Stabicraft 1850 Supercab Sportfish 2023 Review

New Zealand’s Stabicraft boats are generally regarded as the off-roaders of the sea, as these aluminium pontoon craft are exceptionally strong, safe, seaworthy and durable.

For decades these robust, go-anywhere and everywhere craft have been the first choice of serious anglers, adventurers and commercial operators including the likes of the water police, coastguard, customs and border control authorities, as well as recreational boaters.

Stabicraft boats are certainly utilitarian in design and nature, the function and practicality of these boats taking priority over form and finish.

That said, I think modern Stabicraft boats, with their sleeker Arrow pontoon aluminium hulls and Game Chaser transoms, are more than acceptable in the looks department, especially for fishing, diving, and adventuring applications.

Among the most popular of the Stabicraft models are the Supercabs. A mainstay of the Stabicraft range for many years, the hardtop-equipped Supercab boats are available in four lengths between 5.5 metres and 7.3 metres.

The entry Supercab is the 1850, a relatively compact, easily trailerable boat with capabilities well beyond its compact size would suggest.

For this review, Brisbane’s Northside Marine presented the deluxe Sportfish version of the 1850 Supercab with power provided by an extra-longshaft 130hp Yamaha outboard engine.

The Stabicraft 1850 Supercab is available with the Adventure and Sportfish levels of interior fit-out. The former is a more basic specification that reduces the price and allows budget-conscious customers to buy only the gear and extra features they really want or can afford.

Our test boat was rigged with the more upmarket Sportfish package that combines a heap of the most desirable of Stabicraft’s features and accessories.

The extra kit in the Sportfish package includes stage-one paint; Elite bolster helm seats; cabin lining; hydraulic steering; deluxe bait board; a Maxwell electric drum winch with rope and chain; central windscreen wiper; Hella LED blue ambient lighting; two-step transom ladder with handrail; six powder-coated rod holders; powder-coated, bolt-on bow rails; and a raw water washdown.

With the above gear, and paired with a 130hp Yamaha outboard engine and a deluxe GFAB dual-axle alloy braked trailer, the 1850 Supercab Sportfish is priced from $125,602.

Our test boat was also optioned with extra gear and equipment over and above what is included in the Sportfish package.

That included a Simrad NSS12 EVO3S multifunction display; Simrad VHF radio; removable V-berth cabin seating; U-Dek EVA foam rubber to cockpit floor (standard on coaming top); belting up and extension pontoon metallic paint with coaming and extrusion fendering; closed cell hull baffling; port side walk-through transom door; bolt-on powder-coated live bait tank (beneath bait board); port side bow electric trolling motor mount; Yamaha tilt-limit switch; two 70-litre Icey Tek split-lid iceboxes; Sarca anchor; boat-catch mechanism to trailer; and a partially smooth water safety gear pack.

With the above gear, Northside Marine has the optioned Stabicraft 1850 Supercab Sportfish test boat priced at $143,956. 

The Stabicraft 1850 Supercab is a vee monohull with a fine entry at the bow, stretching aft to a modest deadrise angle of 16 degrees. Rather than conventional flat alloy topsides, the Stabicraft has enclosed pontoon tubes encircling the hull like a collar.

The pontoon tubes make Stabicraft boats virtually unsinkable. The tubes are baffled with several air-tight chambers to meet Australia’s Level Flotation buoyancy standard.

Cleverly, the pontoon tubes are also designed so that their undersides, which form the outer chines, are reverse-angled to provide class-leading stability at rest.

The down-turned chines also help to plane the hull quickly, support weighty outboard engines and increase load-carrying capacity.

The 1850 series Stabicraft is 5.69 metres long, 2.29 metres wide, and the hull weighs about 740kg.

Paired with a single outboard engine and trailer, the package weight is estimated to be 1360kg, well within the towing capabilities of a regular dual-cab ute or large SUV.

The 1850 Supercab uses 4.0mm aluminium for the hull and transom, and 3.0mm alloy for the pontoon tube topsides and the interior welded alloy deck.

The Stabicraft 1850 Supercab has been a key model for some time, but was recently upgraded with a slightly wider, redesigned hull for more interior space and cabin width.

The fundamentals remained unchanged in that this model has an open-plan helm and cabin with a deep, spacious aft cockpit, and then topped with a hardtop that is enclosed on three sides.

The widened, open cabin has been updated and is now available with an optional removable V-berth seating area with flanking side storage pockets.

There’s sufficient space overhead to sit comfortably in the cabin, and to clamber forward to the acrylic deck hatch in the forepeak.

Climbing out through the front hatch is the safest way of reaching the front deck, but there is also enough walkway foot space (and great handrails) outside the cabin structure to head forward.

Standard U-Dek EVA foam rubber flooring on the side coamings provides excellent grip underfoot.

The Supercab is designed to have the anchor (an optional Sarca model was fitted to our test boat) mounted semi-permanently up on the bowsprit with the rope and chain stowed in the anchor well.

Our deluxe Sportfish model was fitted with an included Maxwell drum anchor winch to make it even easier to drop and lift the pick. 

Notably, our test boat was also optioned with a trolling motor pad at the bow, welded off the port side deck and coaming.

A number of changes have been made to the helm station in the new Stabicraft 1850.

There is now 1.93 metres of headroom beneath the aluminium hardtop that now features more, and better-placed, handrails.

A full-width fascia panel now stretches across the dash to accommodate the switch panel, USB ports, radio head units and flush-fitted engine gauges such as the Yamaha CL5 on our test boat.

