by Steve Morgan •
If there’s one thing Andrew Stephen and his team from Melbourne Marine Centre are good at, it’s attention to detail. Every time we test a boat from MMC, it’s impeccably presented and fine-tuned. They’re the same with their customers, which is why they have a growing band of loyal Melbourne customers.
And when they set up their demo boats, there’s always a laundry list of options fitted that turns a good boat into a head-turning rig. We saw it previously with the Stacer Crossfire affectionately named Hodor (watch the video review on our YouTube channel) and here’s a smaller version made up on the Stacer Outlaw 449 hull.
The boys have turned an entry-level $26K package into an all-singing, all-dancing $50K rig with features that rival much bigger boats.
Fitted with a 60hp Mercury 4-stroke, the rig yields great fuel economy of up to 3km/L, but let’s face it – you’re not buying a rig like this to travel cheaply. You’re buying it because you want your quality time on the water to be a pleasure to experience.
In that light, let’s run through some of the options that are in this little pocket rocket.
From the bow, there’s a Stress Free anchor winch and MotorGuide Xi5 electric motor, which will keep you in place whether you want to be tied to the bottom or not. Under the front casting deck there’s plenty of space and it’s split between a livewell and open storage, as well as the batteries for the trolling motor. There’s also a Fusion waterproof speaker mounted adjacent to the livewell. I’m unsure how this will go with constant saltwater spray and immersion, however time will tell.
Step back again and there’s a rod box on the port side and a well-designed console on the starboard and a pair of helm seats with armrests to complement them. Telwater’s rotomolded consoles keep getting better. This one can flush mount large electronics and there’s clever use of space in the console storage areas, especially in the the one under the windscreen.
The console boasts an array of tech with a Garmin fishfinder, Fusion sound gear and Mercury Vessel View to give you your engine stats.
Fishing in the dark? No worries – there’s a removable headlight, underwater transom lights and under-rail LED light bars to make life easy when the sun goes down.
The whole package is vinyl wrapped with a MMC design that matched Andrew’s company vehicle perfectly – even the valve caps.
With packages starting from around $27,000, the Outlaw is a neat little boat. Turn it into the weapon that MMC has done and it’s a touch under $50,000 to drive away.
When asked if these kitted out rigs are popular Andrew said, “Absolutely! We never have a problem selling our demo boats because our customers usually aspire to this level of accessories anyway. We just help them check the boxes.”
You can talk to the Melbourne Marine Centre staff more at their showroom and you can visit them online on www.melbournemarine.com.au. Make sure you like them on Facebook as well on the Melbourne Marine Centre page. And if you want to watch this boat in action, scan the QR code hereby on your smartphone to see the full video review.
SPECIFICATIONS
Length Overall 4.85m
Beam 2.12m
Hull Weight 370kg
Transom 3mm
Fuel 50ltr
Max hp 60hp
PERFORMANCE
RPM Speed (km/h) Economy (km/L)
840 6 6.0
1000 6 4.6
2000 10 4.3
3000 13 2.2
4000 27 2.5
4500 35 3.0
5000 39 2.7