40 Cabo Express

Source: Rick Gaffney, Boatpoint Magazine

Among several Cabos tested in the space of a week, the 40ft Express Los Suenos Edition announced itself as the standout. Rick Gaffney explains why this stunning sportsfisher took his breath away

I’ll admit to a prejudice right up front. I’ve come to the point where I really look forward to sea trials on any boat built by Cabo Yachts.

I’ve now had the opportunity to test various iterations of the 35, 40, 43, 45 and the 48 models. I’ve also fished a fair bit on several old and new 35s, a new 45 and the new 48, and I have never come away from any of these experiences less than fully impressed. Nonetheless, the new Cabo 40 really took my breath away.

If Cabo offered to give me my choice of any model it makes (hint, hint!), I’d still take the 40 – that’s how impressed I was with the new hull when I tested it off Los Suenos Marina in Costa Rica in December.

I tested three new Cabos in the course of a few days. The 40 easily stood out as my personal favourite of the three.

Why? In a word: manoeuvrability. The Cabo 40 seemed to have every bit of the manoeuvrability of the 37 Merritt I used to run, and in my experience, few manufacturers have ever approached the litheness of those famed tuna boats.

The Cabo 40 fairly dances when you shift its transmissions alternately from forward into reverse, and it cuts an amazingly-flat, tight turn when you throw its wheel hard over while powering ahead. It sprints in forward and backs down well too. Fish will come to fear this boat wherever it may be fished.

Several things contribute to the boat’s manoeuvrability: the new Cabo hull design, its broad beam (15ft 9in), moulded hull pockets, Cabo’s superior engineering of other things like shaft angles, rudder size and so on – not to mention the responsiveness of Caterpillar’s superb C-12 diesels and the new Cat controls.

FIRST THING’S FIRST
Now understand that this is a review of the new Cabo 40 Express Los Suenos Edition. Therefore, I will not only be describing the Cabo 40 hull and the Express Sportsfisher version of that model, but I will also be describing the unique customisation specified by the new Los Suenos Marina-based Cabo dealer, Central America Yacht Sales – and more specifically, by Los Suenos Marina and Resort honcho Bill Royster.

The Cabo 40 hull is now available in three different models: Flybridge, Express Sportfish and the new Los Suenos Edition. The difference between the flybridge model and the other two is obvious – it has a flying bridge – and as a result, it has an enclosed main cabin at deck level, above the waterline.

Cabo makes both versions because individual consumers prefer the different models for a variety of reasons. It is hard to sell an express model to a boat owner who prefers a flybridge convertible, and vice versa.

Bill Royster is a big fan of express boats, in part because he uses his boats in the warm, generally calm, fish-rich waters of Costa Rica. You can use an “oxygen-tent” to enclose an express boat with Isinglass and other plastic materials, fending-off cold weather and foul seas, but enclosed cabin flybridge boats perform that duty so much better.

Express boats, on the other hand, allow more people to be out in the open surrounded by the elements and in the heart of the fishing action.

EXPRESS DELIVERY
The Cabo Express Los Suenos Edition takes the open-air, tropical-waters express model to another level. Most express boats have windshields and use some of their clear surround curtains most of the time.

The Los Suenos Edition boats have no windshields, and are designed so that their command deck public spaces are fully open most of the time and enclosed only during those rare times when inclement weather attacks.

That means air moving over the foredeck flows aft into the command deck area, virtually unobstructed, and that the view-plane from the command deck is also virtually unobstructed. Nice concept – it gives the open feel of fishing on a much smaller centre-console boat to a 40ft gamefishing machine.

The Los Suenos Edition models do have clear surrounds, but they are generally stored rather than mounted. In deference to the occasional spray or rain that might get to the command console on such an open boat, the Los Suenos Edition models also have specially-moulded enclosed electronics lockers with plexiglass doors for protection. Everything else – gauges, digital engine read-outs, switches and so on – is factory sealed against moisture.

The command console on the Cabo 40 Express is beautifully positioned on the centreline, two full steps above the cockpit deck level, with a commanding view all around. Even with normal bow rise on acceleration, the sight lines are always excellent. The Los Suenos Editions specify Stidd helm chairs, making the comfort level at the lower helm extraordinary.

I say lower helm station because, like most express boats, the Cabo 40 is generally specified with a tower, and the second helm station is located on that lofty perch. On the Los Suenos Edition, the tower helm station includes full engine instrumentation, full engine controls and a full set of electronics. That coupled with an operator-friendly tower design means there are very few reasons not to spend all of the fishing day above it all.

ONE-TRACK MIND
Make no mistake about it – the Cabo 40 Express is a no-nonsense fishing machine. From its 100-square-foot cockpit with padded bolsters, oversized scuppers, beefy-hardware-mounted transom door, twin in-deck insulated fish boxes with macerator-equipped drains, tackle-rigging station, substantial rod storage provisions and transom bait well, to its one-inch side railings, superior non-skid decking and the toe rail on her bow pulpit, this boat was designed and built to fish.

That said, it is also clear that the Cabo 40 Express – and certainly the Los Suenos Edition thereof – was also meant to be comfortable. There is a second helmchair on the starboard side of the command bridge (a Stidd chair on the Los Suenos Edition) and a comfortably-upholstered, forward-facing, L-shaped settee to port.

