Stessl Truck, Clark open abalone, Tabs jumbo open

[cruisinginahiace]

I was hoping some one could offer some first hand advice on either of these boats.

After much research i have narrowed my selection to;
the Stessl Truck http://www.stessl.com.au/specifications/truck465.htm
Clark open abalone http://www.clarkboats.com.au/abaloneopen.htm
and the Tabs jumbo open http://tabsboats.com.au/range-jumbo.php.

Looking to get around the 4.7m hull. tiller steer with lots of freeboard for limited inshore reefs and harbor/river ect work in darwin any feedback or reviews on the above hulls would be great.

[vermin]

I've hired a Stessl truck (435 I think) for a few days. It would have to be the wettest boat ever built. At one time I thought my mates were pouring buckets of water on me as a joke. No offence to owners but I wouldn't buy one for that reason. Very strong boat though. Don't underpower it.

Old man has Clark abalone (centre console). Good fishing boat and not too wet. His is the 500sf though.

Can't comment on Tabs although I hear they are good.

[cruisinginahiace]

thanks vermin.

[Seahorse]

Just depends on what mot u want. saw the truck and that was what it was. by the shap of hull i thought it would be dry. checked out clark and could only get a tohatsu, so stuff that and tabs look very ordinery in the finish.
the yamaha dealer at yatala had a 5m truck with 60yam on it a couple weeks ago. bare boat. i just went through this whole exercise looked at everything. i know them all and settled on a stacer runabout. stacer 5m open tinnie was best finished. i would have bought it if i had not decided to go runabout. if u need any info u can ring me 0411643128

cheers
greg

[Matt_F]

Hi cruisininahiace,

I have recently bought a 4.5 allycraft tank which is a similar concept to the boats you are looking at. I am extremely happy with it, however you must keep in mind that it is very wide for it's length and the dead rise in the hull is around 14 degrees. So the trade off is, if you do not drive to the conditions then it will pound a bit. Having said that it is no worse than any other 4.5 tinny I have ridden in and it is very stable at anchor. It is also very dry until you are driving with sea approaching more from the side of the boat (beam on). It tends to throw the spray away from the boat and the wind depending on the strength just blows it straight back. The only solution to staying dry is get a boat with a cabin I reckon. I have 40ph stk yamaha on the back (the best 2stk on the market in my opinion) and when it is loaded up with 75ltrs of fuel, water, bait, ice, fishing gear and 2 guys (85kg each) my top speed is around 23knots. It is rated for 60 hp which would be nice to have but the 40 will do for now. It is a great fishing boat, heaps of deck space. I even roll the swag out on the deck and camp over night. I use it mostly for heading out the reef from lucinda (north of townsville) which is about 27nm off shore without any problems. The great thing about starting with an open boat is you get to fit it out the way you want it.

Sorry I can't give much advise on the other brands. From what I have seen, the finish and workmanship on the TABS are very ordinary, and the stessl was a little more expensive when I bought my tank.

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions regarding that style of boat, feel free to ask.

[cruisinginahiace]

Ta for the info, guys i have looked at that many boats in the last month, it is doing my head in not to worry i should have the money saved for a new hull and trailer outright by the time i settle which one.

thanks again for your feedback

[lippa]

there's a pro crabber at stanage bay using a truck with succsess. also check out the stacer seahorse, great boat!

cheers

lippa

[saurian]

CRUISN, I HAD A 4.29 ABALONE FROM MAYFAIRS, WITH A 50 HONDA ON THE BACK.
I PUT A FULL FLOOR IN IT ETC...
I DID 400NM TRIPS IN IT , ( WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND STUPID)
IT WAS A TAD ARSE END HEAVY , AND WET SOME DAYS BUT IT WAS REAL
STRONG AND SAFE.
IT DIDN'T NEED MUCH MAINTENANCE AND I HAD A BALL IN IT.
JUST MAKE SURE WITH ANY OF YOUR 3 CHOICES YOU DO NOT UNDER
POWER THEM AS THEY ARE BEAMY ALL THE WAY TO THE FRONT.
HAVE FUN...

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

clark design was the choice of many pros in its day but is old hat now - if it hasn't been updated you'll find it lacks the beam width of more modern designs & the better designed sterns

Stessl are in new ownership now so look for the build date of the hull - there were major problems and some very unhappy punters with the old crew

Don't know much about tabs

I don't see any in your list I would pick.

chris

[cruisinginahiace]

Thanks for your info.

I am now also thinking of going down the path of a secondhand boat. Looking at finding a centre/side console quintrex 475 legend or topender secondhand maybe..

as the $ for a new tiler here in Darwin is probably going to get me into a nice secondhand quiny

[gogecko]

I run the abalone 4.1 runabout and Im quite happy with it. The hull design handles going in and out of the southport seaway without any drama. Ive been offshore about half a dozen times in good weather. In average weather I need to drop down from 24 kts to about 14kts but that might just be my preferred saftey margin.

I would buy abalone again if its the right boat, but I reckon theres plenty more choices in second hand boats. Id look at a quinnie, stacer, horizon, alleycraft or stessl around 5.2m. More boatlength in second hand, is better than new small boat IMHO.

Andrew

[cruisinginahiace]

I have ended up getting a secondhand clark abalone 4.9m ex commercial dory (i think). Just got to find a seconhand motor now :)

[raygar]

Hi Cruisin, What sort of motor are you looking for ,age and price? Ray

[cruisinginahiace]

Hi ray,

something in the 40, 50, 60hp range two stroke that is in good condition, probably upto 6 years old.

I am in Darwin