Australian Boat Review 605 Exess
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Can’t say we were surprised. Kiwi boatbuilders are good. Damn good, actually. Whether it is in ‘glass or ally, they always seem to come up trumps with boats that do the job, and do it really well. This is a good example - just take a look at this pic. Note the ally trailer with load sharing suspension. The smooth, sleek lines. Admire the s.s. bows in the excellent canopy, and the integration of the rod rack. . . the anchor locker . . . everything is just right. There’s nothing to fix, buy or bolt-on - just turn the key, and go boating . . the Bucaneer way. Ten out of ten, no less. 80 Australian Boating It’s been quite a while since we had the opportunity of testing one of New Zealand’s top GRP trailerboats. The Kiwis make a whole raft of very well built plate aluminium boats, and brands such as Surtees, Extreme, Mclay, White Pointer, Stabicraft, etc, are often as well known in Australia as many local brands. Kiwi fibreglass boat building brands such as Rayglass, Black Pearl, Fi-Glass, etc., have long been established in New Zealand, along with some of the world’s best custom composite craft built for wealthy game fishermen and cruising boat owners. Kiwi boatbuilding in any material is invariably a very high standard, so we were expecting good things from this month’s test of the Buccaneer 605 Exess cuddy cabin trailer boat. (Over) Austral

We were not disappointed. Beautifully set up by Whitewater Marine here on the Gold Coast with a 150hp Evinrude, it turned out to be everything one could expect in a 19 footer - and then some. Design As you can see in the accompanying photographs, the 605 Exess follows familiar lines, based around two berths in the cabin, helmsman and passenger seats on GRP boxes, a really nicely laid out cockpit with the movable rear lounge on a clever GRP seat box. The transom area has been well designed. It offers good access to the cockpit (and back to the ground or water) with a folding ladder...

Performance and Handling No surprises here - the 150hp Evinrude took off like a scalded cat, and jumped onto plane within two boat lengths, and went on to record a top speed of 40.1 knots, (that’s nearly 60 k/ph) and certainly enough for family boating, or to handle social or even serious waterskiing, and very useful offshore when the Buccaneer is taken out with two or three keen fishos and all their tackle and gear. In truth, I have no doubt whatsoever the power could be pulled back to 115hp, and the boat would still perform beautifully, especially if there was only a couple going boating...

safely running wide to the offshore reefs, and would be very pleasant trolling for pelagics out and back. Conclusion With a rec. retail around $80K (as maxi-packaged here) the Buccaneer 605 is at the higher end of the price spectrum for craft of this size, but it is still extremely good value and competitive with the local GRP players such as Cruise Craft, Signature, et al. Of interest, Whitewater Marine’s Clinton White was keen to explain how this could be packaged right down into the low $60s, by backing down on some of the test boat’s features and fittings. For example, it had a...