CW2100 Fishing World's Boat Fishing Magazine - Whittley - #1

Pardon me boy, is that the Willacoochie Whittley? John Willis investigates.

gusty sou-wester. "Well, the editor won't like the photo's without the sun, but at least we will truly know how the boat handles in the rough," was the thought buzzing through my head!

Whittley Boats have their origins in the cruising boat market, however the move to a wider base with the range of Australian built Sea Legends has opened the market for Whittley into the huge trailerable fishing boat market. The recent inclusion of the American built Clearwater boats has expanded Whittley's horizons to the world market. Whittley purchased the established Clearwater plant in Willacoochie, Georgia, US, in 2004 and has

combined good ole American know how with the heritage and innovation that has been the stronghold of the family owned Whittley Boats for more than 50 years.

The highly competitive nature of American-built boats has developed a quality industry. Combine this with our current exchange rates and loss of import duty and tariffs and the Clearwater range hits our shores with an extremely competitive price tag!

The 2100 Walkaround is a good-looking boat. It incorporates a sweeping Carolina shearline in combination with a big deep vee that we are seeing in most of the quality offshore fishing rigs. This gives the boat big, high shoulders that really made me feel at ease as we punched through the near vertical waves at the river mouth. These were formed by a run out tide and a large amount of floodwater combined with a stiff onshore breeze averaging 20 knots. Great snapper conditions - did we remember the bait?

My original trepidation for a new boat in these conditions quickly turned into exhilaration and the test quickly turned into playtime! The boat handled beautifully in the sloppy conditions and

Y

ES, that was the big question on everyone's lips as we parked the new Clearwater 2100 Walkaround

by Whittley at the entrance to the Patterson River boat ramp on one of those wild Victorian November days. The snapper season in Port Phillip Bay was in full flight but only a handful of boats had tested their seamanship due to the strong,

26 BOAT FISHING FEBRUARY 2006