Five Metre Predator.
Gary Brown

In the last few years I had heard a lot of reports about the Predator series of aluminium boats, that have been made by Stephen Budd and Gary Holbrow in the south coast town of Werri Beach. For the last ten years have been putting all their effort into the making of these virtually indestructible aluminium boats.
Over the years they have made runabouts, centre consoles, cuddy and centre cabins for both the amateur and professional anglers and when I was given the opportunity to take one out for a test drive I jumped at the chance.
One thing that I have found with all the boat tests that I have carried out for NSW Fishing Monthly, is that it has never been a calm day on the water when ever I have had to do one, and today was no different. Now really, this is not a bad thing as it gives me the chance to really put the boat through its paces in rough and smooth conditions.
After launching the boat at Burraneer Bay, Joe Sultana from Independent Outboard Services at Arndell Park informed me that this was the first time that the boat and motor had been in the water. So he too, was very interested to see how the boat performed.
As I brought the boat up unto the plane I couldn't help but notice that the water at the front of the boat was being pushed well out to the sides of it, clearing a way out through the easterly swell that was pushing into Bate Bay.
All of the boats in the Predator range come standard with a 5mm bottom, 3mm sides with 200 mm-wide gunhales, A 3mm checker plate floor is welded into place, giving the boat a very sturdy feel to it when powering over and down swells. The one to one and a half metre swell that was pushing into Bate Bay gave me the opportunity to put the boat through some of its paces.
I have found that some aluminium boats when running parallel to the swell will dig in to the side, causing the boat to swerve sharply off course. The five-metre Predator, powered by an 85hp Yamaha CV series outboard had no trouble holding its line and carried the weight of three adults on board perfectly.
To Joe's amazement I sharply turned the boat so that it was running directly down the face of a reasonable wave, and at no time did the hull want to plough into the bottom of the trough. The craft held straight and rode up over the swell in front of it.
The Predator Runabout also comes with a wrap-around aluminium screen. This screen has four panels of laminated glass, giving all round visibility when driving. The very large dash had a rev counter and fuel gauge fitted on the test boat and there was plenty of room to install other gauges that you may need.
In-built Accessories
For the trolling enthusiast, there are four in-built rod holders positioned towards the stern of the boat. To help when you are walking around the side of the boat to get to the in-built anchor well at the bow there has been a set of bow rails welded on.
There are three bollards fitted to the boat, providing tie off points for the anchor or for securing the craft to a wharf when getting on or off.
Inside the boat you have a 200mm-wide storage shelf that can take paddles, spare ropes or even small tackle boxes. At the centre of the rear of the boat is a 70-litre fuel tank and another pair of shelves on either side of that. These could be used for your battery or more storage.
In the centre section of the cockpit an aluminium box with a marine plywood lid was bolted to the floor. We used this box to store life jackets and other safety gear but it would make a great kill-tank.
This box could also be partitioned off to be part kill tank and part live bait tank and the lid of the box could be padded with foam, covered and used as a third seat.
Custom Fitting Accessories.
The boat in its test form was only sparsely fitted out. This is a deliberate strategy by Predator to keep the price down and allow anglers to individualise their boat. If you want, you can talk to the Predator guys at the order stage and have them do any post-manufacture work for you at their Independent Outboard Services facility at Arndell Park.
Items that could be added to the craft could be a pair of comfortable padded swivel seats, a bulk head under the dash board to keep gear stored away, a depth sounder and a marine radio, just to name a few. The windscreen could also have a fold down sun cover or a set of rod holders fitted to it.
The Outboard
The maximum outboard power you can put on this boat is a 115hp The test boat carried a three-cylinder 85hp Yamaha Outboard from the CV series mounted onto a 650mm pod.
This engine has a compression ratio of 5:1, with a maximum operating range of 4500 to 5000rpm and a final drive gear ratio of 13.26, giving you plenty of get up and go. It weighs about 122kg, making it fairly light for it's power and size.

SPECIFICATIONS Overall length (transom to bow) five metres (Note this does not include the 85 cm for the pod) Overall beam (gunwale to gunwale): 2.26 metres Waterline beam (chine to chine): 1.98 metres Hull Cost: $15,970 85 Hp Yamaha CV Outboard Cost: $6,995 Suitable Trailer Cost: $2,600 NFB (No-Feed-Back Steering) Cost: $450 Total cost of rig as tested: $26,015