This review/article below originally appeared in Boating Magazine, September 1999 and is written by Lenny Rudow.
Donzi 32: Clash with the kingfish.
IF YOU WANT TO DETERMINE AT A GLANCE JUST HOW seriously a boat takes fishing, check out its livewell. If it's boxy and offers only a 15-gallon capacity with a standpipe and a drain with no screen, you can be pretty sure that the boat's other fishing features will also come up wanting. Now look at a boat with a 50-gallon oval livewell that keeps bait from getting rammed into corners and smashed. One with dual pumps, so if one dies, your baits won't. With drains built into the sides to reduce clogging and eliminate the need for a standpipe that could bounce loose in rough water and drain the well. One that's lighted, for fishing after hours. Find a boat that boasts a livewell of this caliber, and you can bet little Billy's college fund that its other features will also be topnotch. Find one that adds a molded-in net holder - so you don't have to reach into elbow-deep water to fish out your net - and you've discovered Donzi's latest fishboat targeting pro kingfishers: the 32 ZF.
SKA ACTION.
The 32 ZF is a clean-cut, no-nonsense, blastout-and-fish-hard kingfish angler's dream. The Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) has been enjoying a popularity explosion, and Donzi has been growing its kingfish-dedicated center console line right alongside. Every new model gets tested by top-rated tour anglers, people like Dave Workman Jr.
Another is its placement. Reach under the overhanging transom top to flip up the hatch, and you'll find a livewell that extends all the way back underneath. Why put it there rather than in the traditional location in the center of the transom? Because that leaves enough space in the transom top for a three-foot-long, foot-wide, insulated, overboard-draining bait tray. It's perfect for icing down a couple dozen ballyhoo or, more common on the kingfish tournament trail, a selection of pre-rigged ribbonfish. The portside of the transom houses a small rigging station sink, so you can prep more baits if needed.
What else could be built into this area to help you catch fish? The possibilities left are so specialized you see them only on custom boats. Imagine extras like built-in automatic chum grinders or tuna tubes, those oversized rocket launcher-like things that circulate water through a tube fast enough to keep a small tuna alive. Nothing beats live tuna when you're live baiting blue marlin. But those tubes are so hard to integrate into a boat that I'd previously seen them only once on a stock boat, and that was a 54' battlewagon. Well, the 32 ZF has got 'em built right into the starboard side of the transom, just in case you get tired of catching kingfish and decide to hunt for the big blue dude.
Drop-down bolsters mean blasting off to the fish whether you're sitting or standing. Top speed: 63.1 mph.
MASTER BLASTER.
Like other center consoles, this Donzi is fishable from the cockpit or from the wide-open bowdeck. Unlike other center consoles, it lets you fish next to the consoles, too. The sidedecks are shaved thinner on either side of the console to provide enough room, and thin bolsters are bolted into this recessed area. In fact, gunwale bolsters line just about every inch of this boat from stern to stern.
These thinner, recessed advantage, too. They create enough space for a set of dual gaff holders, without giving up any of the usual undergunwale rod stowage racks. I just wish they were more easily removable, however, for cleaning and future replacement. A neat little Starboard block keeps the pointy end of the gaff from snagging anyone, and the handle extends back into the wider, aft section of the sidedeck.
For those who like to fish from the bow, there are several unusual features you're not likely to find on other kingfish boats. The bowrails, for example, are recessed into the top of the sidedeck, a design made popular by the likes of Contender and Sea Craft. Our test boat didn't have a bow pulpit, so I figured that anglers who like to drop the hook on a wreck would have to do it the hard way. But I was wrong - the boat is available with or without a pulpit. Now for the real surprise: Opt for the pulpit and you get one that's integrated, not a flexing, crack-causing bolt-on unit.
Under your feet is a trio of insulated fishboxes that drain overboard. The side boxes are big enough for smoker kings; the middle box is big enough to stow a cranky crewmember. Two more small fishboxes flank the console, and in case that's not enough insulated stowage for you, a 128-quart Igloo fits under the leaning post. Drinks and food stay slime-free in the second cooler, forward of the console. The hatch in the center of the cockpit looks like another fishbox, but pop the hatch and you'll find the batteries, switches, and charger. It's a neat, out-of-the-way arrangement, but I wish the battery switches were easier to access.
The leaning post has drop-down bolsters that are good for either standing or seated operation. The passenger gets an added bonus: The flat part in front of him is padded, so he can wedge his knees against it when the seas kick up, thereby locking himself in place so he doesn't arrive home bruised and battered.
FLIGHT CONTROL.
Of course, any Donzi must go fast, and the 32 ZF is no exception. We recorded a WOT speed of 63.1 mph, but that was with a full load of fishing gear, downriggers, food and drink, and three people. Get rid of some of the weight, and the boat's sure to top 65. Going fast won't take much getting used to either. The dual-stepped hull shushes through turns like an Olympian gold-medalist on the downhill, and visibility is always great since the steps help the 32 ZF hop onto plane with almost no bow rise. In fact, my inclinometer never went over two degrees - a first on any boat I've tested.
If the going gets rough and the boat starts launching off waves, there's no need to worry. Solid construction is what you'd expect from the likes of Donzi: Foam-cored stringers abound; four layers of knitted fiberglass form the hull bottom, and three layers appear on the hullsides. All resin is vinylester - double the cost of the polyester, but far less water permeable. Hinges are the beefy nonbinding type, and hardware is backed with Starboard or aluminum plates. Nuts are the nylon- locking variety, and they're recessed into the fiberglass so you'll never rub against one.
Does all this top-shelf stuff raise the cost of the 32 ZF? You bet it does. At $100,536 with twin 250-hp Mercury outboards, this boat's price tag is right there with the likes of Fountain, which charges a hair over $100,000 for its 31 Sportfish. Fully rigged, both boats will cost closer to $120,000.
Then again, use the 32 ZF to win a few tournaments, and maybe you can call it a business expense. After all, SKA prize money is nothing to sneeze at. And besides, you'll have the coolest livewell in the marina.
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