Sea Ray Amberjack 325

Sportfishing family flyer

With the price of fish from China cheap enough, but of dubious quality and local seafood costing a king's ransom, more and more boaties are striving to become proficient at fishing. Indeed, it makes good sense to catch and cook your own, a fact that hasn't been lost on American boat manufacturing giant Sea Ray, whose new Amberjack 325 has been designed to stir the hunter-gatherer within.

But more than just a sportsfisher, the Amberjack is a neat utility vessel designed to placate Dolly Dyers and families who these days covet creature comforts in a cruiser. After the dawn start, with the fish in the onboard fridge and the bait in the optional drawer fridge, you can stay over and make a meal of it.

Trade-A-Boat tested the new Amberjack 325 through Queensland Marine Centre, which recently expanded operations to the Gold Coast City Marina on the upper Coomera River. It's a considerable operation along with its pre-existing showroom, so-much-so, in fact, that QMC was awarded the international dealer of the year.

But rather than traverse the serpentine Coomera River - again - we met the Amberjack on the Broadwater and promptly headed through the Seaway onto the wide blue yonder. Following our quasi fishing trip, it was back to Wave Break Island to explore the alter ego of the Amberjack. She's a nice comfortable boat on the pick, that's for sure.

TICKING THE BOXES
While there is always a place for a pared-back, bare-bones boat for the budget conscious, today's market tends to be more discerning. Realising as much, the Queensland agents ticked plenty of options boxes, starting with the biggest possible engine match: twin 350 Magnum MPI Seacore MerCruiser motors - Seacore includes freshwater cooling and a special anti-corrosion system - fitted with Bravo III sterndrives with the counter-rotating propellers for more rip and grip.

With 600hp or 248kWs of power, this was a sporty sportsfisher. But we'll get to that later. A factory-fitted Fishing Package was added for aspiring anglers. But given the inventory even hardcore game or sportsfishers will be able to tempt trophy fish to this boat. The highlight was a teak-topped tackle centre behind the helm seat with huge recirculating livebait tank (perfect as an icebox when back inshore) plus sink, lure hanging rack, a garbo and knife holder, as well as dry storage.

There was an optional fridge tray fitted under the helm seat, where you can leave bait overnight, while the cross-transom fishbox was equipped with fridge plates so you can make a seawater slurry and keep sashimi-grade snapper for dinner.

The boat was fitted with four rodholders in its wide gunwales and rod storage in a rocket launcher on the optional hardtop. The alloy framework supporting the hardtop had four clear-away rodholders, allowing you to quickly turn the cockpit into an uncluttered outdoor living area. And the factory-fitted raw-water washdown will help with keeping the decks clean.

The optional soft-yellow hull colour made the Amberjack 325 stand out from the azure ocean, if not the ubiquitous sportscruiser pack that frequents the Gold Coast's waterways. And back inshore, the Amberjack 325 reveals its convivial split personality. Snap in the optional cockpit carpet, fold down the standard issue transom lounge, put the optional teak cockpit table in place, open the marlin door and deploy the swim ladder. Party on.

Down below, the teak saloon floor was an upgrade and doubtless welcome since it's harder wearing than carpet. But I would fit an inverter to my fish/family Amberjack, so I could use the microwave oven, run the TV and use the 240V outlets for recharging when camping aboard. And though the boat didn't have a stove, you could easily fit one. Better still, carry one of those Australian-made rail-mounted stainless steel gas barbies and cook outdoors. Sea Ray offers generator and air-con options, too, though you'll pay handsomely for them.

TOUR OF DUTY
It's while kicking back at Wave Break Island that we enjoyed the outdoor living areas on the Amberjack 325. The swim platform is deep enough to kick back, with concealed lights for night dips, and a hot/cold freshwater deck shower perfect for freshening up after a post-fishing swim. The water heater runs off a heat exchanger and, by the time you reach the anchorage, you'll be set. With a 113-litre freshwater tank, you can last a weekend.

The foldaway aft bench seat is big enough for three, while the portside fore-and-aft co-pilot seat has a folding backrest so you can create a rear-facing Cleopatra lounge to appease the fish wife. The helm seat is a double-width number for running to the grounds with your lady or buddy. And the hardtop offers welcome shade from the midday sun.

Unlike purely recreational sportscruisers, the Amberjack has beefed-up deck gear and heavy-duty cleats. There's a boot in the transom for the Shorepower connection, fenders and lines, while the portside transom door leads into the big cockpit, flanked by rod or gaff racks, and with special brackets for carrying downrigger weights. In case you didn't know, downrigging is all the rage. Tow a fresh squid in the depths and you will be eating kingfish for dinner.

