Cootacraft BossKillin’ It!

WOW, Simply WOW! What more can you say about the Cootacraft Boss? Is this the best looking and most impressive trailerboat in Australia? We think it might be, and so do a large percentage of our followers. John Willis reports.

Cootacraft Boats are built by the equally impressive “Mark—The Mad Russian” and his beautiful lady Melanie Nelson in the wonderful sea, and lakeside community of Mallacoota on the border of Victoria and NSW. They have been setting new standards in the tough, offshore legend’s market for well over a decade and continue their massive drive into big seafaring rigs—and ones that go very fast at that!

If you want one, you had best try some sweet talking as they are so popular that Mark has stopped taking orders whilst he catches up with the years of orders already on the books. He originally made his impact with models like the Coldfront, Gunshot and Little RAM but demand overstretched his ability to develop into the larger models and hence sold the moulds and technology to Razorcraft, who are enjoying great success as well.

Cootacraft now produces the 21’ Bad Boy, 25’ Chief, 24’ Villain and of course The Boss, this race proven 28’ weapon. Not content with his successes, Mark has now developed a new 41’ machine with genuine American Apache DNA built and raced by the legend Don Aronow. You will see it performing in the Offshore Powerboat Racing circuit later this year.

Mark has enjoyed great success in the racing field with the classic comment from fellow Deadrise contributor and race commentator Dave “Bisho” Bishop being recorded as sprouting the words, “This is unreal, he (Mark) is beating them all in a fishing boat!”

There’s no doubt about it, Mark and Cootacraft have certainly injected a new excitement in the offshore racing fraternity, attracting many others to compete from brands like Razorcraft, Edencraft and even Camcraft.

I was recently treated to a ride in Marks own race boat fitted with a massive pair of Mercury 450HP V8’s in an offshore run from the ‘Coota to Gabo Island where we peaked at a frightening 137kph—Yes, that’s 85 miles per hour, WOW again! (Although I couldn’t hold the camera too well due to my white knuckles!)

Cootacraft generates excitement as it explodes across the professional and recreational fishing and diving market serving discerning customers such as Paul Jabke with his big black Boss fitted with a grunty pair of 300HP Mercury ProXS’s.

This is the trailerble boat (just) that dreams are made of. It is also the only Cootacraft with a factory fitted enclosed hardtop, plus a Seakeeper gyro stabiliser—and we got to have a play with her in a rather sloppy sea chasing early season marlin out of Batemans Bay. We may not have caught any marlin for the day, but hey who cares, the boat was sensational.

Every great adventure begins before dawn. The big beast was an almost unearthly sight rolling into the ramp in the first of the morning glow. And don’t those big Mercs look sensational!

They say every great adventure starts before dawn and I arrived at the Hanging Rock boat ramp keen as a pubescent schoolboy in the pre-dawn glow. The rig appeared out of the darkness like Darth Vader’s Death Star, with a menacing presence of unstoppable defiance. The big black RAM Laramie rumbled to a halt and I got my first close up inspection of Paul’s big Boss rig. Yep, I’ll say it yet again—WOW!

We shook hands, which didn’t take much effort as my hands were already trembling with excitement, and got to work launching the big rig off the tri-axle Savage trailer. Seriously, it was easier driving the rig off single-handed than any one of the host of other boaters fumbling around with their poorly set-up tinnies and trailers.

That’s when I got to truly realise that this is a superbly fitted offshore fishing machine combining a host of premium accessories, features and options by those that obviously know their respective specialist trades. Just a few of the standout features include obviously the stylish enclosed hard top wheelhouse, a Seakeeper 1 gyro stabiliser, a full suite of 16” Simrad electronics including radar, Mercury racing digital zero effort controls and K-Plane trim tabs, Fler night vision, custom EVA Deck Armour, side door, built in live bait tank, Swingers outriggers, StressFree anchor winch with LSM ground tackle, a full set of customised stainless steel rod holders, grab bars, rocket launcher, and of course customised upholstery and graphics.

The manufacturers say, “Cootacraft has entered into a new era of performance offshore powerboats, raising the bar on industry standards for quality, performance, function and style. For the serious offshore fisherman looking for cutting-edge technology, artisan craftsmanship, proven racing pedigree, and safety… These are the boats for you.” We can only wholeheartedly agree.

