Noosa Cat 3500 Sports Cruiser: Review

All Noosa Cat’s 3500s built for pleasure-boat use today have twin 350hp V8 Yamaha outboards for a top speed in excess of 45 knots and an unstoppable long-range mid-20 knot cruise. That performance and the other inherent benefits of outboard power speak volumes about the way 30-foot boats are being powered today. Big transom-hung V6 and V8 engines are go and this Noosa Cat is unstoppable.

OVERVIEW
- The evolution of the big outboard cat
One of the best riding boats in the Noosa Cat litter, the 3500 dates back to the mid-to-late 1990s when the brand emerged off the back of now defunct Shark Cat. The genesis of the all-new model occurred when the Royal Australian Navy ordered a fleet of 3500s and they soon became popular with 200-260hp D4 Volvo Penta diesel inboard engines.

You can still get this boat with inboard engines — also a flybridge layout — but in recent years every 3500 pleasure boat has been sold as a Sports Cruiser with twin Yamaha’s 350hp V8 outboards as the ideal match. The majority of 3500s built for pleasure use — which still accounts for 60 per cent of Noosa Cat builds —in the last five years have been configured this way.

In a nutshell, the Noosa Cat 3500 speaks volumes for the power of today’s big outboard engines. After an order from a Hong Kong buyer for the very first 3500 with twin 350hp V8 Yamaha outboards some years ago there has been no turning back.

Moored in the Mooloolah River before heading offshore, Wayne Hennig, the head of Noosa Cat, admits he had to “eat his words” after the first pair of twin 5.3L V8 350hp Yamaha outboards created an “awesome rocket ship” with his 3500 hull.

“Powered this way, the 3500 gives you a 25 knot cruise and it’s not that much thirstier than the diesels. But the outboards are much more cost effective for maintenance,” he says.

Having blasted offshore from Mooloolaba, there’s a lot else we want to share about this offshore test…

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- Every boat is a custom but this one had 89 modifications
The owner of this impressive test boat is an ex-monohull boater from western Queensland, who said he was looking for more comfort in his boating.

“I’m getting old and fussy,” he says, half jokingly. “I’m sick of being pounded, I want more room, more space for the family and grandkids. And this boat will sleep them all,” he adds.

To this end, his 3500 Sports Cruiser named Fishful Thinking had some 89 customisations, additions and alterations from the standard spec’ including the upgraded twin 350hp V8 30in Yamaha outboards over the base recommended twin V6 250hp models.

Among the other big additions was a serious Furuno navigation and fish-finding suite including TZT14 14in touchscreen with 36nm radar, SC30 satellite compass, MaxSea software and cartography, FCV1150 sounder with 2kW 65-100kHz CHIRP transducer in a special moulded pod, and Simrad autopilot. We valued this kit around $40k.

Thanks to years of commercial boat building, the KAB suspension chair was a must-have sumptuous recommendation, as was the Optimus electronic power steering that helps make this a dream drive. The owner was considering adding a Joystick for docking later.

Meantime, air-con was on tap in the saloon and master cabin. The power source at anchor was a simple portable 2kVa Honda generator, but factory diesel genset installations have been fitted previously. The generator also powered the cooktop, with a gas barbecue back outdoors. The boat had hot water from its 200lt supply, too.

There was 240V shorepower, solar panels for charging, upgraded twin stainless-steel fuel tanks of 500lt each over the standard 400lt tanks, and some excellent custom fish storage and refrigeration. The full-length awning with rod and rubber-ducky storage provides reprieve from the tropical sun at those Great Barrier Reefs and islands.

With this and more, the test boat was a special custom order with a POA. But as you will see in the specifications, Noosa Cat builds a very complete turnkey factory 3500 Sports Cruiser with twin V6 250hp outboard from $410k driveaway.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- Designed for fishing, family and tropical adventure
The walk-through transom as per most cats creates an ideal fish-landing platform and the ladder folds down for terrific swim and dive access. The boat had an upgraded side door, while toe kicks around the cockpit assist with leaning outboard and fighting fish.

