The Boat Mag FIELD TEST Right: The Noosacat 3000 coming in through the break on the Noosa bar. It takes a lot to ruffle the feathers on this big rig, as it is one of Australiaʼs foremost roughwater craft. Below Left: Almost as important as how they handle the rough stuff - a boatʼs stance when it is OFF PLANE and/or at rest, or just poking along, can be critical in really bad conditions (or just trolling, for that matter) and as you can see, the Nooscat 3000 has an ideal stance. Noosacat 3000 Weʼve been scheduled to test this new Noosacat 3000 now for several months but through a combination of unusual circumstances it has been repeatedly postponed. The exercise of getting The Boat Magʼs team together with the Noosacat people, a camera boat, and high tide on the Noosa Bar at approximately late morning on a nice sunny day in a boat with engines, proved something of a challenge. We do apologise to the readers who thought we were testing the boat last month, and a couple of months before that and so on. The wait has been worthwhile. There are very few boats in Australia that can turn the lights on like this one, as once again we rediscover why Noosacat is easily the biggest powered cat builder in Australia – and has been for many years. Editor Peter Webster has the story, with pics by Ruth Cunningham. he Noosacat story is really the story about Wayne Hennig and his ever patient wife Debbie and the stoic, level-headed growth theyʼve administered in one of the most unstable industries on the planet. To Wayne and Debbieʼs eternal credit they have charted a steady course through the vagaries of recessions, downturns, change in regulations, ever-changing Survey requirements and so on, that would have left lesser companies gasping for air – but they have steadily moved on, overcome the many obstacles bureaucracy (especially) has put in their path over the years and matured a multi-million dollar business that is the envy of most boat builders in Australia. Itʼs easy to say it was simply because they had the old “SharkCat” franchise and therefore they were on a winner from the outset. Obviously, this has a degree of truth in it, but what they purchased nigh on 22 years ago has almost no relationship to the product they are producing today, nor does it acknowledge the management skills they brought to the table to enhance this iconic brandʼs position in a highly competitive market place. Today, Noosacat produce a very sophisticated, well finished, high performance cat range with models spread from 5.0m through to 15.0m, and just about every metre step in between. Noosacats are now in use all ov

Back inside, cruising sweetly up the Noosa River. Configuration and apptitude to ʻseriousʼ fishing is magnificent. Itʼs also available as a spectacular Walkaround, an Open or Hardtop Runabout - and a Long Cabin model - the latter popular with SAR groups. Hull Specifications Boat length (not bowsprit) 8.0m Overall length 8.60m Boat length on trailer 9.1m (approx) Beam (maximum) 2.50m Draft 0.40m (engine up) BMT (est) 3.2 - 4.0 tonne Power rating 2 x 150 - 225hp (25.5 inch) Standard Features Noosacat 3000 Cuddy Australia with every Sea Rescue organisation, Coast Guard, Water Police, Parks & Wildlife...

Attention to detail is comprehensive and it is all done in the best traditions of Aussie GRP fishing craft. The new mouldings are of an extremely high standard, and show this factoryʼs vast experience in the smaller, but vital details (such as the throttle box, radio locker mouldings (above, centre) footrests, etc). This will be a very easy rig to clean and maintain in pristine order. across the boat. In that case, there is stacks of room, because the NC 3000 is nearly 2.4m wide. That said, we have to acknowledge here that the Noosacat team did this in the NC3000 Cuddy deliberately, because most...

The big 19” props have enormous bite, and the low down torque of these two 4.2L engines is truly exciting. It is a Bar boat par excellence, and the sort of boat you go out into choppy or rough waters for the sheer bloody hell of it. Boy, itʼs good, and it is such fun to drive that youʼre drawn into a higher speed envelope than is probably sensible – especially for your passengers. But it is an adrenalin machine, and if you tweak it to get the big Yammies howling up around 5,000rpm, and just twiddle the individual leg trim angles to get it running absolutely perfectly horizontal, it has to be...