Down the companionway to starboard of the helm station is the saloon, which features the fine joinery, fabric and upholstery for which Cabo is so often noted. The teak and holly sole is a nice touch, and the signature inlaid-teak grill work on the cabinet doors assure good ventilation in the cabinetry.

The saloon is laid out with a convertible L-shaped leather settee to starboard that turns easily into upper and lower berths, and a similarly-shaped, practically-configured Corian counter-topped full galley to port – just aft of the head compartment.

The roomy head features a fully-enclosed shower stall, vacuflush toilet, moulded Corian surfaces, a tile floor and an excellent use of available space.

Forward through a privacy door is the master stateroom, which features a pedestal queen berth with a very comfortable mattress, cedar-lined hanging lockers, plenty of functional drawers and the fine fabrics and upholstery finishes that Cabo always specifies.

CRUISING COMFORTS
Although the boat can easily be handled by a couple, the cruising amenities will comfortably accommodate a small family, a bunch of fishing buddies, two couples, or many combinations thereof. Cabos never scrimp on cruising and interior amenities, and the 40 is no exception.

Cabo doesn’t scrimp in the mechanical department either, from its superb wiring runs and looms to the standard features that so many manufacturers ding you for as optional. I mean, how else are you supposed to change oil in these days of zero tolerance for pollution? A Reverso remote oil change system is standard on the Cabo 40.

Also standard is the hydraulic ram-lifted deck for access to the engine room where, in our test boat, the pair of Caterpillar C-12 engines sat nestled in what is a very capacious space – despite the genset, water heater, refrigeration compressors, filters and the like that can clutter up your mechanical spaces.

Here again, Cabo does this part of the boat very well. Not only are the plumbing and wiring runs clean, but it is also clear that the space has been thoroughly engineered, first-rate equipment has been specified and installed, and the installations are done with pride by people who make a real effort to do the job right.

The C-12 Caterpillars deliver 700hp from a compact, well-engineered and remarkably small motor. They also proved to be a formidable power source that picks the 40 hull up out of the water smoothly, quickly and relatively quietly, all the while telling you more than most people will ever need to know about how they are functioning via their advanced electronics read-outs.

Similar horsepower MANs are an option in the 40. Based on testing three different Cat-powered Cabos in a week, I’d specify the Cats for my personal boat.

BORN TO PERFORM
In test runs on a similarly-equipped boat – in conditions not unlike those we encountered at Los Suenos (32°C air temp, 30°C water temp, 2ft seas and very little wind) – a Cabo 40 Express Sportfish powered by Cat C-12s topped out at about 36kt at Wide Open Throttle (2325rpm).

It also ran well over 30kt at 2000rpm. With standard tankage, that speed would carry you over 350 miles with the tested fuel burn.

The Cabo 40 ran exceedingly comfortably, no matter what speed it was running at – a tribute to its modified-vee hull design and a gradual hull-entry that seemed to want to flatten a wave rather than cut through it.

Trim tabs allowed for precise trim-angle adjustments as needed, and although we never tested it in rough water, I got the impression the Cabo would handle the gnarly stuff admirably. I don’t recall ever seeing or feeling any salt spray, unless we were closely following another boat, and that spray came from our prey.

Our test boat at Los Suenos featured a very attractive (and photogenic) light-blue hull and white topsides, and the distinctive varnished-teak toerail – which lines the aft end of the foredeck where the windshield would be – also made it really stand out.

What didn’t I like? Not much, other than the penchant for white gelcoat on the command console that all manufacturers seem to have. Both the tower and midships consoles should be finished matt-black, in my estimation, to minimize glare in the operator’s eyes.

Although I like the Los Suenos Editions totally-open feel and view-plane, especially at trolling speed, I’m not sure I’d order the boat that way myself. Running home towards an ominous black thunderhead after a day of photography, I asked David Belding how fast he thought the two of us might reasonably get those clear surround curtains in place. Probably not fast enough was our conclusion.

Turns out we didn’t need ’em – but in anything but a flat-water tropical market, eliminating the windshield could make for some wet rides home.

At the end of the day I had decided that if Cabo wasn’t gonna give me one (fat chance!), and if money were no object and I could buy any Cabo I wanted, I’d buy the 40 in a heartbeat. I liked it that much.

Boat Specifications: 40 Cabo Express

OPTIONS FITTED Tower, coloured hull, engine upgrade, recessed electronics pod, tower controls & gauges, helmchair upgrade and more

GENERAL

Material: Solid GRP hull, cored topsides

Type: Modified-vee planing hull

LOA: 13.10m (42′ 10″)

Beam: 4.80m (15′ 9″)

Draft: 1.10m (3′ 5″)

Deadrise: 16.5° at transom

Weight (dry): 28,000lb

CAPACITIES

Berths: Four

Fuel: 2271lt (600 USgal)

Water: 284lt (75 USgal)

ENGINE

Make/Model: Cat C-12

Type: Fully-electronic six-cylinder turbo-diesel

Rated HP: 700

Displacement: 12lt

Weight: 1174kg (2588lb)

Gearboxes (Make/ratio): ZF 1.485:1

Props: Michigan 26in x 32.5 in