1998 Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser review

And what better place to test an attractive speedster than the Gold Coast! Mustang's home waters are usually the leader of the pack when it comes to beautiful weather and water.

Our test run started at 7am at the Nerang River Benowa Waters home of Mustang Pleasure Boats managing director Garry Garoni.

With partner Geoff Simmonds, Garoni, a successful property developer, acquired the well-known Coomera-based boat-building company late in 1997. Though it's fair to say that Mustang has had a somewhat chequered history, the new breed has worked hard to re-establish the concern. As well as updates on its range of trailerboats, the sportscruiser area has released a fully-revised version of the 2600's big brother, the 3200. Late 1998 will see a 30ft Mustang sportscruiser also hit the water.

As luck would have it the day dawned drizzly, chilly and windy - not exactly the perfect day in Paradise. But who cares when you're at the wheel of a true sportsboat?

The need for speed

Let's get something clear right from the start. Your reviewer is a dyed-in-the-wool yachtie and tearing down a river at 40kt with million-dollar houses on both flanks is not a normal occupation or even recreation. He's more at home at seven or eight knots, with the only sound the wind in the sails and the water slapping the hull.

But on Trade-A-Boat editor Sinkers' insistence, I put away the sails and headed down to Mustang for a rare ride in the fast lane.

First, a glance over the boat. It looks fast. It looks sleek. It looks expensive, with an integrated look many boatbuilders are unable to achieve and levels of fit and finish that rival the Americans.

Most importantly, the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser looks like fun... whether it be with the family or a group of like-minded friends.

Boarding is easy, making it an ideal boat for those not quite as spritely as they used to be. One of the latest additions to the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser - and one absent when the boat was launched earlier this year - is the swim platform at the stern. This effectively increases the useable space onboard the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser by a margin. Step on to this at marina level and then through a gate in the transom and you're in the cockpit without having to climb over anything.

The cockpit has the expected comfortable, well-padded luxury seating for half a dozen crew, plus the elevated helm position.

The person on the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser's helm, with a fully swivelling chair, is not socially isolated from the rest of those onboard and steering the boat at speed is a two-finger job.

Look out below

Below there's more space than we've come to expect from a sports cruiser of this size.

The open-plan cabin is well lit, offers good headroom and extends aft from the portside of the companionway to reveal a transverse double berth located under the forward half of the cockpit sole.

Up at the pointy end there is a traditional and spacious V-berth. Remove the infills and raise the table and the master suite rapidly transforms into a convenient dining area or saloon.

A walk-in head with a hot and cold shower is located to starboard. The galley incorporates refrigerator, microwave oven, stove, sink (there is another in the cockpit) and plenty of storage to confirm the 'cruiser' part of the boat's title.

A necessity in this part of the world is protection from the sun, so as well as the conventional forward bimini hung from the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser's styling targa arch, a generous rear cover is very welcome. And the walk-through windscreen makes it easy to get to the generous anchor locker in the bow. The bowrails or pulpit are excellent for the crew's safety on the foredeck.

The Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser can be fitted out with a variety of petrol MerCruiser engine/ sterndrive combinations.

Befitting its role as the personal craft of Mustang's head honcho, Garoni's 2600 has plenty of mumbo. Indeed, it's fitted with MerCruiser's big performing top-of-the-range small block V-eight pleasure boat engine, the multipoint injected 300hp 350 MAG MPI. This is mated to MerCruiser's counter-rotating Bravo III leg.

Purchasers can opt for a 250hp 5.7L carburettored V-eight powerplant, or alternatively, the standard fitment, MerCruiser's proven 220hp 5.0L coupled with a Bravo II leg - solid dependable stuff with no shortage of performance.

Whichever powerplant you choose (and the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser can be optioned up to hefty horsepower levels), the MerCruiser power unit is immediately accessible under the aft end of the cockpit floor. There's also a mile of room around the small block engines to allow easy access to all parts.

On the test craft, the well-insulated engine compartment allowed us to enjoy conversation at normal pitch when the boat is cruising at around 25kt.

Powerhouse

Underway, the 350 MAG MPI-powered Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser is nimble yet very refined. With a draft of only 640mm (leg up), water depth will rarely be a problem. But the real benefit is that not only can the vessel be moored almost anywhere, but it can be run up on a beach - just like a big runabout.

At 3000rpm, the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser is cruising at around 25kt. Take her up to 5000rpm and the speedo registers her top speed of over 40kt.

The boat reacted smartly to adjustments to the trim tabs and sat smoothly on the plane at speed.

The Nerang River at this time in the morning has its fair share of fishermen sitting quietly in tinnies. When we encountered the first, we dropped the speed back so as not to cause him any discomfort. But once back up to cruising speed again, the wash from the wake was so negligible we didn't bother backing off again. We just gave the fishing boys as wide a berth as possible.

The boat reacted immediately and smoothly to helm changes, the chine digging in and minimising, even eliminating, skating.

After nearly an hour of experimenting on the smooth waters of the Broadwater, it was time to head for the Gold Coast Seaway and the open ocean. Life in a boat of this size in an energetic sea can be fun or terrifying, safe or dangerous. And following several days of wet, windy weather, the ocean on this test day was certainly in an energetic and playful mood. Tide, wind and a swell of two to three metres were coming from three differing points of the compass.

At the first of the rollers, the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser lifted its nose, poked it over the top for a look, then slid smoothly down the other side. No problem. Further out, the ocean decided to play games, throwing sharp swells sometimes three at a time from readings as far apart as 60° off the bow. It's funny how a boat that feels more than adequate in restricted waters suddenly starts to become smaller once you tackle the might of Mother Nature. But the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser didn't appear to be fazed.

Climbing up the face of one swell while another attacked from just forward of the beam was a perfect test of the stability and handling qualities of any boat. After 20 minutes, this test pilot was really starting to enjoy himself - and I'd become convinced that the only type of boat to handle a rough sea wasn't necessarily canvas-driven with a deep keel!

Sadly, time was running out, so it was a smart about-turn and time to let the Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser show what she could do with a sizeable following sea.

Picking a wave to ride wasn't easy in the confused seaway, but we caught a couple or three, slipping along with the swell easily and safely, with no hint of broaching.

The Mustang 2600 Sports Cruiser is a true family boat. It is safe, nimble and - importantly from the crew's viewpoint - quiet. It has the luxury and equipment of many larger vessels and is a great example of good old Aussie design and manufacture. The boat is of fully-bonded construction with every bulkhead, wall section, storage area and furniture module fully-glassed into the hull and the underside of the deck to produce a totally integrated unit.

And importantly, in times when the Aussie dollar is pushing up the price of imports, it's affordable. While the bells and whistles rig we tested works out around the $104,000 mark, Mustang reckons that it's possible to put a 2600 on your mooring for less than $88,000. That alone makes it worth a look...