Crestliner 1700 Super Hawk

Crestliner is another Brunswick tinnie marque with some models remarkably similar to Lund. It arrived here just two years ago when this writer joined the launch party on the tranquil Berowra Waters on Sydney’s outskirts. Since then, the importer says there haven’t been any warranty issues or concerns regarding longevity, hull construction and so on. At launch time, we praised Crestliner’s great finish and let history decide on the hulls.

Meantime, Australia has become a lot more like America in regards to its fishing styles. While it’s true the bulk of anglers still fish from local tinnies and soak long-dead baits, more and more young anglers are using soft-plastic lures, hard-body divers, blades and other artificials to catch fish.

With the uptake of these ‘new’ pro-active fishing methods, boats like the American Crestliners have gained greater relevance. Once the preserve of American large- and small-mouth lake bass anglers, these boats are now being used for lure fishing and the associated American-type lure techniques now widely practiced on our shores.

This brings us to the subject of this test, Crestliner’s 1700 Super Hawk, an interesting tinnie for other reasons. Here’s a crossover fishing and family boat that can jump from one role to the next in minutes without compromising either pursuit. While largely a flat-water boat, the 1700 has sufficient freeboard fore and aft to tackle the bay, harbour and sneak offshore on good days.

At the same time, the brand’s signature upmarket tinnie finish offers a bit more comfort than your run-of-the-mill alloy runabout. Together, these things have contributed to the 1700 Super Hawk being one of the Crestliner’s best local sellers.

In fact, notable tournament bream angler Jarrod Taylor sold his dedicated performance fishboat to buy a Crestliner to better serve his family between contesting tournaments. That says a lot.

As for the test of time, in the two years since their arrival, the Crestliner importers, Berowra Waters Wholesale (BWW) -- who also has the Bayliner brand from Brunswick -- has sold some 65 boats, mostly in the past 18 months via its expanding national dealer network. All the feedback is positive, we’re told.

At this point, there are mainly two styles of Crestliner in Australia: side console and walk-through/dual console models. But tiller models are gradually arriving. For all intents and purposes, the 1700 Super Hawk is a convertible bowrider, but it’s a little different from what’s offered as standard in America.

Crestliner’s Christine Brush from Product Development has been very receptive to our market demands and, as such, Crestliner now includes things like an anchor locker as standard on local 1700 Super Hawks.

Our test boat was selling for $43,595 with 115hp four-stroke Mercury EXLPT EFI outboard, spinning a 19in alloy prop, on a single-axle galvanised trailer with factory-fitted boat options. There was an optional Sports Package including twin reclining helm seats with slider and tilt wheel, swim platform with ladder, bow backrests with drink holders. The boat had the Northwest Package with easy-clean vinyl flooring but carpeted casting platforms.

Fish-finding electronics amounted to the base Lowrance X-4 sonar -- BWW had a deal at the time of writing with a free Lowrance Elite 5 combo unit including a map card valued at $1299 installed – but Crestliner offers almost as many Lowrance and Humminbird options as it does Motorguide and Minn Kota trolling motors. 

Our boat had a 44lb-thrust trolling motor with clever wrist remote rather than foot pedal. And with that it presented as a very complete and distinct walkthrough bowrider with black-and-silver hull and matching graphics. The curvaceous high-aspect windscreen grows on you.

From the pointy end, this is clearly a high-volume and buoyant hull designed to carry the weight of an angler or two kids up front. The optional electric motor with wrist remote allowed us to trace the murky foreshores and pepper lures at snags with aplomb. Plenty of comfortable flat carpeted casting platform and provision for mounting casting seats add to the comfort.

Side storage nets for lose tackle items and small boxes, non-skid tread steps on the gunwales, and stainless-steel cleats were noted. But it’s what you don’t see -- the underfloor storage -- that is the highlight. The 1700 Super Hawk comes with a catacomb of dry storage lockers, fish wells, underfloor rod storage and more.

Specifically, the comfy bow casting platform has twin storage compartments with liners that are suitable for dry storage or as a quick-access drinks coolers (foam backed), a central hatch with second battery, and a covered anchor well. Drink holders are nearby.

The central underfloor cockpit locker can carry wakeboards and/or four rods, while the aft casting platform has dedicated hatches for battery/oil storage, plus two general compartments. Oh, and a divided, aerated, central 83-litre live well!

Besides the underfloor storage, there’s an open under-gunwale portside rack for three rods to 7ft 6in in length, plus two paddles and/or nav light, giving dedicated seven rod storage all up.

There’s open net storage under the starboard gunwale, a recess ahead of the co-pilot’s foot area for a portable icebox (supplied in standard spec), with a pull-out storage/tackle drawer ahead of the co-pilot that adds to the boat’s utility.

Together, all this tallies to a huge amount of storage that keeps everything packed away from your above-deck living and fishing spaces, thereby adding to the boat’s enjoyment.

And with a big, beamy cockpit, rounded coamings and everything smooth and curved, vinyl flooring and carpeted cockpit sides, this tinnie is luxurious, snag- and bruise-free.

Welds -- especially sharp or daggy ones -- even in out-of-the-way areas like under the extruded gunwales are noticeable by their absence. Meantime, high freeboard from bow to stern imparts a sense of safety.

