Bluefin 525 Profish

There is a lot to like about the Bluefin 525 Profish, as Editor Grant Dixon found out upon spending some time on the water in one last month…

To some manufacturers, describing their boat as ‘entry level’ would be offensive, but not so for Sportcraft Boats’ Jamie Black.

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On a rare winter’s day with almost no wind and clear skies (remember them?), we met up at Tauranga’s Sulphur Point, along with Mercury Marine’s Peter Brown, to put a stock-standard Bluefin 525 Profish through its paces.

The first thing immediately apparent about the Profish is its volume. Built with full shoulders and a wide beam, the Profish offers heaps of room in the short cuddy and, more importantly, in the cockpit.

Priced accordingly (the package we trialled was just a tad over the $35,000 mark), the Profish would make a great first boat or a step up from a smaller open-hulled vessel, especially those with a growing family.

At just 5.25 metres, the boat is easily handled by one person and the rig can comfortably be towed by a two-litre family vehicle. It comes on Sportcraft Boats’ own brand of unbraked, single-axle, multi-roller trailer.

After the obligatory photo shoot, we headed through a benign harbour entrance before pointing the Profish towards Papamoa, where Jamie had heard a ‘whisper’ that the snapper were in close off the beach.

He had thoughtfully brought three soft-bait rods, so we dropped and dragged some lures while talking through the merits of the Profish 525.

Jamie says it is a scaled-down version of their most popular model, the Bluefin 600 Profish, which features the same extensive cockpit space.

The 17-degree gullwing hull stands up to the ‘tip test’, where, with two of us standing along one side – as you would to net a decent fish – it exhibited a modest amount of tilt.

With the sea surface untroubled by the five-knot variables and only a couple of wakes to jump, I cannot comment on the boat’s sea-keeping characteristics. Jamie tells me the hull is built with a 5mm alloy bottom and 3mm swaged sides.

The 5mm bottom plates add some stiffness to the hull, which I anticipate will improve its rough water handling; Jamie says coming back from the likes of Motiti Island into a breezy offshore wind would not be a problem. For a relatively small boat, the Profish 525 has a big-boat feel – with the crew moving about underway, the hull remains stable, with no handling vices apparent in sharper turns.

The review boat was powered by a Mercury 60hp ‘Command Thrust’ four-stroke outboard spinning a four-bladed 13-inch pitch Spitfire prop.

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The beefed-up ‘big foot’ gearbox gives the motor more torque, which in this case allows a relatively low horsepower outboard to drive the Profish along.

As for performance, the Mercury produces an excellent trouttrolling speed of around two knots at its lowest rpm, while top speed, at 5200rpm, was a pretty decent 48kph.

While it cannot be said that the boat ‘leaps’ out of the hole, a review of some of the video taken on the day shows the Profish climbing quickly onto the plane and then maintaining a pleasing aspect. I share Jamie’s opinion that if a family was into watersports, a 90hp motor would be the go (the 525 has a recommended maximum horsepower rating of 90hp).

By the numbers

Length 5.25m
Beam 2.30m
Deadrise 17°
Hull thickness 5mm
Hull sides 3mm
Max HP 90
Length on trailer 6.17m
Width on trailer 2.35m
Height on trailer 2.3m
Hull weight (fitted up) 620kg
Trailer weight 200kg
Overall tow weight 820kg
Package as tested $35,250

 

Fuel Consumption

RPM KM/H L/H KM/L
1000 9.0 1.1 8.2
2000 15 2.7 5.4
3000 18 6.7 2.7
3500 28 8.6 3.3
4000 34 9.9 3.4
4500 41 13.5 3.0
5000 47 17.8 2.6
5250 48 18.5 2.6


The gunwales themselves are a decent width, providing good places to sit and fish from. There are four plastic rod holders set into the gunwales. If contemplating a bit of gamefishing (I would confidently take this boat out wide on a good day), I would specify welded alloy rod holders to take heavier tackle instead. From a fishing perspective, there’s plenty of room for a decent ice bin, along with good ‘toe space’, enabling anglers to brace themselves with confidence against the gunwale when fighting their fish.

Another important aspect to many people’s fishing is anchoring. There is a large hatch in the front of the cuddy through which a crewman can access the relatively deep anchor-well. I found there was plenty of room to get a decent purchase on the anchor rope, aided by a chequer-plate step-up on the cuddy floor. In short, you don’t have to be a contortionist to deploy the ground tackle – a big plus on any boat.

The cuddy itself is Spartan. Jamie recommends adding a couple of bean bags, which are ideal for when the kids are on board. A low bar across the front of the cuddy prevents bins and other gear sliding back into the helm and cockpit spaces when underway in a bit of a chop. Handholds are where they’re needed.

A spacious dash provides plenty of room to add a decent sounder-plotter and the obligatory VHF. The test rig has a small Lowrance Elite 3X sounder fitted, which proved extremely accurate: once we took it off simulator mode it didn’t show us any fish – and we didn’t catch any, either!

An acrylic windscreen provides good vision from the helm, while a bimini top offers shelter from the elements. This canopy can be filled in with clears to add to the protection, keeping any spray or rain on the outside. Seating is by way of two padded seats on pedestals, under which is some dry storage.

Wide shelves run down either side of the cockpit, with a deep shelf (suitable for medium-sized tackle boxes, knives, iki spikes etc) across the transom. For its size, there is plenty of storage aboard the Profish 525.

The whole underfloor is dedicated to sealed flotation, and the chequerplate sole offers a decent grip. (Having said that, if it was my boat, one of the first things I would add is some form of matting, especially if fishing in bare feet.) Any water slopping into the hull flows down to a sump, where a bilge pump gets rid of it.

Fuel storage is by way of tote tanks, but one 25-litre tank offers a good range for the miserly four-stroke Mercury, as the figures indicate.

A small swimstep and dive ladder, along with a bow rail, complete the tidy package.

Our test boat came with the outside hull and cuddy painted, which sets it off nicely (the base package quoted does not include the paint job).

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Overall, there is a lot to like about the Bluefin 525 Profish. Easy to launch, retrieve and operate, the rig handles well and is a relatively stable platform for fishing and diving. As a turn-key package, it provides a great starting point for fun family boating.

   This article is reproduced with permission of   
New Zealand Fishing News

September 2016 - By Grant Dixon
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited

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