The boat's 3.20m beam contributes to a commodious cockpit with terrific stability, while the stainless steel toerails offer plenty of foot-under support when leaning outboard to fight a fish. But I also like the unobtrusive way the fishing features are built into this boat. The transverse transom fishbox with fridge plates, the big fishing centre behind the helm seat and the bait-fridge drawer don't swallow up much floor space at all.

With the teak table in place, four can do lunch aboard the Amberjack 325. After which you could tow the tykes on tubes from a brace attached to the heavy-duty cleats. Meanwhile, the diamond-pattern non-skid is good and grippy, granting access to the foredeck around wide sidedecks that have moulded toerails. The boat had an optional windlass for push-button anchoring, and room on its foredeck to unfurl a towel and work on your tan.

Underfloor, the engineroom offered no surprises, with plenty of room around the 5.7lt blocks. I could make a cursory check of the coolant overflow bottles, the dipsticks were on the centreline, the belts were accessible, and I noted nice big sea strainers with inspection bowls. There was a handy 106lt holding tank, 20lt hot-water accumulator, and battery charger. As touched on, an inverter is a smart and factory available option.

CABIN CAPERS
There aren't too many fishing boats of this size that boast a full-sized fibreglass moulded head with sink, pull-out spray shower and upmarket Vacuflush loo. Headroom also exists at the foot of the companionway and in the saloon, which features a galley module opposite a dinette that converts to emergency accommodation if you happened to have a full crew aboard.

But the way I see it, the Amberjack 325 is more a boat for a fishing-mad dad and son, which can sleep four for post-fishing weekends away with mom and the second sibling. To this end, the small aft cabin can be used as a double kids' cabin. The offset double bed takes up most of the bow and has legroom for two adults. Storage comes in timber lockers, a hanging robe, as well as the galley cabinetry.

Though there was no stove fitted, you could easily add an alcohol number and, preferably to prevent soot on the headliner, cook outdoors. There was a 12V Norcold fridge for carrying provisions, small microwave oven that with inverter will be of more use, and a sink for rinsing the coffee cups.

A Clarion sound system with CD stacker is supplied. You could easily add a small LCD television or portable DVD player, too. Last but not least, the AC/DC panel was far from overwhelming, underscoring the simplicity of the boat.

OFFSHORE SAFARI
The spread of electronics on the dash of the Amberjack 325 points to the fact it is more than just a dayboat.

The Raymarine C120 and DSM300 depthsounder are pretty powerful gear, letting you navigate to nearby ports and find fish in the abyss. And the digital throttles and shift, and SmartCraft that come with the MerCruisers, plus the sturdy aluminium wheel with crank knob, all add to the driving pleasure.

With full clears, a power vent or opening windscreen pane, side-opening windows and a wiper, you can obtain weather protection without feeling like you're in a sauna. This is doubly important in tropical sunny Queensland.

There was also an optional spotlight so you can find your anchorage or the crab pots at night. By day, the sight lines are pretty good when driving on your feet with the seat bolster flipped up. Add a touch on the trim tab and you can reel in the sea miles in calm conditions while kicking back.

We scored a perfect day for offshore boating and inshore relaxing on the Gold Coast. The whale watching fleet was bounding seawards, as did we in the Amberjack at around 25kts at 3500rpm for 83lt/h consumption and a safe 250nm range from 90 per cent of the 946lt fuel tanks. A touch of trim tab removed the ever-so-slight porpoising motion of the wide-beamed hull, but it was more a case of the boat being eager and champing at the bit than bucking like a brumby.

With a touch more trim tab, I found a nice low-speed cruise of about 17kts at 3000rpm for 70lt/h but, at the other extreme, an eye-watering fast-cruise speed flying down the Broadwater of 31kts at 4000rpm for 113lt/h. Top speed was nudging 40kts at 5000rpm, but the 5.7lt blocks are drinking 181lt/h. Either way, the feeling is one of a true sportsboat and not just a floating caravan and, with a sharp 21º of deadrise, the Amberjack 325 can be considered an offshore performance boat.

Of course, you can troll places or drift fish and save a packet in fuel while catching something for the table. Dash back inside, pick up the family and head for a quiet anchorage somewhere. With the legs kicked up, the boat doesn't draw much water. Take a stern anchor to shore and lay claim to your own beach. The Amberjack 325 (badged a 290 in America) makes a lot of sense, especially if you are one of the growing ranks of boaters who want to catch and cook their own deliciously succulent, fresh fish.

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