With storage lockers dotted around the sides and underfloor storage thanks to the outboards, there’s oodles of room for stowing your adventure gear. The extended awning with rod holders and rocket launcher, and the central fish storage and bait-prep centre, are keys to this boat’s tropical fishing comfort.

You can rig up, bait up, dong fish on the head and slip them into an ice slurry without moving far. There is a live bait tank nearby, and all the insulated fish storage also drains overboard.

In short, the cockpit has a lot of room, heaps of storage and handy padded seats for fishing and family flings. Oh, and there’s the gas barbecue that’s destined to get a big workout.

The walkaround decks proved easily to negotiate, thanks to thoughtfully positioned grab rails on the cabin top. The special security door specific to this test boat made access back indoors a little tricky. A teething issue there.

Inside the helm deck, where we spent most of our time, is seating for four around the portside dinette on an L-shaped lounge, under which was a fridge plate for a large insulated food-storage area. The dinette table can drop and convert to make an impromptu bed if you want that option.

The galley behind the helm seat to starboard has a 12V fridge and single-burner electric stove, but a microwave oven would be a useful inclusion, too. A few simple 12V fans and opening windows and hatches kept the fresh air flowing inside.

The twin cabins with double-bed-sized foam mattresses promise a decent night’s sleep, with the freeboard in the tunnel and wave breaker high enough to prevent slap in average conditions. There are opening portlights and escape hatches.

The separate moulded head and handheld shower compartment will be easy to clean and it drains to a sump pump. Nothing new about all this, but the layout is functional, spacious and practical and it won’t need to be treated with kid gloves.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- Survey standards throughout
The external mouldings of the 3500 Sports Cruiser were nice and fair. The hull layup is all GRP with biaxial reinforced double-bias rovings and vinylester resin, solid floor and no ply, fibreglass bulkheads and bearers, multiple hull chambers, with a cored cabin, foredeck and wave-breaker superstructure.

There are armour-plate glass windows, wipers with freshwater flushing, and heavy-duty deck fittings and a Muir windlass. As touched on, the interior finish is best described as utilitarian, though the blue upholstery and LED lighting do lift the décor.

Mounted on an integrated aluminium brackets, the 30in extra-long shaft Yamaha outboards had their powerheads well clear of the water. They were spinning counter-rotating stainless-steel three-blade props.

You get emergency fuel shutoffs and easily reached Racor fuel filters as standard on this pleasure cat built to survey standards.

There were separate twin AGM battery banks for the house duty, a spare for the electronics, and engine start batteries, all charged via the twin 50A outboard alternators, 80W solar panels on the cabin roof, and battery charger with VSR on shorepower.

ON THE WATER
- An unstoppable cruising cat with a smooth ride
For the sake of a proper offshore evaluation, we cast the lines, idled down the Mooloolah River, and blasted offshore for a lap around Mudjimba Island off Cotton Tree and the mouth of the Maroochy River. But it could just as easily have been a tropical island with coral trout jumping on the hook and the barbecue smoking out the back while anchored off a beach.

With the KAB suspension helm chair, I just needed a few chevrons on the shirt to complete my mission out there. For the sake of pleasure boaters everywhere, off we go…

True to name, the 3500 Sports Cruiser jumps onto the plane from idle to 27 knots cruise in 6-7 seconds. The big 5.3lt V8s underscore the saying there’s no replacement for displacement. The drive-by-wire throttle in responsive without being jumpy and the steering was perfect without being floaty.

The 3500’s hull seems to be one of those ‘magic’ models that Noosa Cat got right in the very beginning. At low speed, the wave breaker in the tunnel and the tunnel clearance help reduce any hull slapping. At moderate cruise speeds directly into a headsea, not a cat’s best angle, I couldn’t discern any ‘boofing’.

