Stejcraft Seasport 4.95

The Stejcraft Seasport 4.95 is a new model in the extensive Stejcraft range of trailer boats. According to their website Stejcraft offer trouble free and affordable fishing and family boats.

Established in 1972, Stejcraft is a family owned business and their range of boats include fishing, cruising, bowriders and performance ski boats.

The Seasport 4.95 is a new boat in their fishing range and certainly more aesthetically pleasing than previous models, which had a steeply raked deck and a nose which only a mother could love. This one is smoother, yet retains excellent space inside the cuddy. It features a split bowrail with a double bow roller leading back to a large anchor hatch and hidden bowpost under the hatch.

The new model is an entry level boat, and by that definition, very spartan. The base price could appear attractive for a craft of this size but most buyers will want to spend quite a few dollars more on options to personalize the craft to some degree. Stejcraft offer a range of options that allow the customer to fit their boat to suit their own personal needs.

GOOD PERFORMER
The Seasport performs well, considering its size. Achieving 64km/h at 5300rpm from a Yamaha 90 carby motor on a fairly smooth but rolling Port Phillip Bay cross-sea was a good effort for this little boat. And it cruised quite comfortably at 45km/h at 3700rpm.

It wasn't quite as happy going into a sea but few boats are, and downsea the boat felt a little twitchy at WOT but one only had to back off a little to get back into the comfort zone. The boat was not fitted with hydraulic steering and needed it.

ALL ABOARD
The cuddy is quite large for such a small boat with grey vinyl cushions, a large glass hatch and small teardrop acrylic windows. The roof is simple flowcoat. The parcel shelves are wide, long and very low so the padded backrests are not ideally placed for extended periods below decks, not that you're going to do that on a boat of this style anyway.

The back of the instrument cluster and steering controls are unprotected and as such, probably more subject to corrosion. However this would be a simple matter to fix.

The cuddy has a wide opening through the bulkhead with molded non-slip footrests for both skipper and passenger who sit on buckets on alloy poles. A grab handle is in front on the port side. There are rather curious molded storage bins adjacent to the passenger's left knee and skipper's right knee. The left has a molded storage bin or sink (and it can be plumbed as such) on top with plenty of space for, perhaps, a tackle drawer to be cut in beneath that. The same molding on the starboard side of the boat had nothing on it at all but it was suggested that a radio and another tackle drawer (or something similar) could be fitted into it.

FEATURES UP FRONT
The two-piece Perspex screen has no re-inforcing bar around its top edge but is supported by a centre mounted pillar. The bimini has a large zip-out centre panel for clear view at low speeds and a plastic grab handle near the engine controls. The trailing edge of the bimini had a five-pot alloy rocket launcher suitable only for light rods.

 The only instrumentation in the test boat were twin-dial digital instruments for the Yamaha 90 carby motor. There was not a heck of a lot of room for much else. A round flat molding in the centre of the dash was present, which is presumably for a compass. I'd prefer mine in front of my nose although they've become something of a redundant item these days since the introduction of GPS.

Side pockets are fully molded and while they'll carry a reasonable amount of gear they're not long enough for rods. Gunwales are flat with in-built grabrails and twin plastic rod holders. Transom cleats were semi-recessed either side of twin, small storage bins. The transom seat featured both back and side rests.

The battery is sensibly mounted under the transom on an alloy plate while the deck was carpeted in good ‘ol marine grey.

There are any number of boats in this entry-level class and to get what you're really happy with is a matter of personal choice and depth of pocket. The Stejcraft Seasport 4.95 is certainly worth checking out if you're shopping around in the highly competitive entry-level market.

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