Americans makes no compromises in fishing

Research, as well as common sense, tells us that the majority of boats are bought for fishing. Yet there are surprisingly few boats dedicated solely to this activity.

As one gets out of the trailer-boat market and into something a little more substantial, most craft are that old boating cliche: a compromise. Therefore if your main reason for going to sea is to fish, you cannot fail to be impressed by the new Cabo 40.

As my colleague Barry Tyler has pointed out, few boatbuilding companies have been game enough to specialise to the degree that California-based Cabo has. They build fast, high-end, gloriously appointed GRP sports fishing boats - and that's all.

As any committed sportsfisher knows, a good boat is a fast boat. Remember, we are going out there to fish, not potter around.

Cabo understands this. It therefore employs Florida-based Michael Peters to design its hulls. If Peters' name is unfamiliar, it could be because New Zealand isn't part of the Class One World Offshore Powerboat Championship. Peters designs a significant proportion of its leading contenders and is known as a guru of high-speed, rough-water hull design.

For the Cabo 40, Peters has developed a hull designed specifically around the Cummins/Zeus engine and drive package. Installed almost amidships, these are a pair of 600hp Cummins QSC-600 diesel engines driving through Cummins/MerCruiser Zeus pod-drives.

If twin 600s don't seem like a lot for a fast 40-footer, remember Peters' hull and the extra thrust from the twin-prop drives (reputed to offer a 20 per cent increase in performance over conventional shaft drives).

With a composite GRP hull, the Cabo 40 weighs in at 12.7 tonnes. In perfect conditions those twin 600s will deliver a top speed of 37 knots and cruising speeds of anything between 28 and 31 knots.

More important, the Cabo is known as a thoroughbred when it comes to handling choppy waters: dry and comfortable and without the banging that might be expected in those conditions.

However, it is in its fishing prowess that the Cabo 40 really excels.

Everything about this vessel screams sportsfishing, from the sleek, aft-raked tuna tower high above the deck to the centrally mounted game chair, left uncluttered in the cockpit.

It's an impressive cockpit, too, measuring about 4m by 3m and surrounded by purpose-built lockers and moulded in-floor kill tanks (complete, if you wish, with refrigeration or freezer plates).

In true sportfisher tradition there is no boarding platform, although there is a transom door. There are bolster pads on all the coamings (for those who prefer standing up to the game chair) and flush coaming-top hawse holes on each side prevent tackle lines from snagging.

There is also a 180-litre live-bait tank (that is not a misprint: 180-litre), complete with an inspection port positioned handily well aft.

The for'ard section of the cockpit is gleaming white GRP, offset by gleaming white upholstery (as is the rest of the exterior). In this case it hides a fridge/freezer unit, a sink and a preparation board.

An unobtrusive locker door in the face below the cutting board opens to reveal a proper rod-storage locker, able to accept six rod-and-reel combos up to 2.2m long.

Up a couple of steps to the helm-station area of the cockpit and the fishing focus continues with a large workbench and an in-built four-drawer tackle locker. For those helming and navigating there is a brace of fine Stidd skipper chairs.

On a boat such as this, with the focus so clearly on the outdoors life, one expects the interior to be little more than a token. However the Cabo 40 again surprises.

Reminiscent of a small but well-appointed apartment, the interior has everything one would need for an overnight stay (or a romantic tryst).

There is a comfortable saloon, complete with small dining table, a more-than-adequate galley, head and shower and a comfortable double cabin in the focsle.

And, just in case one should forget one is in a dedicated fishing boat, the cabin's above-berth lockers are not designed for clothes or knick-knacks but for more rods and reels.

There's one catch: all this doesn't come cheap. The nearest Cabo agent is in Runaway Bay on Australia's Gold Coast. A base boat costs A$938,000 ($1.2 million) upwards and for one as described here expect to pay about A$1.12 million.

Cabo 40 Express

LOA: 12.83m

LWL: 11.89m

Beam: 4.85m

Draft: 1.07m

Displacement: 12.7 tonnes

Construction: GRP composites

Engines: 2 x 600hp Cummins QSC-600

Max speed: 37 knots

Cruise speed: 25-28 knots

Fuel capacity: 2080 litres

Water capacity: 360 litres
Price (from): A$938,000 ($1.2 million)

Want to know more?
Check out Barry Tyler's boat review of the Cabo 40 Express in the May/June issue of Pacific Powerboat magazine.