The backstory

Offshore Boats was the Supreme Winner of this year’s Hutchwilco NZ Boat Show for the second year running. Its winning entry, the Offshore 850HT, clearly grabbed the attention of the experienced judging panel, also taking out both the ‘Specialist Fishing Boat Open’ and ‘Best New Model’ awards. Of course, one of our jobs here at NZ Fishing News is to find out if the performance and fishability of the 850HT matched the looks.

“Do you want to go for swords out from Hokianga, or bluefin down at East Cape?”

Jeez, this Jonathan Barlow chap (Offshore Boats’ company founder) isn’t here to f**k spiders, I thought to myself as I pondered my response.

“Well, I’ve never caught a bluefin… “

“Sweet as mate, I’ll be in touch when there’s a weather window!”

We waited and waited, until finally the stars aligned for the last weekend of July. So, there we were, a merry convoy of utes and big trailer boats, winding our way along the picturesque coastal road that is State Highway 35, bound for Lottin Point. It’s yesteryear country; wild horses graze the road verge, small settlements are specked here and there along the sweeping hills, and – the marker of any good fishing adventure – cell coverage ranges from limited to non-existent.

Our destination was the Wheeler family’s Otanga Estate property – a 3,000-acre working farm and hunting lodge – where we would be tractor-launched into the Pacific Ocean, supervised only by sheep, roaming goats, and ancient pōhutukawa trees, twisted into tormented shapes by eons of storms and prevailing winds.

Upon arrival, I met Kerry Oxenham, the proud owner of the subject of this review – the first Offshore 850HT. Kerry is an enthusiastic fisher and diver, primarily undertaking his nautical adventures around the east coast of the Coromandel with a focus on topwater fishing and game fishing.

Construction

The Offshore 850HT has been designed by Naval Architect Alan Walker for offshore fishing and diving, with heavy-duty construction including 8mm alloy plates and framing. Like other models from the Whangarei manufacturer, it has a fine entry, 18° deadrise hull with turndown chines. The Offshore Boats styling is immediately given away by the hull proportions, cabin shape, straight shear line, and bowrail angles.

This boat has been constructed with intrepid missions in mind – a cavernous 620-litre fuel tank to serve the first Yamaha 450 XTO in the country, a lockable cabin, 2.1m berths, and huge ice capacity all scream multi-day adventures to remote locations.

With a 2.7m beam, it’s no surprise that interior space is generous. The 850HT offers plenty of hardtop headroom for my 6’3” frame (even underneath the decent overhead grabrails) and a nice, open flow between the cabin and cockpit. There’s ample scope for storing gear and stretching the legs out up front, and a plumbed head located under the central squabs. Also, the coamings have been cleverly cut back aft of the cabin to extend the internal cockpit room.

Beneath the cockpit floor is the sizeable fuel tank and a large wet locker that would be great for dive gear. Ample U-DEK has been applied to the cockpit, transom, bow, and coamings, and the excellent gunmetal paint job matches the Yamaha. The 850HT sits atop a fully braked, triple-axle Custom Alloy Marine (CAM) trailer that sports a complete aluminium frame, catch and release system, power winch, and tread plate side steps.

Layout and fishability

Offshore has struck a nice balance between comfort and practicality with the 850HT. The king and queen Relaxn seats are incredibly plush, sporting foldable armrests and ample adjustments. The rear-facing bench seats are generously sized, and the coamings are a nice width for plonking down on while trolling or fishing without being too wide to hinder fish-fighting endeavors. Ample storage exists everywhere you turn, from the sliding drawers and rubbish bins under the coamings to the large compartments for ice (280L), fishing gear, or safety equipment under both port and starboard bench seats. In addition, the full-length cockpit side shelves are great for longer items such as gaffs or tagpoles.

I counted a grand total of 36 rod holders aboard, spread amongst the rocket launcher, bowrail, coamings, and bait station. They are all painted black, and some paint had already been rubbed off on our maiden voyage (for a very good cause, however, which we will get to soon!). Drink holders are harder to come by, although four beverages can be accommodated along the side decks.

I was a big fan of the dual livebait tanks – not only can you spread out your little pets, but the configuration allows easy port and starboard swimstep access. The transom bait station neatly houses the batteries and features Offshore’s unique foldout filleting bench that comes into its own for dealing with sizeable fish like kingies or tuna.

Between the cockpit, swimstep, and bow, there is no shortage of fishing and casting space on the 850HT. With the extra-wide side decks around the hardtop base, access to the bow for casting is super simple – even with the outriggers deployed.

Moving to the helm station, the real standout is the gigantic Simrad MFD screen. Not only does it do the usual fish finding and chartplotting functions, but it is also linked to a FLIR thermal imaging camera, Halo radar, and cockpit video camera. The Yamaha Helm Master EX controls, Hella and Narva lighting, Maxwell windlass anchor winch, JL Audio sounds, and Zipwake trim control system panel round off the notable electronics onboard.

Helming visibility is great thanks to a one-piece, 6mm toughened glass windscreen by Glass Shape in Warkworth. Two wipers are on hand to provide viewing windows for the skipper and first mate. Although there is no central wiper, Rainex could easily be applied to shed any water. Sliding side windows and two overhead roof hatches provide further visibility and ventilation.

Performance

Jonathan doesn’t shy away from the fact that ride is the most important consideration at Offshore Boats HQ. Although our test/fishing weekend laid out relatively tame sea conditions (for the notorious East Cape waters, anyway), the first morning did involve a 1m offshore SE swell mingled with 10-15 knots of SW wind chop and honking currents. I think the 850HT was hungry because she simply ate it up. I’m not exaggerating – in head-on, beam-on, quartering, or following seas, she barely flinched and kept her nose on the straight and narrow through all but the biggest of potholes we encountered. The chines also effectively deflected spray away from the crew.

The hull is quiet and stable at rest, and the cockpit floor is dry. Although any water on the deck quickly drains into the bilge with forward momentum, there is a tendency for water introduced 12 at rest (e.g., from deckwash) to move up front and pool in the underfloor locker.

With five people and all their gear onboard, fuel economy was around 60L cruising at 30 knots, and 12L trolling at 7 knots. We managed a top speed of 39 knots, and Jonathan says they reached 43 knots during water testing. Maneuverability is impressive, as Offshore’s Chris Platt demonstrated by throwing the 850HT around with some very tight turns. Both fore-and-aft and side-to-side trimming are straightforward, thanks to the surefooted hull and automated Zipwakes.

“But does the 850HT catch fish, bro?” you ask. Yes, she most certainly does. Four bluefin tuna were landed before midday on her maiden voyage, and she helped yours truly lose his bluefin virginity – that’s a story for another day, however!

As we enjoyed a few beers, bathed in glorious afternoon light with the crew processing plump tuna a stone’s throw from the shore, Jonathan tells me there’s a philosophy behind Offshore Boats: “We don’t want to build the most boats; we strive to build the best boats.”

With the 850HT, I think Jonathan and his team have achieved just that.