SEA Jay has a strong following from fishos looking for no-fuss boating and hulls capable of withstanding the harsh punishment we throw at our boats. Many people just love these hulls – I know this because I’ve owned three of these beauties myself over the years. With the Enforcer, Sea Jay has produced a functional and user friendly fishing hull. After testing the boat out, I can report that it’s also very well built. No surprises here – Sea Jay is well known for its build quality.
The Hull
The Enforcer may well be missing the fancy features that many of its competitors utilise these days. For example, there’s no raised sheer-line, flared bow, cambered transom or even a fancy Evo or Blade style bottom. What the Enforcer does have is a solid 4mm plate alloy construction with a reverse chine and typical Sea Jay craftsmanship. And we’re not just talking 4mm on the bottom. Everything in the boat – even the horizontal bulkheads – are 4mm plate alloy. This makes a massive difference in the water. You can flare a bow as much as you like but if there’s no bulk in the hull to slice through the waves, you’ll need to make a hull out of razor blades to smooth out the ride. For a sub-5m hull, the ride of this vessel is exceptional.
The Enforcer is 4.82m in length with a 2.2m beam and an overall on-the-trailer length of 6.41m. The hull’s deadrise at the 25” transom is 16 degrees. Fuel is 80lts and is underfloor with a separate fuel cell within the tank itself. The dry weight of the hull is 470kgs so with engine, fuel, fishing gear and two anglers on board, the weight would be around 1000kgs.
Maximum power rating is 80hp and at 1000kgs, that would be the way to go. The test boat performed well enough with 70 ponies pushing her along, however, with a little more weight on board the extra horses would make a big difference. Standard features include two transducer brackets, side pockets, fully welded wash-down deck, sump-box with bilge and 4mm plate keel. The forward deck had a low rail and bow bollard in front of the enclosed anchor well along with a generous gunwale which would be ideal for fitting LEDs to light up the deck for a spot of fishing after dark or in the early morning.
Layout
Sea Jay hasn’t reinvented the wheel with this boat, but has instead put up a solid argument for building boats better, and certainly stronger. I liked the fact I was testing a hull that had been used by the boys at Sea Jay to develop the new Enforcer range. It even had a faint fishy scent to the carpet, which had me feeling right at home. It didn’t have the polished alloy look that you get from a boat straight out of the showroom, so welds could be inspected, rust marks could be spotted and overall flaws in workmanship would begin to stand out. There were no such faults with the test Enforcer. While some inclusions such as the hatches and sides of the rear storage and live bait well looked like an afterthought, it would be fair to say the fit-out was very well done and the inclusions were well laid out with nothing out of place.
The side console was generous with enough room on the test boat to allow for a Raymarine sounder/GPS unit, GME marine radio and AM/FM radio, six switch panel, 12v socket, compass and twin Yamaha displays for speed, revs and engine readings. Add to this dry storage, a tinted screen and grab rail and there is a lot of gear on what looks like a very uncluttered console. The forward casting deck was large enough to accommodate a couple of anglers. As would be expected from a 4.8m hull, there was plenty of underfloor storage. The anchor well was neatly hidden, making the front deck perfect for fitting a bow mounted electric with a gunwale wide enough to house a good sized front sounder. I also liked the fact that all hinges were hidden so you’re not burning those bare feet on metal that’s been heated up by the sun.
Performance & Fishability
We took the Enforcer out towards a bar in a river mouth near Bundaberg and tested her while dealing with the rolling swell coming though the river. The boat and occupants remained comfortable and dry. After experiencing the ride and “feel” of the boat, I would have no hesitation in using an Enforcer for my own inshore fishing needs. The extra weight of the plate build had the hull gliding over swell with a landing that came close to what I’d expect from a fibreglass boat of the same size.
The 70hp Yamaha four-stroke performed adequately, but if this was my boat I’d have an 80hp outboard fitted. Having said that, full noise with the 70 was just under 27 knots. At 4800RPM, the Enforcer cruised nicely at 21 knots. The combination of the hull weight and the swell that we were playing in had the hull falling off the plane when trying to see if she’d go at low speeds but it was comfortable to putt along at 16 knots at just 3900rpm. The test boat did have a large cavitation plate fitted to the outboard so there’s not much room for improving the slow plane or low speed performance.
The huge forward casting deck and the factory option of a rear casting deck allows the Enforcer to be utilised for everything from bottom bashing the close reefs to tournament or club fishing. There is no factory option for a rear bait board but Sea Jay has a reputation for accommodating such requests so you could probably negotiate a range of different setups. This would make this hull ideal for anglers wanting to fish the bottom as well as those casting slugs for tuna or working soft plastics for bream. A very versatile boat indeed.
The weight and wide beam makes the Sea Jay very stable, even with two big blokes running around on board. And the graphics on the test boat looked very sexy. All up, however, it’s Sea Jay’s reputation for build quality that makes the new 4.8 Enforcer such a great boat. If a tough and functional centre console appeals, the Enforcer is worth checking out.
More information and the full range of boats can be found on the Sea Jay website.
