Reviews
& Articles 45 Express
Wing Commander Cabo 45: Altitude with an attitude
Boating
By Bill Pike
 Five years ago, at the Norwalk Boat Show, I saw my first Cabo-the 35
Flybridge, built by Cat Harbor Boats of Southern California. A walk-through
quickly turned into a lovefest. Here was one of the most intriguing sportfishing
ingénues ever to charm the East. A virtual unknown, with no pedigree
or reputation, it was so supremely built and engineered that the top-marque
fish fighters in nearby ships looked positively nervous.
Compelling details were everywhere. Stuff like stainless-steal
locking clasps on the cockpit consoles, high-end Aeroquip fuel hose and
labels
on virtually every wire, valve and pump.
But the real shirt-collar grabber was the boat's overall perfection.
Its construction and hard-candy finish were crème de la crème.
And its upper-middle-class ancillary arsenal was installed with the precision
of a Silicon Valley circuit board.
Of course, a lot of water has slipped under the keel since that Norwalk
show, and Cat Harbor has since become Cabo Yachts and brought out other
serious sportfishing machines. But the levels of finish, construction
and engineering haven't changed a bit. I base this opinion on a recent
test of the company's latest and largest offering to date: the vast Cabo
45 Express.
Zoom Room
When wringing out big diesel boats, my first impression is often formed
in the machinery spaces where I typically spend an hour or three discombobulating
fuel lines and dropping wrenches into the bilge. This latter eventuality,
by the way, I've got covered with a giant magnet on a stick powerful
enough to extract a Chevy Nova from the La Brea tar pits.
At any rate, my obligatory engine-room time onboard
the new Cabo docked in a slip at Miami Beach Marina, was a veritable
dance of mechanical
delight. For starters, the engine mounts undergirding the boat's twin
640-hp Caterpillar 3196 diesels are massive. While the stringers that
strengthen the Cabo's solid-glass bottom are generally of thick, molded
fiberglass filled with high-density polyurethane foam, the portions that
serve as engine bearers are cored with blocks of fir. Long, engine-length
L-shaped aluminum angles and slabs of bar stock cap each stringer and
are through-bolted sideways, with isolation mounts on top. A totally
awesome job.
Then there's what I call the "Super-Sucker Scenario".
In addition to a total of four 2,000-gph Rule bilge pumps with automatic
float switches-three
in separate compartments and one serving the shower sump-the Cabo's engine
room is equipped with two, giant engine-driven Y-valve extractors for
emergencies, each with a strainer that inhales water at a claimed rate
of approximately 150 gallons per minute. Whoa!
The Cabo's two centerline fuel tanks are pure hydrocarbon
nirvana. The gloriousness begins with all-glass construction and a top-dollar
vinylester
laminate 3/8" thick. I once examined a comparable slab of glass
that somebody had tried to kill with a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
The slab won, stalling the slug halfway.
Tank fittings are equally impressive. Screwed into
single, tapped aluminum plates bolted and gasketed onto the top of each
tank, they are ultra-fine,
stainless steel, 90-degree street elbows. A far cry from the cheaper,
rougher, more corrosion-prone "red brass" elbows I normally
see.
The only thing I could find fault with in the 45's
engine room was Cabo installs the fiberglass deck. While positioned well
above the bilge and
surfaced with a precise, molded-in nonslip, it is secondarily bonded
into the bottom and therefore not removable for cleaning. Why not secure
the thing with detaching chocks?
Power Trip
Later that sunblasted afternoon, I drove the brand-new
Cabo in washboardy four-footers up and down the sandy length of Miami
Beach. Top speed:
36.6 mph. The ride was smooth and thunderous, but had one foible.
Although the running angles I recorded were not extreme,
I found that to see over the enormous bow while getting the boat on plane
I had to
stand on the footrest the Cabo's pricey Stidd helmseat. Kind of uncomfortable.
Moreover, once the boat was up and running, I needed the Stidd jacked
pretty high to maintain visibility. Also kind of uncomfortable.
As I see it, there are a couple of reasons for the
phenomenon. First, forward visibility is not a strong suit of express-type
sportfishing
boats in general. Their bows are typically long and expansive and their
helms low. Second, the Cabo's aft fuel tank is heavy and shoved well
astern-it affects running angle much like a weight-challenged kid overbalances
one end of a teeter-totter. Using the 45's trim tabs to best advantage
diminishes the effect, of course, as does burning fuel out of the aft
tank before switching to the midship tank.
On the dockside-handling front, however, things were
much rosier. Courtesy of the Cabo's Mathers electronic engine controls
and excellent visibility
astern, I backed the 45 into its slip with just a couple of throttle
changeups. Groovier than a bell-bottom leisure suit!
Superior Interior
I hate to admit this but I've become something of a
pinky-hoisting sybarite in my old age, a bill the Cabo's sumptuous interior
fills with a vengeance.
Check out the huge standard-equipment list here. All
of the amenities and ancillaries are present, from a Sealand Vacuflush
electric MSD to
a Bose stereo system with settee-stashed subwoofer. And everything is
installed with an attention to detail worthy of a Campbell's bean counter.
Drawer faces and sides belowdecks are joined with complicated "rabbeted
off-set" joints, stainless-steel screws and wood plugs. The electrical
panel in the salon features Swiss-watchy buss bars and wires that are
bundled, labeled and color-coded in accordance with ABYC specs. And the
hull-to-deck joint, visible at various spots inside the boat, is a veritable
objet d'art. Seal outboard-turning flanges with 3M 5200 (or a comparable
polyurethane adhesive/sealant), silicon-bronze bolts on 4" centers
and two thicknesses of mat and bi-directional fabric and you've got the
best joint I know of-bar none.
With the standard engine package, our test boat sells
for $535,000. Prime competition comes from Viking Yachts and its 43 Open;
a slightly shorter
and narrower vessel that sells for $516,000 comparably powered. Chalk
up the price disparity to differences in dimensions, and in the standard
equipment lists. The Viking does not have a pricey Stidd helmseat, for
instance, or a big 24v windlass.
At day's end, as I dragged my test gear off into the
sunset, I paused to look back while a low red light slanted along the
45's hull in a revelatory
way.
I could see not one single bump, dimple or wave. The sophisticated mix
of vinylester resins, gold-plated ISO/NPG gelcoat, biaxial fabric and
Valtek balsa core that comprise the Cabo's hullsides looked utterly perfect.
Norwalk all over again.
More
45 Express Reviews
|
CABO 45 Express