Above the steering wheel is space for a flush-fitted 16-inch multifunction display. Our test boat was optioned with a Simrad NSS12 EVO3S.

For the skipper, the helm station is ergonomically sound. The bolster bucket helm chairs make it easy to switch between standing and seated driving positions, and the view through the deck-to-hardtop front windscreen is clear and unrestricted.

In the Sportfish version of the Supercab, the bucket helm chairs are mounted on aluminium frames built to house optional Icey Tek split-lid iceboxes.

Other features include driver and passenger footrests, side-opening ventilation windows, a hardtop rocket launcher rod rack, and optional U-Dek flooring to the helm and aft cockpit floor.

There is a surprising amount of uncluttered deck space behind the helm chairs for a relatively small boat. The overall cockpit length is 3.0 metres, but there is still about 2.0 metres of space beyond the helm chair frames and optional iceboxes.

Beneath the broad, 295mm-wide side coamings are equally wide side storage pockets stretching the length of the cockpit. Add a bit of padding inside the pockets and you could easily stow lightweight threadline or baitcasting outfits here, as well as regular gear.

As noted earlier, the cockpit is deep-sided with the side deck coamings lifted 840mm above the cockpit floor.

At the rear of the boat there is about 720mm of freeboard to each side of a central battery storage box.

Overhead the test boat was rigged with a bait board/live bait tank combo unit with a front viewing window, a pair of cup/sinker holders, and an aft-facing rod rack. 

Fold-down jump seats in each corner double as steps to climb out to the rear boarding platforms.

The test boat was optioned with a transom door so you can walk through to the port side folding alloy swim/boarding ladder.

Other noteworthy features include a raw water deck wash, multiple rod and cup holders, and welded stern cleats.

The Stabicraft 1850 Supercab is rated for a single extra-longshaft outboard engine to a maximum of 140hp. Our test boat performed well with a slightly smaller 130hp Yamaha, but I can see the bigger donk being useful for heavy-load boating/fishing/dive boat applications.

On choppy Moreton Bay waters, we recorded a top speed of 34.7 knots; I suspect we could have gained a knot or two of performance in calmer conditions.

Either way, a full speed in the 34.0- to 36.0-knot range is ample for most recreational fishing/boating applications.

The 130hp proved to be smooth, quiet, and economical, burning just 13.6L/h at 3500rpm with the boat ambling along at 17.0 knots. These numbers translate to a maximum boat/engine cruising range of 178nm when leaving 5.0 percent of the 150-litre fuel tank in reserve.

On the water, I found the Stabicraft 1850 to be a solid, safe performing boat with genuine coastal offshore capabilities.

The Stabicraft is excellent in a following sea, agile, responsive and manoeuvrable through low- and high-speed turns, and quick to plane from displacement trolling speeds.

There is a bit of hull slap and noise when running directly into the chop, but the ride itself is actually quite comfortable and comparable with rival alloy boats in this size range.

Some spray is blown about in windy, conditions, but that’s of little concern given the helm station is fully enclosed.

Performance

Range on 95% of the 150L fuel supply: 178nm at 3500rpm

Verdict

The improvements and upgrades to the Stabicraft 1850 Supercab will likely make this historically popular model even more successful going forward.

The 1850 Supercab is the perfect size for trailer boat sportfishing and coastal adventuring. It can be towed easily behind mid-sized vehicles, yet is safe, comfortable and sufficiently seaworthy to run a dozen or so miles offshore.

And when conditions are too rough to head out to sea, the Stabicraft 1850 Supercab is compact and proficient enough to fish the inland lakes, dams and impoundments, particularly when optioned with a bow-mounted electric trolling motor.  

Specifications
Model: Stabicraft 1850 Supercab Sportfish
Length: 5.69m
Beam: 2.29m
Internal beam: 1.72m
Deadrise: 16 degrees
Hull weight: 740kg
Towing weight: 1362kg (est)
Pontoon tube alloy: 3mm
Bottom and transom alloy: 4mm
Maximum power: 140hp
Engine as tested: Yamaha 130hp extra-longshaft outboard
Fuel: 150L
Passengers: 6

Priced from: $125,602 including a Yamaha 130hp extra-longshaft (25") four-stroke outboard engine with hydraulic steering, digital controls, and a Yamaha CL5 display; dual-axle GFAB aluminium trailer with electric-hydraulic brakes; Stabicraft Sportfish pack including stage-one paint; Elite bolster helm seats; cabin lining; deluxe baitboard; a Maxwell electric drum winch with rope and chain; central windscreen wiper; Hella LED blue ambient lighting; rear two-step ladder with handrail; six powder-coated rod holders; powder-coated, bolt-on bow rails; and a raw water washdown.

Price as tested: $143,956. As above plus a Simrad NSS12 EVO3S multifunction display; Simrad VHF radio; removable V-berth cabin seating; U-Dek EVA foam rubber to cockpit floor (standard on coaming top); belting up and extension pontoon metallic paint with coaming and extrusion fendering; closed cell hull baffling; port side walk-through transom door; bolt-on powder-coated live bait tank (beneath bait board); port side bow electric trolling motor mount; Yamaha tilt-limit switch; 2x70L Icey Tek split-lid iceboxes; Sarca anchor; boat-catch mechanism to trailer; boat and trailer registrations; and a partially smooth water safety gear pack.

Supplied by: www.northsidemarine.com.au