2014 Review: Cruise Craft Explorer 595 Review | Australias Greatest Fishing Boats
Even the opposition agrees, Cruise Craft boats offer some of the most appealing, premium quality finished mouldings in the business. Its latest offering, the Cruise Craft Explorer 595, represents a pinnacle of fibreglass fishing boat evolution and Cruise Craft’s uncompromising commitment to quality.
CRUISE CRAFT EXPLORER 595 REVIEW
This is truly a boat with the lot – a fine blend of fishing and family ergonomics, accessories and facilities. The key to success here is a blend of innovation matched with time-proven ideals. In the Explorer 595, Cruise Craft has developed an excellent trailerable fishing rig capable of extended saltwater sojourns.
With Yamaha’s F200G four-stroke bolted on the back it’s a marriage made in heaven, providing effortless performance, exceptional consumption and quiet noise levels throughout the rev range.
Cruise Craft is going from strength-to-strength in a competitive market, so it seems our judges and the Australian market are all lovers of quality products.
CRUISE CRAFT EXPLORER 595 RATING
Fishing suitability | 9 |
Innovation | 8.4 |
Design and layout | 9 |
Quality of finish | 9.4 |
Handling and ride | 8.5 |
Stability at rest | 8.4 |
Ergonomics | 8.4 |
Standard equipment | 8.4 |
Value for money | 8 |
X-Factor | 8.2 |
TOTAL SCORE | 85.7 |
UNDERSTANDING THE RATING SYSTEM
| Meet the judging panel | The rating criteria explained |
THE JUDGES’ NOTEPAD
Angelo Sangiorgio: “I loved it. I tested this boat about six months ago in horrendous conditions and I thought then that it just worked. It’s light, it’s nimble — it’s an easy boat to live with. When you get in, everything is where it should be and it feels relaxed — it’s not pretentious, but it has substance. The full-bodied aspect will be very popular. You could compare it with an aluminium boat in that it’s fairly straight on the sides with lots of waterline beam — you get exactly the same with these, except with a substantially better ride.”
John Ford: “Cruise Craft won last year and it brought the same sort of quality along this year. A really nice boat — very well balanced — and that 200hp Yamaha on the back really pushes it along too, but it’s still very fuel efficient. It’s also very refined — the Explorer 595 is not just a sporty cruiser. When we crossed the wakes of some of those bigger cruisers, it showed it had plenty of ability in the rougher stuff.”
Kevin Smith: “It’s just a classic, classic fishing boat. It’s made for fishermen and it’s designed and produced by fishermen and you can see that. It’s very, very simple but clean. Good lines, good finish throughout. It’s got the new Yamaha F200G which everyone is calling the G-spot motor at the moment, and geez — it’s phenomenal. That fly-by-wire control is quick and sensitive and it just hops straight out of the hole.”
Matt Jones: “The first thing I think of is class. The raised sheerline, the beautiful finish — I love the targa top extension and I like the way it gets up on the plane. I love that Yamaha on the back, too. For me it’s the sound — it’s got that awesome sound to it and good mid-range punch. It’s a pretty good combination. It was worth making the trip over from New Zealand to see it!”
John Willis: “It’s very full-bodied. It reaches its beam very quickly coming off the bow and you can feel it in the volume of the boat and its stability. That new hull design really does perform. The thing about Cruise Craft is not only its moulding quality, but also its exceptional fishability, its workability all over. As a family boat or as a fishing boat — it’s all there. They’ve never been cheap but you pay for quality, don’t you?”
CRUISE CRAFT EXPLORER 595 SPECIFICATIONS
LOA: 6.35m
BEAM: 2.44m
WEIGHT: 2100kg (BMT as tested)
MAX. HORSEPOWER: 200
BASE PRICE: $61,450 (STD w/ F150)
PRICE AS TESTED: $92,500