Founded in South Florida in 2006, Invincible Boats burst upon the high-performance center-console market and soon began making a name for itself in tournaments throughout the region, thanks in large part to a Michael Peters-designed hull with a patented stepped-V ventilated tunnel design and tough-yet-lightweight vacuum-bagged construction. These boats were designed to perform well in a variety of sea conditions and laid out with many fishing-friendly features. Today, the company produces monohull center-consoles from 33 to 42 feet and catamarans from 33 to 46 feet, the latter designed with input from Morrelli and Melvin, naval architects who are regarded as the world’s authority on multihull designs.
When Capt. JC Cleare made the decision to leave a lucrative job on a private boat to run his own operation, he did so with careful consideration. A multiple winner of the prestigious Quest for the Crest tournament series, Cleare needed a boat that would be as fast and competitive as anything else on the water, but which would also serve double duty as a year-round charter boat, fishing hard from the boat’s home port in Miami south to the Florida Keys. His choice: the 42-foot Invincible center-console, which he named Remix.
The first eye-catching accessory is the boat’s larger-than-usual gap tower, one of the tallest installed on a center-console. “PipeWelders did a great job on it,” Cleare says. “They coordinated with Invincible to include some oversize backing plates in the deck during the build, which worked out well.” While most center-console towers have three steps from the hardtop to the standing platform, the Remix tower has five steps and a gap of approximately 60 inches, giving the captain unmatched visibility from high above. “It’s definitely an advantage in tournament fishing,” he says.
In a nod to the live-bait-centric South Florida waters she calls home, the boat is also fully outfitted to carry bait in volume as well as variety. The standard setup on the 42 is a large livewell with a clear lid in the transom and a larger second one in the deck; Cleare added a 110-gallon Wicked Well in the bow. A six-pump sea chest in the bilge feeds each livewell with 1,500-gallon-per-hour Rule pumps, with the exception being the forwardmost well, which is supplied via a 2,000 gph Rule. The boat is also plumbed to easily add—or remove—an additional two to three wells on deck. This enables the team to travel from Palm Beach to the Keys with enough bait to last an entire weekend of tournament fishing. Each well is also plumbed with Y valves so that switching to a backup pump is quick and easy. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into this setup.
The cockpit is as fishing-friendly as they come, with a Pompanette Manta rocket launcher taking center stage. It keeps up to eight rods within easy reach at all times—a critical part of the kite-fishing game. And while the crew is on their feet during tournaments, the boat’s aft-facing seat is a perfect spot to rest for a few minutes while still remaining within arms’ reach of a bite.
The location and placement of the rod holders and electrical outlets was another key consideration. Remix has a total of eight outlets—four per side, running fore and aft—allowing the crew to position their kite reels in the optimal location no matter how the boat is positioned; more than 70 rod holders provide plenty of room for multiple lines per kite, plus flat lines, pitch rods and more. And there are four more rod holders within the console itself to store the kite reels out of the weather at the end of the day. The deck is one level from stern to bow and offers 360-degree fishability without having to negotiate steps to the bow or other obstacles around the boat.
At the helm, Remix is outfitted with a pair of 17-inch Garmin displays, along with another 8-inch unit in the tower that’s wired separately as an independent backup system. A Garmin autopilot, Icom VHF radios (two at the helm and a third in the tower) and a full JL Audio sound system round out the electronics suite.
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Powered by quad Mercury 400 hp outboards and with 620 gallons of fuel beneath the deck, Remix has the ability to get up and go at a moment’s notice—a potential game-changing factor in sailfish tournaments where the bite might suddenly turn on 30 miles away. And while some might look at four outboards as overkill, Cleare says the rig is surprisingly fuel-efficient: At a cruising speed of 42 mph, she’s burning right at 1 gallon per mile. Bury the throttles, and the boat will exceed 70 mph.
And rather than switching brands or making any big changes to his game plan, Cleare is already building a new Remix. He’s sticking with a proven performer: another 42-foot Invincible.
This article originally appeared in the February 2022 print issue of Marlin.