There’s a small engine well and a cut-down transom where local tinnie makers would continue with a higher transom line to keep water out, but the 1700 Super Hawk will serve its intended inshore and occasional offshore duties just fine.

All the keen angler needs to add are some rod holders for trolling and, potentially, a portable drop-in cutting board should you want to bait fish and/or prep fish for the table.

The importers BWW fit local canopies rather than the factory-supplied models. A decent bimini would be useful for shade during summer picnics aboard, providing it stows and doesn’t affect casting.

Now for the alter ego…

Next, at the blunt end of the boat, the transom casting platform flips over with a simple single-handed action to reveal a deep aft lounge for three, also with padded backrests, drink holders and nearby plastic grab handles. Flipped back over, the casting platform can double as a sunbed/daybed. A swim step adds to the family functionality. You can order a ski/tow pole as well.

All told, the 1700 Super Hawk offers casual/cruising seating for up to seven although it’s rated for six. Fold the seats away and you get fore and aft casting platforms, with a casting seat position in the bow and two in the cockpit. But these features aren’t entirely new. Crestliner introduced the Conversion Bow in 1986 and the Conversion Stern Bench the year after.

In either family or fishing modes, the helm and co-pilot seats cater for a couple very comfortably when zooming between spots.

The alloy gauge is 2.5mm on the bottom, 2.3mm on the sides and a 3.2mm at the transom. By way of comparison, Stacer’s tough 539 Nomad Fisher centre console uses 4mm sheet for its hull with 3mm sides as standard. Even the 539 Easy Rider bowrider family boat has 4mmm hull bottom with 2.5mm topsides.

The Crestliner’s hull shape and lines are pleasant on the eye, with a raked and sharp entry and forefoot that tapers into a broad and buoyant bow. The wide transom with relatively flat run is supportive of the four-stroke outboard and an adult or two.

The boat is rated for up to six people and 633kg load, with a 25in transom and small splash well, whose inspection hatch assists bilge (pump) access. But we’re not big fans of spin-off hatches in splash wells for reason of leaks.

Slotted into Crestliner’s Deep-V range, the 1700 Super Hawk has 17 degrees of deadrise that is mainly in the forward sections. While stable at rest for flicking lures, which we did, it continues in a predictable manner under power.

The co-pilot console features a giant glove box with storage for personals and a pull-out tray for tackle. Speakers alongside let you cruise and party. The portable icebox is near the footwell.

The helm sports a raised dash with Faria engine gauges including tacho, speedo, volts, fuel and trim. There was a small X4 Lowrance sounder on the dash, plenty of storage space below, standard Jensen stereo alongside, and adjustable wheel.

The non-feedback steering didn’t load up and proved a good match with the Mercury 115hp four-stroke outboard. Hydraulic steering is an option worth considering on the maximum fitted 135hp Verado outboard.

Idling, the four-stroke’s running noise was barely discernible and with possible 650rpm idle setting you can create a great low-speed trolling platform. Low speed plane spinning the 19in alloy prop was 3100rpm and 12.6 knots with a touch on negative trim. Vision, running noise and comfort remain good right through the rev range.

Low-speed or offshore/bumpy water cruise was clocked at 3500rpm for 18.5 knots, ranging to the best eco setting of 23-24 knots at 4000rpm, up to fast cruise of 27 knots -- a sweet spot with the engine purring -- at 4500rpm. Maximum cruise of 5000rpm gave 30.1 knots, while wide-open throttle (WOT) of 5600rpm on the tacho saw the 1700 Super Hawk wind out to 35 knots on my handheld Garmin GPS.

Mercury says WOT is 5800-6400rpm, so perhaps a stainless 13x18in Vengeance three-blader would be better than the 13x19in alloy on our test boat. There was a small amount of cavitation in tight turns, too, leading us to go the stainless prop route from the outset.

That said, it was a nice rig on the calms of Berowra Water, with a forgiving ride when crossing wake and no real thumps. The 125-litre underfloor fuel tank will keep you fishing and having fun most of the day.

With heaps of grunt and hole shot and agreeable cruising, we enjoyed our drive and ride on the Crestliner 1700 Sea Hawk. That customary tinnie thump and reverberating sound was absent, muffled no doubt by the flat ply floor, foam floatation and carpeted sides, while engine vibrations or noise was unobtrusive, which you would expect from a Brunswick rig.

The hull’s performance is impressive, while the tongue-and-groove construction appears to have stood the test of a medium time frame to date. Compared with local tinnies, it’s not as rough-and-tumble or robust in terms of the aluminium gauge, but inshore applications and big-city boating, rather than backcountry work in, say, the Top End, shouldn’t be an issue.

At the end of the day, the Crestliner 1700 Super Hawk isn’t so much a threat to our enduring local tinnie manufacturers as a boat that expands the existing market and, perhaps, steals sales from existing imported American fibreglass family-only boats.

Priced from: $42,390 with 115hp four-stroke Mercury EXLPT EFI outboard

LOA: 5.20m
Beam: 2.26m
Weight: 590kg dry weight hull only
Deadrise: 17 degrees
Transom height: 25in
Min/Max HP: 90-140
Engine: 115hp four-stroke Mercury EXLPT EFI, 25in shaft, outboard w/ three-blade 19in prop
Fuel: 125 litres
Persons/max weight capacity: Six/633kg