THE DEVIL YOU WANT TO KNOW

There’s a sacred international formula for driving the Sea Devil boats manufactured by Northern Beaches Marine in New South Wales — drive it like you’ve stolen it, hard, fast, deep, and long. Designed to suit both the adrenalin junkie who wants to get to the reef fast, or civilised cruisers who enjoy a soft ride, this feisty little forward console 5.2 metre trailer boat offshore missile offers high performance, incredible rough-water handling capabilities, and a simple layout suited to all forms of fishing.

Now picture this — it’s the back end of the cyclone swell and wind on the Gold Coast and I have one opportunity to test marlin whisperer Richie Inglis’ Simrad electronics package on a boat that I had never seen or heard of locally — his latest Sea Devil 520.

With the local weather gods punishing us, Brisbane and Gold Coast conditions are probably the worst I’ve seen in a decade, thanks to numerous low-pressure systems producing insane wind, swell, and rain from all directions. It just seems to be the summer norm this year, and opportunities to fish offshore have been few and far between to say the least.

So, that one and