& The Battle of the Bills

There’s a bit of a theme materialising for reviews of Offshore vessels in this magazine. It goes something like this: remote locations, epic fishing, and a serious dose of fun.

Evidently, Offshore Boats’ company founder Jonathan Barlow has a knack for out-of-thebox adventures.

So, bleary-eyed from my 2am Auckland departure, I rolled into Omapere – a little town nestled on the shores of the Hokianga Harbour with a reputation for big fish. There was not enough light in the sky to soak in the incredible west coast scenery, yet two big, white trailerboats were far from inconspicuous. One was Offshore Boats’ brand ambassador Injun Park’s Offshore 750 – our filming platform for the day – and the other, of course, was the subject of this review – the brand spanking new Offshore 800.

Injun’s crew consisted of workmates Piri and Duncan, while Jonathan had brothers Chris and Craig Platt, and 83-year-old Bill Milich, aboard the 800.

“Bill’s our angler for the day. If you guys hook up a sword first, we’ll come over and drop him off,” Jonathan said with not even a hint of a joke in his eyes. The scene was set for an interesting day!

Naval architect Alan Walker has designed the Offshore 800HT with serious adventures front of mind. The 8mm alloy plates and framing are accompanied by a fine entry, 18° deadrise hull with turndown chines. It shares a similar look and feel to the award-winning 850HT, with the hull proportions, cabin shape, big bowrail, and cockpit layout all ‘borrowed’ from the slightly larger model.

Interior space is substantial, particularly in the cockpit where the coamings have been cut back aft of the cabin to extend the angling room. There’s space to stow away all the fishing and overnighting gear you could ever need up front in the cabin, and plenty of headroom under the hardtop. Under the floor is a 500L fuel tank and a substantial wet locker to accommodate dive gear (or fish!).

At the time of review, a V8 5.6L 425hp Yamaha XTO Offshore outboard sat on the transom, and even though it seemed to be a good match for the hull, Jonathan says it will be switched out with the recommended 450hp model shortly. For the sake of congruity, the 450 will mirror the head-turning ‘Yamaha Pearl White’ paint that adorns the 800’s hull.

It’s no surprise the 800HT rests on one of Offshore’s in-house Custom Alloy Marine (CAM) trailers. The heavy-duty disc braked, tripe-axle trailer has a complete aluminium frame, tread plate sidesteps, and a user-friendly Boat Catch system. One of the notable features of this rig is the total towing weight of 3,500kg, allowing owners to safely (and legally) haul the 800HT with a standard ute such as Jonathan’s Ford Ranger.

Much like the 850HT, the layout of Offshore’s newest vessel is stylish and perfect for hardcore fishing and diving expeditions. The helm station features the 19” Simrad NSS evo3S, providing excellent fishfinding and chartplotting functionality, and a FLIR thermal imaging camera and Halo radar make tackling those early starts and late finishes straightforward. The Yamaha Helm Master EX controls enhance both the manoeuvrability and fishability of the single-engine setup with joystick control and functions like FishPoint (which holds the boat in an exact position for dropping lines down). Head-turning, multicoloured lighting from Shadow-Caster adds a party atmosphere, and the other key thingamabobs include a Maxwell windlass anchor winch, Wet Sounds audio, and Zipwake automated trim control system.

Manufactured in one piece, the pillarless glass windscreen offers great visibility from the helm, and the sliding side windows are large enough to get your head out to spot a workup or keep tabs on proceedings during a gamefish fight. Helming comfort is augmented with well-padded king and queen Relaxn seats with foldable armrests. Under the king/ queen chairs and bench seats aft are two high-volume (290L on either side) ice holds – perfect for keeping the cockpit free from chilly bin clutter.

Although cockpit storage spaces are fewer than the 850HT (there are no drawers under the coamings, for example), there is a large drawer under the baitboard and full-length shelves under the gunwales. Storage compartments for valuables like phones, keys, and wallets are ample for skipper and crew around the seating area. There’s also a glut of rod holders around the vessel, and drink holders are recessed along the coamings.

The duckboard is gated on both sides, and as the 800HT’s hull is designed to handle twin, highhorsepower outboards there’s plenty of buoyancy out back for comfortable fishing perches with the lower-weight, single-engine configuration. Swimstep access is easy on both sides thanks to the twin livie tank set-up, and the transom washboards are light and easy to slide in and out. Similarly, getting up to the bow with a rod in hand for some casting is simple with the high bowrail and well-placed handholds along the cabin, not to mention the U-DEK coverage and wide side decks for your hooves. Access to the batteries is simple through two large hatches under the baitboard.

After spending some time on Offshore’s 850HT model, it came as no surprise that the 800HT’s performance underway is exceptional for an alloy boat. Even with a decent forecast, a west coast bar is never to be taken lightly. The Hokianga is a reasonably shallow entrance, and we had around one metre of SW swell and a 10-12 knot wind chop to contend with. The 800HT navigated the bar with precision, the fine entry slicing through the water and landing smoothly off the back of any rising swells – all at a comfortable cruise speed of 24 knots. And as the photos attest, the turndown chines admirably do their job of deflecting spray away from the hull.

Once safely across the bar, I asked Jonathan to throw the 800 around a bit. Grinning like a kid at Christmas, he proceeded to showcase the hull’s responsiveness in a display of tight, high-speed turns. In contrast to the high-speed excitement, when we stopped for a break it was clear the 800HT makes a quiet, stable, and dry fishing platform.

With four souls aboard, fuel economy was around 48L/h cruising at 24 knots, and 12L/h trolling at 7.5 knots. We hit a top speed of 44 knots on the calmer run home, and Jonathan reckons with the 450hp on the back it will climb up to 47 knots.

Now, onto the undercard (or main event?) of this boat review. Upon arrival at the undisclosed spot, the sign on the Simrad was looking very promising, and we dropped down a bait from each vessel into the dark abyss below. The 750 was the first to attract attention, and after a call on the radio, Jonathan came screaming over to drop Bill off.

In the white corner, we had 83-year-old Bill Milich, probably weighing in at 150 pounds dripping wet. And in the blue corner, it quickly became evident we had a swordfish of unknown age and significantly greater poundage. The sword breached the surface early in the duel, at which point Jonathan said, “We’ll go drop another bait down, lads.”

Reading between the lines, here’s what the experienced Jonathan was actually saying: “That’s a nice fish, it’s going to dive back down, and you guys might be a while.”

It was a good call, as the fish determinedly headed back to the depths, peeling out 200m of line against almost 15kg of drag. Bill was stoic, however. He’d clearly seen some fish in his travels and knew that good things take time.

After almost three hours of back and forth (and countless doughnuts from Injun at the helm), Craig finally had his shot at the leader. With explicit instructions not to let go, Craig held onto the charging sword through gritted teeth, and yours truly delivered the final blow with the flying gaff.

Back at Omapere, the locals gathered as the fish pulled the scales down to 176.2kg. With the paperwork being sorted, it appears Bill Milich may officially be the oldest angler in New Zealand to catch a sword on standup tackle. Perhaps when he has had a chance to ripen further, we can go for the international ‘age record’ on a future Offshore model!