with upmarket Vacuflush loo. This amenity will engender the boat to female crew and come in handy when changing your clobber for the club presentation.

The boat boasts a 14-person capacity and has a handy flip-up aft lounge on which four people can ride when not standing and spearing their way out to sea.

Rods can be stowed in the overhead rocket launcher, a triple transom-mounted rodholder, the four gunwale rodholders that could do with safety lanyards, and a four-rod vertical rack near the forward seat. This latter spot would be the place to leave casting rods, bait-jiggers, deep-water bottom rods and the like.

Interestingly, a lot of the weight being carried in this boat is amidships, where it has the least effect on the ride. Under the console, for example, you will find the boat's three batteries and big-boat 12V master panel. There's also a through-hull tap and control for discharging the holding tank at sea, and a shorepower main with reverse-polarity warning light.

Amenities include a sink and handheld shower indoors and outdoors, and an anchor washdown, all linked to a 150lt water tank; numerous out-of-the-way dry storage areas; and clever fold-out rod storage rack so you can leave a spread of outfits on the boat parked at the marina.

Among the options on the demo boat were the tricky Taco outriggers, a heavy duty stainless steel tow eye that looked the goods, stainless steel anchor, Butane stove, and 12V outlet at the transom for electric reels and/or downriggers.

The moulded hardtop on an alloy frame had enough room and stability to sunbake, spot fish or help the captain navigate in calm water. You could put a dedicated fish-spotter's tower up there if you wanted to. 

OFFSHORE CRUISING
Fitted with Smartcraft and electronic fly-by-wire gearshifts, the Verado outboards were similar to inboard motors to drive.

Soft-touch buttons on the throttle box and screen itself let you access the multifunction control panel. Among the functions are a synchro-assist mode, estimated range, fuel consumption and a whole host of engine data details.

The wheel was one of those stainless steel numbers with a trucker's knob for swift circle work. At speed, the wheel helped make the Outrage a reassuringly nifty boat to drive.

With the twin outboards close together, it doesn't have much direction backing down. But that's not how you fish an open boat like this. For running fish down off the cockpit quarters, tracing and tagging or gaffing, the boat is ideal.

Importantly, the console had room to flush-mount two 10in and one 7in navigation and depth-sounding screens or, as is now the case, the latest 12in colour screens. There was a spotlight, lifejacket storage and lockable overhead radio box. Oh, and one of the best seating arrangements I have ever tried.

The twin armchairs on the leaning post with flip-up seat bolsters provide comfort when trolling, cruising or setting a new PB between ports of call.

Whaler attributes the boat's excellent low-speed efficiency and willingness to plane to that aforementioned keel pad. There are also trim tabs that help the boat hold its low planing speed of 12.3kt at 2850rpm. But at 3300rpm, it sits naturally level at a heavy-weather cruise clip of 18kt.

Despite its efficiency at such frugal settings, the boat is true to its Whaler parentage in that it likes to be run hard. I reeled in a few quick sea miles with the Verados at their most economical setting of 3800-4000rpm doing 23-25kt.

High-speed cruising at 4750rpm returned 32kt and still no bumps or spray. Flat out, I got 42.3kt, but apparently there is 44kt in this thoroughbred if you bring those props higher.