Boating New Zealand — February 2018

70 Boating New Zealand

PACKAGES FROM

$164,000

PRICE AS REVIEWED

$245,000

MANUFACTURED BY

Caribbean Boats NZ

Scott White 027-279-6664

http://www.caribbeanboats.co.nz

Caribbean

2400

Sterndrive

loa 7.80m (25.58 feet)

hull length 7.2m

beam 2.7m (2.4m at transom)

construction Fibreglass

engine Mercuiser TDI V6 diesel

with Bravo II stern drive

fuel 350 litres

water 110 litres

towing weight 3,200kg approx.

height 3.3m on trailer, to top

of rocket launcher

cruising speed 20 knots

max speed 30 knots

SPECIFICATIONS

Quality construction

and finish

Excellent fishing

credentials

Performance &

fuel economy

HIGHLIGHTS

yet more storage. A large central hatch provides

light and air if needed, plus access to the bow area.

ACTION

Having completed our inspection I turned my

attention to photos, and we took the aptly-named

White Knight out for a play. With school holidays

having just started, White’s two sons had come

along for the ride. Having passengers on board

illustrated the scale of the boat, with heaps of

space for fishing and activities whether in the

cabin, cockpit or sitting out on the transom.

The Mercury TDi V6 is a proven performer,

and with it the Caribbean 2400 Stern Drive is no

slouch. She accelerates very well indeed, and despite

the hull weight of over two and a half tonnes fully

loaded we soon had her at over 30 knots.

With the electronic instrumentation we had

accurate consumption figures, and even at 30

knots she was drinking a miserly 1.62 litres per

nautical mile. At this rate her 350-litre fuel tank

would let her run flat-out for about seven hours

and cover close to 200 nautical miles, allowing a

small safety margin. A more sensible cruising speed

of around 20 knots will extend her range to around

270 nautical miles and almost 14 hours of running.

The gyro-controlled Zipwake dynamic trim tabs

are almost disappointingly good. Gone are the

days of tweaking trim tabs almost constantly –

the control systems on these are such that you

turn them on to ‘Auto’ and then forget they are

there. The boat maintained an even keel while

underway, no matter how we moved about, and

we were hardly aware of them.

One of the reasons we came to Raglan was to

get photos in the famous ‘joggle’ at the harbour

mouth, but conditions on the day were very flat.

The big Caribbean powered through the relatively

small surf, and although the bigger waves

generated impressive amounts of spray, which the

chines kept well clear of the boat, she hardly lifted.

So we were unable to get any good airtime.

Overall the Caribbean 2400 Stern Drive is a

very impressive boat. White calls her a “king-

sized trailerable sports fisher”, and that pretty

much sums her up, although we would probably

also add the word “luxury” somewhere in there.

She will be economical to run, thanks to that

V6 diesel, but has performance where it matters.

She is known to handle big seas, although we

could not really test this on the day, and has

space to spare.

She will require a reasonably serious towing

vehicle, and while boats her size and with her level

of finish are not cheap, she represents great value

in a well-built and reliable package. Price as tested

$245,000, with packages starting from $164,000

with 250hp V6 Mercruiser MPI petrol motor. BNZ

BELOW The Mercury V6 delivers

plenty of get-up-and-go.