You know it’s a blustery day when the drone can’t keep up with the boat as you’re running upwind, even at just-planing speed. The roiled water and white-caps are another indication. And the big, bold “Small Craft Warning” in red print on the day’s NOAA weather forecast is another. Did we cancel our video shoot? Heck no, we’re running a World Cat 235TE today, an all new model that can take on a vicious chop with more speed and comfort than most monohulls with five or six feet more LOA. But don't merely take out word for it, check it out for yourself in our video boat review:
With a pair of Yamaha F150s on the transoms we burned the water at speeds up into the mid-40s before we began launching off of waves, at which point I pulled back on the throttles. In smooth water, this should be a 50-mph boat. Running up-sea and down-sea speeds in the 30s made for a comfortable cruise despite the snotty conditions, and like some other well-designed powercats, this boat loved running right into the teeth of a head sea. The faster you go the more air you pack between the hulls, cushioning the waves. The entries of the individual hulls are far narrower than that of a monohull, meanwhile, slicing instead of pounding. Think of two knives cutting through the water as opposed to a spoon. The net result? We’ll just have to run downwind when the drone is in the air so it can keep up with us, and the shoot goes on.
Anyone who’s spent time on a quality-built powercat already knows about the smooth ride, but on some, they’ve also experienced a “snap roll.” The widely spaced hulls are significantly more stable than a rocking, rolling monohull, but when they do get thrown off-balance on some boats the righting moment is abrupt, swift, and uncomfortable. This was perhaps the biggest downside on the 22 Glacier Bay I owned for many years — so I was thrilled when we pulled the 235TE into a beam sea, shifted into neutral, and discovered that this boat had a comfortable, predictable drift without that snappy roll period. Added bonus: those widely spaced hulls carry their beam all the way forward, so there’s a lot more interior room than you’d find on most boats of equivalent LOA. In fact, World Cat says that overall it has 35 percent more space.
Just how is that space dedicated? To fishing, fishing, and fishing. The “TE,” after all, does stand for Tournament Edition. Unlike its sistership the 235CC, which has flanking seating to either side in the bow, the TE has wide-open deck space capped off up front with a single seat running across the beam. Pull the cushion and you have a small elevated forward casting deck, or stand at deck-level and you have a voluminous bow cockpit. And when you do want seating in the bow there are fold-out seats integrated into the forward inwales which sit flush and completely out of the way when folded closed.
Like many other attributes of this model this bow layout is inclined more towards big-water fishing as opposed to bay boat style inshore fishing. And yes, the 235TE does have big-water capabilities beyond the wave-eating ride. With a whopping 120 gallons of fuel capacity and a cruising economy of about 2.6 mpg at 30 mph, range pushes darn close to 300 miles accounting for a 10-percent fuel reserve. Collapsible 18’ Gem Lux outriggers are an option, and there are 37.5-gallon fishboxes in the deck.
Additional fishing features include a 30-gallon transom livewell flanked by insulated bait box/coolers, fresh and raw water washdowns, and a tackle stowage drawer in the back of the leaning post. The rod holder count is awesome, too: there are four in the aft gunwales, four in the forward gunwales, five rocket launchers on the T-top, four more on the leaning post, and racks for three more rods on either side of the console.
There were several other standout features we noted during our rough-sea sea trial. The three-sided helm enclosure provides a lot more protection at the helm than you might expect on a boat of this size, with a full windshield and sides that mate with the T-top and supports. The slide-out cooler under the leaning post is accessible even in the forward position, so you won’t have to fumble with barrel locks to get a drink. And the stern platform and ladder is a beefy chunk of hardware which will never flex and sway like most telescopic boarding ladders.
The fit and finish is on par with the best of ‘em, dockside handling with the widely spaced twins is magnificent, and… oops! We’re just about out of space here. But when you get a chance to run a fishboat this sweet it’s just so easy to keep droning on and on…
World Cat 235TE Specifications
- LOA – 22’7”
- Beam – 8’6”
- Displacement – 5275 lbs.
- Draft (hull) – 9”
- Transom Deadrise – NA (cat)
- Fuel Capacity – 120 gal.
- Max. Power – 300 hp
Area Dealers – Bosun’s Marine, Grasonville, MD, (443) 347-6314; Taylor Marine, Milford, DE (302) 251-2506 and Ocean City, MD (443) 647-8265; and Norfolk Marine, Norfolk, VA, (757) 895-7432.