Powercat 2600 Sports Targa

Here's a cat with more than nine lives. Designed for doing things like overnighting, cruising to offshore archipelagos and mounting expeditions to distant campsites, the Powercat 2600 Sports Targa debunks the myth that trailable twin hulls are only used for fishing and diving.

Thanks to modular cockpit furniture that can be removed in a matter of minutes, an outdoor amenities centre, and a cabin with a double bed and electric loo, the Powercat 2600 Sports Targa can meet the demands of dayboaters as well as those with long-term tickets.

On top of this, or actually below it, is a terrific hull with an offshore racing pedigree. The 26-footer can be driven as fast or as slow as you like, even in the conditions I encountered off Mooloolaba where there was a potentially troublesome metre-high groundswell.

The cat rides on a cushion of air with very little boat in contact with the water. When the hulls do come down in a trough or the back of wave, they present a sharp surface that slices rather than jars.

Pronounced chines and deep forefeet with loads of buoyancy up front provide the lift to get the hull back up out of the water and ready to tackle the next set of waves. Spray isn't thrown over the windscreen or sucked back aboard.

A different kind of cat, indeed.

RACING BLOODLINES
The complete rig when laden weighs 3500kg including the custom-made trailer with vacuum brakes and big non-skid Teflon slides. A 4.8lt Nissan Patrol was the chosen tow vehicle that brought the boat from Caboolture to the Mooloolah River and did it, I'm told, sitting on the 110kmh speed limit.

Driven off its cradle, the Powercat 2600 was in the estuary for all of five minutes. The boat could sniff the open ocean and there was no holding it back, so I left the river mouth and headed out to an island on my own voyage of discovery.

While this is the smallest hull in the range, the Powercat 2600 flaunts the racing bloodlines of its big sister, the Powercat 28, a boat that for many years competed in Production Class and Class 2 offshore racing events.

There are still a few of these boats going hell for leather in the offshore series today, and for a while there I imagined I was among them as I charged over the swell.

The sure-footed ride will impress anglers and divers, but it's my prediction mum and the kids will find peace of mind in the way this boat handles, too. The hulls have 28° of deadrise aft, but the really clever thing is how the boat travels without digging in or throwing spray everywhere.

Big, 70mm-wide reverse chines run the length of each hull to generate lift, while a high tunnel ensures that displaced water doesn't choke up in between the two hulls at planing speeds. Travelling offshore, one can sit on the aft quarter seats and not get doused in spray.

TOUGH AS NAILS
Construction is all solid GRP with nary a splinter of timber to be found under the floor. Bulkheads, including a collision bulkhead up front, and the bearers or stringers are also fibreglass, while the floor and deck are foam cored.

Corian is used for the counter on the outdoor amenities centre, top quality UV resistant vinyl covers the lounges, and there is a cool safety glass windscreen. The cabin liner is simple but effective Frontrunner.

But while you can go as fast or as slow as your mood dictates, the Powercat 2600 Sports Targa is more than just a great drive. Once you arrive at your destination and en route to it, there are plenty of useful amenities at hand as well as a cabin in which a couple could sleep soundly.

The self-draining cockpit, which allows you to leave the boat in the water during torrential rain, has a walkthrough moulded platform between the outboards. A giant fold-down ladder that will encourage you to swim or walk out onto the pod to fight a fish.

There are storage wells in the transom for the mask and snorkel and nice details like fender baskets in the engine well.

The decks were equipped with four rodholders, fuel fillers, amidships cleat and water filler.

The boat's foredeck is best accessed via the cabin hatch, as the boat isn't really a walkaround design. But with a Maxwell windlass as standard, there's really no need to go forward.

An overhead Targa supports the radio and GPS aerials, and grabrails are where you need them. There are courtesy lights about the cockpit, sidepockets for stowing lifejackets and a central amenities centre.

DINNER TIME
Feeding the crew and captain is a cinch. The amenities centre includes a stainless steel sink, space for an esky or an optional 12/240V fridge, plus hot and cold water, a food prep area and two drinkholders.

There is a handy amount of storage space in the module, and the house battery is contained within. The boat has separate batteries and isolator system for the outboards.

A voltage regulator takes care of charging the house battery. Oil bottles with deck fillers, hydraulic steering rams for the Seastar system (which has a tie-bar) and water separators complete the engineering.

Another smart touch is the optional moulded aft lounge that can seat five people around a lunch table. Being fully modular, the lounge can be unclipped and left in the garage when a fishing trip's on the cards. This takes all of a few minutes.

Helm seating comprises a two-person lounge with bolster so you can drive the boat fast on your feet, as is the preferred position. The moulded dash has a dedicated brow for the twin sets of Yamaha outboard gauges, fuel gauges and compass, which are all easily read.

This particular boat was fitted with a Humminbird GPS/sounder, GME radio and Yammie 704 dual-outboard remote throttle. But on every 2600 Sports Targa the copilot-come-navigator is well looked after with comfortable seating and things like a nice big grabrail.

GREAT OUTDOORS
The lock-up cabin with heaps of storage space, outboards that tilt clear of the water and a self-draining deck allows you to leave this boat in a marina somewhere without qualms ? how about Hamilton Island?

Safely moored, the boat has room for sleeping over. Reading lights, storage pockets and a hanging cupboard flank the queen-sized bed. There is even an electric loo, just like a big boat, with either direct pump-out or an optional holding tank available.

With full camper covers and an aft lounge in the cockpit that converts to a double bed with an infill, it is possible to sleep four people on the Powercat 2600 Sports Targa. A handheld hot and cold freshwater shower will help ensure a good night's sleep.

The boat carries 400lt of fuel in two tanks, 80lt of water for the deck shower, plus there is the option of one of those portable single-burner gas cookers. Or take a grill and stage a barbie ashore.

A REAL SMOOTHIE
As I touched on earlier, the ride and drive was the highlight of my short time aboard. Spinning 17in props, the twin 130hp Yamaha Saltwater Series outboards carried three of us to a sizzling but composed offshore top speed of 74kmh at 6000rpm. At such speeds the motors consume 104lt/hr. Of course, you can do better than this.

More realistic long-range cruising can be enjoyed at 45kmh and 4000rpm where the motors consume just 50lt/hr or a little faster at 55kmh at 4500rpm for 57lt/hr. The boat holds plane down to 3000rpm and 28kmh in case things get really ugly and, at trolling speeds, there was only the occasional wave shuddering through the tunnel.

The Powercat 2600 Sports Targa can be a lot of things to a lot of people, but there are two aspects that really charmed me. As mentioned, the hull loves the open ocean. Secondly, it can cruise to a destination and serve as a camper once there.

Sure, the boat would make a neat fishing or diving platform in the wide blue yonder, but it is especially suited to the role of a discovery vessel for finding new playgrounds like that picture-perfect palm-tree fringed tropical island we all imagine somewhere.

I can see this boat on the holiday road and later out around the Whitsundays, Coffs Harbour, Port Stephens, Bermagui, Kangaroo Island ... its potential is limited only by your imagination.

And at the end of your weekend away you can tow the boat back home, leave it at the marina, or perhaps haul it out of the water on a cradle in front of your waterfront home.

This melange of cruising amenities, accommodation, cockpit space, offshore performance and towability makes the Powercat 2600 Sports Targa close to the ideal conveyance.

And compared some other 25-26 footers, it's good value with twin motors to boot.