Cruise Craft 685 Outsider

Since 1946, Nichols Bros has been producing the Cruise Craft brand of family fishing boats from its Queensland factory. This family business is renowned for producing high quality vessels with particular attention to detail. But part of its success is the reliance on customer feedback and on-water R&D ‹ essential ingredients in the palatable Cruise Craft recipe.

The latest offering from the Cruise Craft stable is the flagship 685 Outsider, a big brother of the already popular 550 and 650 models. With a beam of 2.5m, the 685 is at the maximum trailerable width without a wide load permit and can still be towed with most larger 4WDs. Our testboat was fitted with a single 225hp FICHT RAM direct-injection outboard, however, the 685 is also capable of accepting twin installations.

Cruise Craft is currently fitting twin 115hp FICHTs to one 685 as well as twin 90hp Honda and twin 100hp Yamaha four-strokes to two others. With 300lt of fuel underfloor, all of these power alternatives should provide exceptional range and economy.

Naturally, I would have preferred to test the Outsider 685 offshore, but unfortunately was restricted to a choppy Moreton Bay. Although not confronted by ocean swells, the short, sharp chop (synonymous with Moreton Bay) nonetheless provided a good indication of the vessel¹s handling characteristics. In any case, we headed to the eastern side of the bay to find the roughest water possible.

There's no substitute for length and weight in any boat when confronted by a headsea and as the waves got bigger the further east we went. But the 685 gave the impression of a much larger, heavier boat, with no pounding whatsoever.

It was surprising to note this comfortable cruise registered more than 27kt (on the GPS) at around 4000rpm. Keen to check the performance on the big FICHT, I pushed the throttle down hard and was rewarded with better than 40kt at 5400rpm. Even at full revs the ride was sweet, as the hull barely had a chance to get wet. Running downsea the 685 felt right at home, with the flared bow deflecting spray with ease.

Indeed, the ride was extremely dry. The only time I managed to get a bit of water on the windscreen was during a hard turn into the wind and sea.At trolling speed, with the big FICHT purring away quietly, the 685 provided an extremely stable platform.

A beauty of direct-injection outboards, besides the low noise levels, is the welcome absence of exhaust emissions that are part and parcel of carbed models. Manoeuvrability at low speed was good thanks to hydraulic steering, and backing up was of no concern as non-return scuppers and a self-draining deck are also standard.

A FITTING TRIBUTE
The use of highest quality fittings throughout was immediately noticeable on the 685. I was also surprised to note that many of the features normally on the options' list are standard inclusions on the 685.

It's usually apparent by the standard set-up if a boat manufacturer is also an offshore fishermen. With the 685 the standard boat has everything in the right place and angler comfort is a priority - so you work it out!

In this case it helps take the headache out of purchasing a boat, as little or no customising is required, even for the keenest of anglers.

Boarding the Outsider 685 is an easy job via incorporated pod and transom boarding platforms. A folding stainless steel boarding ladder is recessed into the port-side platform, providing easy access to the vessel from the water or while on the trailer. Access to the cockpit from the port boarding platform is via a small transom door that opens inwards. The door is certainly wide enough to walkthrough, though a little narrow if you are planning on dragging granders onboard.

An access hatch below the transom door provides a visual reference to the oil reservoir, however, the oil filler is cleverly located on the port-side gunwale. A folding rear lounge is fitted to the transom bulkhead that is completely out of the way while fishing and even has enough room below to tuck the toes under. A removable baitboard with sink and two vertical rodholders is centrally-located above. Completing the transom inclusions are a retractable deckhose and a large livewell, conveniently located in the starboard corner with a teflon lid folding aft.

The cockpit floor is fully-carpeted and the padded cockpit coamings are at a nice height for leaning into while fighting a fish. Deep sidepockets provide ample storage space for gaffs etc, while incorporated in the gunwales are recessed cleats, grabrails and six flush-mounted rodholders appropriately angled. Three hatches in the cockpit floor reveal two insulated compartments big enough to hold a nice wahoo or Spanish mackerel (or two) and another big enough to hold your quota of reefies, or half-a-dozen of your favourite beverage.

Helm and passenger seating is extremely comfortable thanks to Reelax pedestal seats - adjustable up and down as well as fore and aft. Also featured is a nifty folding footrest. A grabrail is provided on the back of each seat for standing passengers. Vision forward while seated at the helm was good, however, at 5'10" (or 176cm) I did find myself looking through the top of the windscreen while standing.

The helmstation itself had clean, uncluttered lines. To aid the skipper was flush-mounted gauges, switch panel, compass and 27MHz radio. Optional electronics included a Lowrance GlobalMap 2000 chartplotter and an X85 sounder. There was still plenty of space on the dash to mount additional electronics and a VHF radio if required.

The bulkhead adjacent to the passenger seating kept safety gear and odds and ends readily accessible with a recessed EPIRB and fire extinguisher storage as well as a lockable glove compartment.

TANTALISING TARGA
One of the impressive features fitted on the 685 was the stainless steel targa. It was absolutely first-class, with heavy-duty stainless work which was rock solid and would not move in even the roughest conditions. The targa included grabrails everywhere you needed them and, combined with the six-pot rocket launcher and superflex clears, the 685 really does look the goods.

The foredeck is accessed via a small walkway around the cabin or through a large hatch in the cabin roof. A large stainless bowrail ensures the former is done in safety.

Ground tackle is stowed in the forward locker, with a bowroller and cross bollard ready when needed.

Access to the cabin is via a folding lockable door directly in front of the passenger seat. The cabin is surprisingly large and provides full headroom and the large V-berth (with storage below) is big enough to sleep two of even the tallest crew. The cabin is fully-lined and carpeted and also features padded sidepockets. A facility is also provided for the installation of a marine toilet.

Combined with a drive-on/drive-off trailer which made launching and retrieval a breeze, the Cruise Craft 685 was an impressive fishing-friendly package.

As the testboat stands you have got the ideal reef fishing boat and with very little customising a topnotch trailerable sportsfisher would soon be born. A set of outriggers, a downrigger and a colour sounder would be my only inclusions to this package... Then look out billfish, here we come.

Every now and then you come across a boat that you know is something special, the 685 Outsider is one such boat. Indeed, it rivalled my stand-out trailerable testboat of the last two years - the US-built Grady White 263, a much larger and more expensive rig.

In terms of quality and fitout, the Cruise Craft is comparable to the Grady. And that¹s high praise indeed...