Steber 4700

Nelson, located at the north-west corner of New Zealand's South Island is one of those deliciously palatable tourist places that exports fine food, quaffable wine and stunning natural scenery by the boatload.

There are vineyards dotting the rolling hills, farms down in the dells, broad beaches and a craggy coastline that typifies much of the unspoilt, rugged South Island.

Its geography lends itself to boating and Nelson has been a port of call for almost as long as there have been sailors putting to sea. The Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman anchored his two ships near Wainui in Mohua in Golden Bay in 1642. Tasman Bay and Abel Tasman National Park are named after him.

These days, Nelson is better known as the largest fishing port in Australasia. But the latest fishing boat to call Nelson home isn't a trawler working for a fish-processing plant. Rather, it's the Australian-built Steber 4700 named Rampage 2.

Owned by a local entrepreneur who owns both a fine eatery and a local winery, Rampage 2 is a semi-custom boat that ably demonstrates what the enduring Steber family is capable of making. That is, boats for all bents, countries and climates.

So, while this mightn't be the boat of choice in the tropics, it is most definitely a boat for Nelson where the weather can be extreme. Average temperatures in summer are 13-22°C.

Winter, well, eek, you're looking at 3-13°C. Hence the truck heating system, internal all-weather helm station and home-away-from-home comforts.

GOING PLACES
For this regular boating commentator, Rampage 2 was an interesting example of a dedicated adventure boat. Like most Stebers it is in survey for commercial operation. And like most Stebers, a commercial approach has been taken to the engineering.

Such thinking explains why the boats have long been popular with government agencies, rescue organisations and defence forces.

But for adventure work this boat was laden with the essential big three: fuel, water and power. Oh, and range. The 3500lt long-range fuel tank gives more than 800nm at a 20kt cruise. And at that speed, the lean 500hp Yanmars consume just 86lt/hr in total.

Such is the range the owner intended to deliver his new boat from the east coast of Australia to New Zealand, refuelling at Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands - but in the end it worked out cheaper for it to go as deck cargo. Now berthed at Nelson, the boat boasts the goods to decamp for weeks at a time.

Water capacity is 1000lt, or almost twice that of the Steber 4380, but it could be unlimited by fitting a desalinator. Power comes in the form of a 7kVa generator - not a big one because there's no air-conditioning - mounted in the lazarette to reduce operating noise. There was also a 2000W inverter, 60amp battery charger and an extra alternator to service house needs.

Commensurate with its survey, there were external engine-vent and fuel shutoffs, a stainless-steel bilge system, heavy-duty engine and house batteries, and easily accessed Racor fuel filters and strainers.

Steber mounts its engine on full-length aluminium engine bearers. There's plenty of servicing room around the straight-six Yanmars and the ability to upgrade to twin 700hp Detroits for speed in place of range. Shafts were 2.5in-diameter numbers with dripless seals.

I noted a freshwater tap in the engine room and a washer/dryer. You can remove the saloon floor to lift out a motor. Between the motors, on the centreline, lay the grey-water tank and the drinking water. Back aft, outside the engine room, was the fuel tank with sight gauge.

OFFROAD VESSEL
Stebercraft hasn't looked back since the yard switched to cored construction in the late 1970s. Divinycell and vinylester resins are used to create a laminate that is both strong and well insulated from weather extremes.

As if to prove as much, the company recently completed a series of cabin fronts for high-speed trains travelling between Perth and Kalgoorlie.

But if you need examples of enduring work boats then just ask Alan Steber. The boatbuilder seemingly counts the hours on his prized fleet of Stebers that spend more time at sea than at the dock. He will tell you there are longline boats performing continuous operation out of the NSW south-coast port of Ulladulla since the late 70s, spanner-crab boats putting to seas after 45,000 hours and three skippers, and nigh a broken boat to be found anywhere.

As for climates, Alan mentions in one breath that his boats take to the water in Japan in winter while it's snowing, while others are fishing in tropical New Guinea. Which is why, he will tell you, thought goes into choosing things like the steering system so they work in all climes.

TRIED AND TRUE
Like all Stebers, the 4700 has a one-piece moulded hull with an integral keel, planing strakes, chines and spray knuckle. There are three watertight compartments and an underfloor air-buoyancy chamber forward.

All the wiring is tinned copper, labelled and passed through conduits. Diagrams exist in the boat manuals.

Conversely, unlike any other Stebers, this was the first 4700 with an open flybridge. Apparently the weather isn't extreme in Nelson all the time and when the sun is shining the owner intends to forsake the internal helm for the open-air bridge.

Without the usual hardtop, the bridge offers wonderful views, sturdy grabrails and good footings, plus seating for six guests. Hardcore anglers might prefer a custom hardtop with clears. But that should be no problem for Steber.

An optional extended cockpit canopy provides shelter down below. On the downside, it prevents the skipper from seeing the transom from the bridge. On the plus side, it was a structural top intended to carry the RIB and it had a davit fitted.

To my way of thinking the boat could do with a second outdoor throttle station on a pedestal on this overhang.

This way you could walk about to the extended top when the deckie yells "hook-up" and drive the boat as you would a dedicated fishing boat. At least it had a third set of engine controls in the cockpit.

