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| Sportique 18 Fisher |
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From a name more commonly associated with waterski tournament boats comes an all-purpose cabin fisher with plenty to offer. Simon Everett tests it out . . .
 With the plethora of cuddy and cabin fishing boats on the market already, making the bold step to construct a new ‘designed for purpose’ addition to the list wasn’t taken lightly by Mike Keeton of Sportique Boats. In fact, he had been pestered by some of his customers for several years to do just that but, rather than rush into it, he took his time and carefully considered what has turned out to be a boat that ticks all the boxes, not just for boat anglers but also for divers.Unusually for a boat of this kind, Mike has opted for a sterndrive powerplant and the reasoning is simple - it is much more cost effective than an outboard and puts less stress on the transom. Even so, the boat is built so strongly that, with a transom measuring two inches in thickness for its entire width, this little 18-footer could even handle a 260hp V8 engine. With that much power on tap, it would be one of the fastest boats of its kind on UK waters. After all, how many UK cuddy sports fishers do you know of that could top 45 knots?
For the full story pick up your copy of the July issue of Boat Mart - On Sale Friday 28th May 2010 - Subscribe here
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