C&F 49

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses? You've been out ridin' fences for so long now..." Naturally, when I first set eyes on Desperado, these legendary Eagles' lyrics came to mind. Yet this custom-made sportsfishing hit doesn't so much dance to a classic tune as make its own kind of music. Desperado, a C&F 49, is a maverick of the high seas with an air of rebelliousness about it.

Designed by Geoff Granville and built by Dick Ward from Cairns Boatbuilders over a period of 16 months, the high-tech, super-lightweight, straightshooter weighs in at just 14,000kg. Thus, Desperado is 4000kg lighter than a Cresta 46.

Instead of sitting deep in the water and dragging a big dead-wood keel, the foam-cored hull rides up top and breezes across the swells like a fuel-efficient flying fish.

Based on the distinguished Cairns charterboat, Kanahoee, Desperado is the second boat from the mould. Compared with the big canoe, it has a different aft bulkhead to reduce cockpit length, an anodised Black Marlin alloy tower, smaller bait tank, 10cm higher transom, and slightly lighter construction.

Indeed, the construction warrants special mention. The only timber you will find are the gloss-finished teak towrails around the bow, the teak cockpit sole and internal flooring, the gamechair and bridge chairs, and the salad servers in the galley.

The hull, including the stringers, is built from Klegecell foam-sandwich. Best described as composite construction, Desperado's undersides also have kevlar for added strength.

According to the boat's full-time skipper, Justin OEFl ash' Reid, the mission was simply to build the most efficient, user-friendly gameboat around. Judging by performance, the crew has achieved that goal.

EFFICIENT SPORTSFISHER
Desperado's twin 600hp straight-six MTUs use 140lt/hr at 1900rpm for a cruise speed of 23kt. The props are 25 x 31-inch four-bladers, but there's some suggestion that different wheels will see the boat turn in more than its current 31kt top end. New props might also iron-out the slight vibration we experienced at top speed.

As it is, Desperado is a beautiful boat to drive. The Mather's Micro Commander electronic shifts add to the sensation. The delay is under one second and there's a definite detent between gears.

Should the need arise, you can reduce boat speed so you can tow livebaits by using the trolling valves.

Because I had just a few hours to pass judgement on this rather special boat, it's best that the skipper explains the finer points. After all, Flash has a background in gamefishing spanning several continents and almost seven seas. But since it was launched on September 1 in Cairns for the 1999 big-fish season, Desperado is his new home.

PROVEN FISHRAISER
Flash says there wasn't much to do to the boat after a vigorous shakedown. They changed the wheels before heading for the GBR for around 20 days fishing. In that time they caught 20 fish and won Champion Angler at the Lizard Island Halloween Shootout.

A couple of those giant blacks were 850lb-plus.

"The boat went really well up there. It's great into a headsea. It's narrower and with a deeper vee than some other boats. For this reason it doesn't sit that well, but it crushes a headsea and tracks like a train downswell. That is what we wanted," he explains, adding that he has no intention of ever returning to his shark-fishing days.

Desperado is also a better boat to reverse-up than its sistership. The higher transom and reduction of weight aft through the use of a smaller in-floor livewell have worked. Due to the deep-vee, the hull digs in a touch, but it goes down only so far before popping out and shooting back faster than Susie O'Neill in a tumble turn.

Flash says Desperado offered a rare opportunity to give birth to a new boat based around fishing experience. The boat's owner left the fishing details in the hands of Flash. Though primarily a dayboat, the C&F 49 can accommodate six in style. It uses an open-plan layout that's as refreshing as it is functional.

As if to prove the point, the boat's owner and his buddies spent five days living aboard Desperado at the Reef last season. Though the boat doesn't have a desalinator, and just 650lt of water, it's well set up to meet electrical demands. The compact 10.5kVa Onan is boosted by a 6.5kVa hydraulic cruising alternator which runs off the main engines.

After tussling with giant black marlin off Cairns, Desperado and its crew worked their way south to Sydney. On the outside of Fraser Island they got two marlin from seven bites a blue and a striped. Between the Gold Coast and Coffs Harbour they had just one bite. Off Coffs they scored two marlin. Near Port Stephens they tagged a 180kg blue. Then the boat was tied up in Sydney before they headed further south.

Flash says the highlight thus far was a wild day on the Canyons near Ulladulla. It was mid-January, a day or two before the start of the Jess Sams tournament, just before a big southerly came through.

During the calm before the storm, the Desperado crew saw 60-70 striped marlin, a black and a blue, crashing bait. They caught so many marlin they reverted to teasing them and almost free-tagged a few. They also shot some wild video footage.

At the Port Stephens Interclub, the Desperado crew concentrated on catching a big blue. The Interclub proved pretty quiet for them, but they got two blues and an 80kg mako on lures in the Shootout. And they backed up with some action off Broken Bay.

LOW-MAINTENANCE DESIGN
At the time of writing, Flash had clocked-up 530 hours on the MTUs and the engines haven't missed a beat.

Routine maintenance is made easy by the access. You lift a hatch in the saloon floor, fold back the opposing lounges, and the engines are staring at you. Fluoro lighting makes working at night just as easy.