With the stepped-pod mounting, there’s performance to be derived from judicious out trim above 4000rpm. But there’s no real sense of porpoising when you are up and running fast. The cat travels high, dry, flat and has that feeling of invincibility in keeping with its often rescue-boat role and commercial applications.

At 3500rpm where the engines are doing it easily, you get a long-range cruise of 22-23 knots (about a knot less with the flybridge layout) and can cruise for about 250nm from 90 per cent of the 1000lt fuel capacity, according to my calculations.

At 4100rpm I noted 26-27 knots as we traversed the easterly 1.5 metres seas and swell, while 4200rpm gave a harmonious and quiet 28.3 knots fast cruise, and 5000rpm returned 34-35 knots.

On the test day, I saw 37 knots, while supplied performance bulletins state 45 knots top speed at 6000rpm. It was a bit hard to hit those speeds offshore in the conditions.

What is more impressive is the set-and-forget nature of this boat’s offshore performance and the ensuing magic-carpet ride. You can feel the wave-breaker soften the re-entry, while the spray is thrown well out to the sides, so much so the photos are misleading, as this is a very dry cat.

The hull is predictable and just walks and tracks straight to the point you can take your hands off the wheel. With the autopilot ready to take over and the comfortable seating and views, you could reel in the sea miles in comfort on this 3500 Sports Cruiser with the impressive V8 Yammies purring astern.

Of course, the 3500 Noosa Cat leans outboard in the turns like most power cats, but the set-and-forget offshore cruiser is more about drawing a straight line to your waypoint, hitting the autopilot, leaning back on the pneumatic chair, and reaching your destination in comfort.

VERDICT
- A serious reef runner and island boat
The twin 350hp V8 Yamaha outboards provide lots of advantages on this big cat including accessing shorelines with the outboards tilted up, no running gear in the water gathering moss, and gains to internal storage. They rumble in a most agreeable way and you aren’t paying a huge premium in fuel consumption over diesel inboards.

 “I plan to head to outside Fraser Island, Lady Elliot and Musgrave, and Fitzroy and their coral reefs. This is an economical and seaworthy boat using 80-90lt/hr at 22 knots cruise with twin 500lt tanks,” says the owner back in the river as we step off as unruffled as the minute we set foot aboard.

The 3500 Sports Cruiser is an unstoppable big-outboard Noosa Cat set-up for serious long-range comfort cruising and fishing. It's got adventure written all over it and it’s got the comfort the owner coveted.

LIKES
>> Great performance with twin 350hp Yamaha outboards
>> Unstoppable, predictable and smooth offshore ride
>> Survey standard construction and engineering
>> Impressive fishing station and features in a large cockpit
>> A very comfortable and liveable layout

NOT SO MUCH
>> Big-ticket boat
>> Foam is too soft on lounge seating
>> Interior is functional but not high-end production value

Specifications: Noosa Cat 3500 Sports Cruiser
Price as Tested: The test boat had upgraded 350hp V8 Yamaha outboards, full Furuno electronics package and 89 additions and alterations for a POA.
Priced From: A turnkey 3500 Sport Cruiser with twin 250hp V6 Yamaha outboards cost $410k driveaway
Length Overall: 10.46m
Moulded Hull Length: 9.30m
Beam: 3.50m
Draft: 0.68m
Displacement: 5000-7000kg
Horsepower Rating: Twin 160hp diesel to twin 350hp outboard
Sleeping: 4+2
Passenger Capacity: 10-14 persons
Water: 200lt
Fuel: 2 x 500lt tanks
Engines on Test: Twin 350hp Yamaha four-stroke outboards with 30in shaft, , four-stroke, 32-Valve DOHC Direct Action 60° V8

Supplied by:
Noosa Cat Australia P/L
6 Production Street  
Noosaville 4566 QLD
Email: sales@noosacat.com.au  
Ph: 07 5449 8888
See noosacat.com.au