Sport Fishing Magazine – Everglades 455cc Boat Review
A luxury center console with the fishability of a battlewagon.
On my summer test day—with fair winds and bluebird skies off Long Island—I worried about how we’d put this 45-foot Everglades through its paces. But when I got to the docks and saw the 455cc tied in its slip, I knew at first glance that it would be a serious offshore fishing machine.
Rigged for an upcoming tuna tournament, this center console sported a quiver of rods jutting elegantly from its hardtop. More rods lined the gunwale topsides and still others stowed away in the inwale racks. Overall, I found space for 40 rods.
Other great fishing features include the two pressurized 50-gallon livewells with clear acrylic lids, the 75-gallon and 40-gallon insulated fish boxes in the transom, plus the two 22-gallon boxes in the main cockpit sole, and a 120-gallon insole one forward of the console. The second helm station on the hardtop features redundant systems that make it easy to drive the boat and navigate while fish-spotting. The main cockpit features twin dive doors port and starboard for landing fish. Two 22-foot Gemlux outriggers come standard, as do the built-in bait-prep station and tackle drawers behind the helm seats.
With its single-level deck, high freeboard and wide passageways around the console, the 455cc also makes it easy to fight fish hassle-free.
Yamaha specifically designed the 425 XTO Offshore outboard to propel boats just like this one, and the quad installation helped this 28,000-pound boat plane exceptionally quickly, with no loss of visibility at the helm. During my sea trial, we executed lock-to-lock turns at 30 mph with the precision of a much smaller boat. We could not muster up enough of a sea state to rattle the boat in any way.
Below the waterline and beneath the deck, Everglades delivers the engineering that makes this boat a true bluewater battlewagon. The close-molded RAMCAP construction gives the hull an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. It’s also foam-filled, making it unsinkable. The variable-deadrise hull tapers to a steep 25-degrees at the transom, helping it perform well in heavy seas.
I left the docks that day wishing I could be part of the tournament crew. Fishing on a boat like that would be top-notch.
Hull Specs
| LOA: | 45 ft. |
| Beam: | 13 ft. 3 in. |
| Transom Deadrise: | 25 deg. |
| Draft: | 4 ft. 2 in. |
| Dry Weight: | 28,000 (w/ engines) |
| Fuel: | 683 gal. |
| Max HP: | 1,800 hp |
| Price (as tested): | $1.7 million |
Performance
- Engines: Quad 425-hp Yamaha XTO Offshore
- Load: Half fuel, full water, full gear
- Time to 30 mph: 9.9 seconds
- Top Speed: 59 mph @ 6,000 rpm
- Best MPG: .74 mpg @ 17.7 mph (2,500 rpm)
Article Originally Written and Posted by Sport Fishing Magazine