SPACE TO BURN
Top or no top, the 4700 has a huge amount of deck space. The boat is, in fact, the 4380 with a cockpit extension. The result is 13.30sqm of fighting room. Mathers electronic shifts helped make this is a fingertip boat to back this way and that.

Other options on Rampage 2 include extra opening hatches in the bow cabin for ventilation when the heating is going; twin double bunks in the guests' cabin that, with the saloon settee, give accommodation for seven; and a four-burner electric stove, big combo microwave and extra fridge/freezer for catering.

The lower helm is an option, but as it was intended to be the main station it had a KAB 301 pneumatic suspension seat for the skipper. Heading out to sea, behind the well-supported windscreen, one felt pretty unstoppable. The gentle rising and falling of the seat removes the bumps. And long-distance travel is tenable.

Heating outlets at the helm, a demister function on the windscreen, wipers with freshwater washers and a red nightlight help with cruising 24 hours a day. The raised dash was fitted with twin 10in navigation screens, autopilot and Raymarine Tridata, plus the Yanmar engine gauges and switch panels. The boat had ready access to a commercial fuse panel.

INTERIOR LIVING
I guess the interior decor could be described as honest and long wearing rather than the handiwork of an interior-design house. The boat is generous with hip, head and behind space wherever you sit or stand.

The saloon has seating for, say, eight people on a starboard-side settee that can be used as a sea berth or impromptu bed. A U-shaped lounge is opposite, and this has a sturdy dinette with laminated top and fiddle rails. There is room to mount an LCD television facing the dinette and there are plenty of storage initiatives.

Pleasant views extend from the lounges through the saloon windows, which slide open for fresh air. A personal thing: I would fit timber blinds rather than the slimline Venetian numbers. Also, a handrail on the saloon ceiling wouldn't go astray. The boat had an opening aft saloon window for ventilation.

A U-shaped galley to port features lots of hard-wearing oak joinery, a big servery and counters with fiddles, plus ample cupboards and drawers for liveaboard boating. The deep stainless-steel sink offers somewhere to stack plates. The four-burner electric stove comes with a proper potholder so you don't loose dinner mid-stream. Bravo!

Four steps lead down to the accommodation. The twin cabin/single head layout provides first-class sleeping for up to three couples. Aside from twin double bunks, guests get a hanging locker, mirror, reading lights, ventilation via a hatch and sufficient floorspace to dress.

The head opposite is a terrific moulded unit with an excellent man-sized shower stall and electric loo. There was a linen press for towels and various nooks for stashing personals.

Owners are treated to a generous bow cabin with an island berth, steps up the sides for easy access, and high headroom and air space thanks to the deep bow (freeboard is 1.65m above the waterline). Storage exists in a hanging locker, wardrobe and surround shelves.

During my visit, natural light streamed inside the master cabin via a hatch - which you can crack, along with portholes - for fresh air. Only a laptop and satellite communications are needed to make this a truly self-contained adventure vessel.

OUTDOOR AMENITIES
Outdoors, I enjoyed cruising on the unique teak bench seats that grace the bow. I guess you could use them to pitch a bait to something with fins or fangs. But while this isn't a hardcore gamefisher - what with no view to the transom from the bridge due to the cockpit top - it was commissioned as a serious fishing boat.

The big cockpit has a 150lt bait freezer or drinks fridge, full-length open sidepockets for gaffs, rods and hardware, an engine-driven deckwash, repeater RL70 7in sounder/GPS for precision bait bombing, and small rectangular live and deadbait tanks in the transom.

A central removable workstation catered for serious fish processing, but beneath it was a base for mounting the gamechair. The workstation included two big killtanks, a cutting-board lid and tackle-storage lockers.

The cockpit has a separate Kiwi-style outdoor shower and head to port, somewhat reminiscent of those that are so much a feature of the Salthouse boats. The moulded unit drains through to the deck. All the internal light fittings and electrics are waterproof and the window is safety glass.

The fibreglass cockpit top had handrails on its underside that double as places to dry the towels and somewhere to do the morning chin-ups - such was the strength of the host structure. The rails around the cockpit were a survey requirement, but gamefishers would delete them quick-smart to make the rodholders accommodating of bent-butts.

BLUEWATER CRUISING
The hull is a warped-plane or variable deadrise type with a headstrong and bullish motion at sea. The big keel makes the boat surf in a straight line without needing to hold the wheel.

The boat has no need for trim tabs and it ran au natural with a level angle. In this sense it could considered 'pre-tuned'.

Top speed was 28kt with quarter tanks and three adults including patriarch Bruce Steber aboard. Loaded, the boat will do 27kt. But Rampage 2 is not so much about speed as it is range. And loping along at 20kt (2300rpm) it feels unstoppable in a Steber kind of way.

The Nelson-based owner of Rampage 2 is going to see a lot more of his home waters come rain, hail or shine.

The bones of a sturdy, seaworthy and eminently fishable hardcore gameboat are here too. Steber answers the call of its customers, be they Kiwis, Aussies or whoever, and that means you get to decide the layout.