New Sport Fisherman from the Philippines

We just inspected the first unit of a beautiful (It makes a Boston Whaler look 2nd class) 27 foot center console sport-fisherman with brand new 115 hp Yamaha outboard that just came online. This fiberglass boat is light but strong. Lots of high quality stainless workmanship.

Performance: It does 30 kts with the standard 115hp outboard.  According to the builder, it takes 2 of those to get similar performance from a Boston Whaler of the same size. (and think of the gas you need to bring!) US retail will be around $35,000 and I suspect local price to be $30,000.  According to the builder, a comparable Boston Whaler costs over $100,000 (complete).

Workmanship: The workmanship is like nothing you've ever seen. its excellent. Every fitting is stainless steel backed and the backing is imbeded in the glass. The backing for every fitting is accessible. Each backing has a stainless nut welded to it where each and every bolt of each and every fitting (even the rubbing strake!) goes.  And thats the stuff you never see.
The anchor locker in the bow opens and there is molded nonskid on the inside so you can use the INSIDE of the open hatch for footing when its open. The inside covers of all hatches are double molded laminate which is double the normal work to produce a gelcoat finish on Both sides.
The console is attached to elevated stringers molded thru to the keel instead of just attached to the deck. It makes removal of the console easier, and structurally the system is far stronger and safer than the traditional method of attaching the console to the deck.
The builder is an experienced sailor (he sailed his boat from Los Angeles to the Philippines) and has specialized in building aftermarket fiberglass auto accessories for the very quality conscious Japanese market.

Seaworthiness: The hull us exceptionally stable in a heavy sea. The flare is designed to keep the boat dry and lift it in waves. And it does. But what I like the best about this boat is that the scuppers are at deck level so any water that does get into the boat drains right out into the sea.  You look at the boat from the outside and about 4" above the waterline, where the deck is,  you can see the inside of the boat thru really finely done stainless ventilator sort of things! Its soooo practical.

Design Pedigree: The boat was recently designed by Yamaha, and this is the first production run.

Availability: Waiting time is 3 mos.

Overall rating: This sport fisherman center console is really first class.
The manufacturer said "If you can find a better boat in this class, I'll give this one to you for free."
You can try to take him up on it, but I'm pretty sure he'll win.  But you know, this guy is really straight, and if you can do it, he'll live up to his end of the bargain!

Peter Capotosto,
Sail Philippines
7/23/99
peter@sailing.org.ph
http://www.sailing.org.ph