Now that’s what we at Deadrise call a true beast. “Killin it” has every imaginable feature expertly fitted by experience professionals.

As we cleared the safe harbour, we were immediately in unrestricted waters and Paul punched the race bred throttles, hurtling us up on onto the plane in a thrust of overwhelming power. The deep 24 degree Vee hull obviously slices through surface slop like the proverbial knife through butter, but I was more interested in the velvet-like ride as we knuckled down into a nasty washing machine of wind against tide against swell. There’s obviously loads of fibreglass in the purely synthetic construction and full foam fill also assists the impact harmonics and feel.

The big Mercury 300HP V8’s just burbled along with accelerated confidence, presenting a very pleasing tune way out back of the helm. We punched quite easily head on into the steep slop at an impressive 62kph (33.5 knots) at 4000rpm with 3 passengers and a full tank of fuel, which at 600 litres is a considerable load. She was relatively efficient at that speed too, using around 90lph combined, although we were reminded that we weren’t invincible when the occasional peak and trough gave us a wide awakening. I was most impressed at how dry the boat ran, having commented that there were no wiper/washers earlier and the reply, “it doesn’t need them!”

She leans into a turn like the great deep V hulls of aol – as is her DNA

We travelled some 30 nautical miles offshore through the early morning slop and started trolling in around 120metres of water after stopping to fill the tanks with slimies. Paul switched on the Seakeeper and the attitude became oh so comfortable even in the slosh. What a difference these amazing apparatus make, especially to a very deep, reasonably narrow gutted length vs beam combination such as this.

Once inside the Tollgate Islands, we only had room for a quick spurt up the estuary, peaking at 90kph (48.6 knots) at 5500RPM still with approx. 700RPM in reserve. Yep, she’s a true weapon!

The handy workstation in the middle of the deck works really well for fishing, and neatly houses the Seakeeper stabilizer.

Working the boat was a dream and I must comment that life was made so much easier with the ease of the Swingers outriggers and the comfort of the well upholstered seating combined with the EVA flooring.

Paul switched on the Seakeeper and the attitude became oh so comfortable even in the slosh. What a difference these amazing apparatus make, especially to a very deep, reasonably narrow gutted length vs beam combination such as this.

We worked hard all day towing plastic, live and skip baiting to no avail however we stopped for a while late afternoon to watch old mate Tyrone O’Conner pin a very frisky 60kg Striped Marlin in yet another supreme display from one of the best fisho’s in the country. What’s more, he fishes alone in his 30’ Luhrs Express!

The conditions had favoured by the time we turned for home travelling at a speedy 76kph (41 knots) at 4860 RPM and using around 140lph combined. It may sound a bit of fuel, but that’s an exceptionally fast offshore travelling speed and you are back home in a flash. Once inside the Tollgate Islands, we only had room for a quick spurt up the estuary, peaking at 90kph (48.6 knots) at 5500RPM still with approx. 700RPM in reserve. Yep, she’s a true weapon!

Oh yeah – The Beast that dreams are made of!

They do feel the deep Vee in a tight turn, leaning well over onto the planning surface, but that is well and truly to be expected. You also need to remember to turn off the water cooled Seakeeper quite some time before you put it back on the trailer as they need time to run down from exceptionally high speeds.

You may fall over backwards when I tell you that whilst he has fished on many mates’ boats over the years, this is Paul’s first boat. We believe this is the only enclosed hard top Boss that has been produced and it’s a ripper. That’s not to mention the full raft of accessories including the suite of Simrad electronics. In true Cootacraft form, if you’re gunna do something, then do it right the first time. He did—WOW!

I can’t tell you how much the package actually owes Paul as he honestly lost count! Let’s just put it this way; his approximate estimate was actually up to $100K under mine. Quality lasts and the poor pay twice. In the current market this is a worthy investment for years of offshore rampages in a very worthy weapon.

We’d be smiling too! Paul at the helm of his absolute beast of a CootaCraft Boss.

Length: 8.6m

Beam: 2.49m

Cockpit area: 4m long x 2m wide

Cabin area: 3m x 2m with a taper to the bow

Dead Rise: 24 degree

Hull weight: 1550kg

Fuel Tank: 600L

Recommended min hp: 1 x 450hp

Recommended max hp: 2 x 300hp