As the boat's guardian, Flash made sure Desperado was as low-maintenance as possible. The interior is largely painted in white two-pack, the cabin walls are lined with front-runner, and the floor throughout is teak-and-holly that's topped with clip-in covers for better traction and less wear.

In the cockpit, there are no padded coamings to rot-out and harbour tropical bugs. The survey-height, rounded coamings are topped with big teak covering boards. Scuppers are held tight with bungee cords and, just looking around, the impression you get is one of simplicity.

There are no side storage lockers, just a big marlin door, four cleats, four swivel-gimbal rodholders, a lazarette for storage, an underfloor livebait tank with through holes, saltwater washdown, hot/cold freshwater washdown, and a stunning, epoxy-coated Release teak gamechair with padded armrests. The chair matches those imported from America in the bridge.

To port is a hatch to the plumbing and a brilliant rigging station borrowed from Flash's days on French Look (see box story). Flash designed the rigging area with an overboard drain, a lid which pops up and holds the spools of thread, a cutting board insert, and hardware and tool storage.

To starboard is a big eutectic bait fridge to serve in places like wahoo-infested Cairns.

Flash says the bait freezer can take 60 scads and 15 big baits such as mackerel tuna. Sistership Kanahoee has even more bait storage, but it's based in Cairns full-time. A lot of the fishing on Desperado is towing lures.

SOCIAL AT HEART
Anodised alloy doors more than an MTU engine wide and stylish windows surround the saloon. The side and aft windows are the opening type. Flash says not much spray gets inside.

There is no central hatch up front because the owner wanted to retain the boat's sleek look. In any case, airconditioning keeps you cool.

The saloon reflects an understanding of what's needed for crew and guests. There are two huge, opposing lounges big enough for Lurch to sleep on. A bent-butt rod is mounted behind each lounge A reach away is a recessed drinks box with eutectic element and a tackle drawer.

There is additional storage under the dinette, which can seat four to six people comfortably.

Handrails on the saloon roof guide you forward to the dinette and its teak-ash table finished in clear epoxy. Opposite is the galley with a nice big fridge with pub-style locking door, domestic stainless sink, charcoal-filtered drinking water, lots of storage and drawers, a Sharp convection microwave and a two-burner electric stove.

Importantly, the tumblers are oversized so you don't have to keep running back to pour another rum and coke. There is a 12-stacker CD unit with incredible volume, a TV/VCR to keep check of the cricket scores in summer, and the circuit-breaker and control panels are immediately accessible on the forward bulkhead.

And wherever you are in the saloon, from preparing lunch to reclining with BlueWater in hand, you are still part of the action thanks to big windows and a wide companionway.

SLUMBER PARTIES
Down three steps is the accommodation. It's been designed so crew can bunk-down without feeling like they're sleeping in a ship's hold.

Without bulkheads, what would usually be two crew cabins with bunks turns into one big den.

Bunks are at least two metres long and wide enough to accommodate a traceman's shoulders. The finish is low-maintenance, with camel-coloured front-runner walls, green-and-gold bedspreads and white headliners, and moulded, bump-free walls.

Lots of opening hatches add to the open-plan feel. In fact, while kicking back on the bunks you're still not that far from the action. A leap onto the deck, up the stairs and through the saloon would see you in the cockpit in a matter of seconds.

The dayhead to port has an overhead shower, Lectrasan loo, storage cupboard to keep the dunny paper dry and hold personals, and a moulded sink Good headroom adds to the sense of space, but there's no extractor fan.

The moulded liner is easy to clean.

The owner is treated to a big forepeak cabin with an ensuite that mirrors the dayhead. An oversized hatch draws in fresh air and lots of natural light. I counted 13 lockers and three drawers not to mention additional storage room under the big island bed. Gamefishing 'widows' will happily sleep aboard.

RUNNING ON EMPTY
Though there was barely a ripple offshore when we sampled Desperado the walkways and foredeck felt safe underfoot. There was plenty of non-skid, a teak towrail, cool stainless bowrail, and lots of handrails. Back aft, the moulded cockpit fridge and bait-rigging modules are handy seats when trolling.

They're set back under the bridge overhang for shade and protection from ambient spray.

Take the ladder to the bridge and you'll find everything a flash skipper needs to navigate and find fish at sea. But with a particularly big view aft and off to the sides, there are no excuses for running over the fish. Seating exists for up to six people on two lounges, with separate chairs for the co-pilot and skipper.

An overhead communications box holds the full spread of radios, while the Raytheon 48nm radar, 620 chartplotter, Robertson Autopilot and Koden CVS-8842 really-deep-water depth sounder are protected by clears so you can hose the boat down at the end of the day. Engines gauges are set behind a glass screen for similar reasons.

Up again, the tower was custom-designed by Flash so you can lock yourself sideway in a seaway. The angled ladder and thick alloy tubing make climbing it a snap.

From the tower, you feel like you're floating above the cockpit, but look ahead and there's a huge, sexy foredeck spearing through the sea.

Desperado's hull is a monohedron design with 18° of deadrise, a small keel, seven-degree parallel chines, but no running strakes. With a smooth bum, the boat's trolling wash is minimal.

In fact, I reckon the wake has bigger windows in it than any other boat I've been aboard. Maybe this is why the marlin are swimming up to the transom to take a closer look and listen to the MTUs sing.