Seascape 482 Jackal with 115 Mercury Optimax

Storage within the well put together Seascape Jackal is courtesy of hatches, these being set up within the front section of the craft.

The Seascape Jackal 482 is a punt style craft as well suited to light tackle fishing pursuits and the bass and bream tournament scene.

It is wide, stable, roomy and fast and is equipped with sufficient features to ensure that owners wanting to enjoy finesse and light tackle fishing won’t be disappointed.

As bass and bream tournaments are usually undertaken in smooth waters test runs were carried out within the Jumpinpin area where the craft fairly revelled in the conditions.

Up front an electric motor pod was located to port. A forward casting deck, fully equipped with storage compartments and enclosed with 30cm wide decks make up virtually one half of the craft. This area was ideally set up with carpet and it was devoid of obstructions other than the small finger tabs attached to the hatches covering each of the four funder floor storage compartments below. The craft’s 80L live capture well was also central at the rear of the platform, allowing easy access.

Paired grab handles were located on the sides, amidships, and a step down of around 30cm allowed access to the cockpit and helm area with its well padded driver’s and mate’s pedestal bucket seats.

An alloy side console equipped with a grab rail and windscreen was set to starboard with gauges to monitor the 115hp Mercury Optimax set onto the upright face of the console and a set of switches to port. The sports style steering wheel was in the centre, with controls for the engine fitted to the side of the craft in the usual manner.

The upper section of the console had space to fit a combined sounder/GPS unit or both units if required.

To port there was a 2m lined rod locker that had the capacity to store quite a few rigged and ready to use rods, which was within easy reach of the first mate with its outward opening lid.

Aft of the paired seats the Seascape offered an additional work area in the form of an aft casting deck set up with three compartments under it. In the test rig the port compartment allowed access to the fuel primer bulb and filter; the hatch to starboard housed the craft’s engine battery; and the centre compartment central offered general purpose storage space.

With all of the hatches closed, there was sufficient room for one angler to work in harmony with those up front. One rod holder per side was standard in the deck’s aft, with more holders certainly an option.

Aft of the transom there was a full width boarding platform equipped with a rail at each corner, with the engine mounted in the centre on a high lip. Should someone need to board from astern it would be a simple matter to step over the transom and onto the aft cast deck.

As a smooth water fishing craft the Jackal excels and the design ensures that it is virtually all fishing room.

With a four person rating all four could enjoy their sports fishing, with two up front, one central and another on the rear casting platform. Electric propulsion allows the boat to move quite discreetly to the advantage of its compliment of anglers.

The low profile 4mm plate hull with its 107cm beam, 65cm outer sides, 42cm interior depth would not be subject to much wind interference. The hull also has raft-life stability at rest, as it features a low centre of gravity hull and weighs around 300kg thanks to a full under floor stringer and frame system.

The design also helps the craft to not to tilt from the level position; the shallow Vee hull has a substantial keel plus large outer reversed spray chines to ensure extra grip in the water whether under way or at rest, thus making it suited to a wide application of sports fishing techniques.

The Seascape 482 Jackal did not disappoint with its ride and handling and with engine ratings from 90-150hp the 115 Mercury Optimax was by no means top power but the rig certainly could get up and go!

The Optimax was the three cylinder Pro XS model, tuned to produce in excess of a rated 115 horse power, and it certainly seemed to be doing it easy on the transom of the Jackal. The craft planed at 16.2km/h at 2,600rpm, travelled at 34.2km/h at 3000rpm, 48.5km/h at 4,000rpm and 62.1km/h at 5,000rpm providing good G forces during a sharp starboard turn. The top speed we recorded was 79.8km/h at 5,800rpm, that’s nearly 50mph! If you needed to get to a chosen area smartly the Jackal could certainly be up to the task.

Handling was surprising given the modest Vee of the hull and even under really strong power the hull exhibited minimum side slip. In fact hard turns and figure of eight lock to lock manoeuvres were effortless, as long as you don’t mind the G forces generated at the time. Steering was also pinpoint sharp thanks to a Sea Star hydraulic system.

Crossing wash at speed proved that the all plate hull would handle chop easily thanks to a decent amount of rake in the well formed bow and (as I’ve noted with other bass/bream angling craft) it was only necessary to keep power on and the hull up on the plane at a bit of speed for the ride to be very comfortable.

Heading into or belting back across half metre chop produced no unwanted spray to upset the morning and I’d see the ride as generally dry except for times when the craft might be running across wind driven waves from the one side of the other.

The Seascape 482 Jackal is a well made, well equipped bass/bream fishing style of boat that offers a lot for the money. Finish was very good with attention to detail obvious; while all welds were visible, they were also neatly smoothed. There’s ample storage, the craft is almost entirely fishing space, seats are comfortable and rods can be stashed until ready to use.

Best of all this rig is fast and can clock nearly 80km/h with the Mercury 115 Optimax. Imagine how the rig would go with a 150ho on the transom.

When it comes to fishing quieter waters suited that are well suited to this craft, the Seascape 482 Jackal must be a strong contender for purchase honours.

The rest craft as reviewed on an Oceanic trailer would come home for around $38,900. The boat was supplied by Karee Marine and for more information phone them on (07) 3875 1600, fax (07) 3875 1622 or visit www.kareemarine.com.au.

Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith. Performance of individual boat/motor/trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

Images

Storage within the well put together Seascape Jackal is courtesy of hatches, these being set up within the front section of the craft.

The Seascape scoots along well under power.

The Mercury Pro XS was a powerful engine, well suited to the solid Seascape hull.

Ample storage areas aft for tackle boxes and the like are under the rear casting deck of the Seascape.

A full sized rod locker complements other specialised fishing features within the craft.

The Jackal’s windscreen and grab rail equipped console took up little space within this specialised fishing rig.

Well padded seats are standard, with the option of adding more available.

Engine gauges were handily located within the side console, with plenty of room for sounders and nav aids to be added.

The craft’s 2.2m beam offers great stability both at rest and under way.

The Jackal’s layout combines practicality and plenty of fishing room in one package.

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