Trailerboat Trials By Sam Mossman Marco 440 Angler The Horne family, Dayne and his parents Helen and Bryan, has an engineering background and a history of boat building. Their company, Marco Boats, is based in the Waikato town of Morrinsville, employs nine staff, and builds 50-60 boats per year. Having recently taken on an upholsterer, they now offer fully-finished boats, including engines and electronics, out of the factory. Marco Boats is represented nationwide by a network of dealers (for details see www.marcoboats.co.nz). The Morrinsville factory covers sales in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty/King Country area. The newest addition to Marco’s Angler range is also the smallest at 4.40m. It was designed in response to requests for a beamy, stable, high-sided work boat for use in inshore areas and estuaries for netting, longlining, scallop dredging and the like, but also has strong application to line fishing, especially where the ability to stand up and cast (such as when soft-plastic fishing, slow-jigging or fly-casting) in sheltered waters and lakes is a requirement. The 440 Angler made its debut at this year’s Hutchwilco Auckland Boat Show, where its large amount of internal space grabbed the eye of many practically-minded fishermen. Given this boat’s design brief, an ideal place to test it was the Kaipara Harbour, north of Auckland on the west coast, where, by good fortune, the scallop season had just opened… Design and construction With the idea of keeping construction costs down and, hence, the price, the 440 was designed to keep the build as simple as possible and to take maximum advantage of the size of existing aluminium sheets. The 4mm bottom, for example, is made from a single sheet, with no weld required along the keel line. The foredeck and transom are also 4mm aluminium sheet, while the sides and treadplate decking are 3mm. The hull is supported length-wise by four full-length bearers, while lateral framing is at 500mm centres, with the central section at 300mm centres. At 2.05m wide, this is a beamy craft for its length (LOA is 4.40m – more or less an old-fashioned 14-footer). This beam, added to a modest 14° deadrise, gives the boat its considerable stability. The beam is carried well forward too, Beamy and shallow draft, the 440Angler is an ideal craft for estuarine and shallow water work. making for a relatively blunt bow, but wasting little space in bow curves and maximising cockpit space. High sides are another feature of this hull. Initially this was done to allow nets to be pulled over the sides without crouching down, but it has other benefits as well. The sealed deck drains to a sump under the engine well, from where any water is removed with a 500gph bilge pump. There is around 80 litres (80kg) of reserve buoyancy in the hull. A reversed counter on the stern allows removable stern seats to be fitted without eating into the cockpit space and also functions as a practical barrier to any waves taken on the stern – when the boat is on the beach, for example. Power and performance Rated from 40 to 60 horsepower, the test boat was fitted with a 40hp Evinrude E-Tec spinning a 17-inch pitch Viper stainless prop. Fuel is carried in tote tanks. Given the wide beam and extensive wetted area of the hull, this craft was never going to be a dynamic performer, but speed is not its point. Full throttle in flat water, the vessel turned out 45kph (25 knots) at 5600rpm, right in the middle of the recommended top end rev range for this engine. Cutting back the revs to a reasonable 4200rpm, we achieved 33kph (18 knots). Given that the E-Tec 60hp is built on the same head as the 40hp, so there is no weight penalty, I would be tempted to step up to the more powerful engine to achieve a little more speed. With the hull design oriented towards stability and working space (a wide beam and shallow deadrise is the vehicle for this), the tradeoff is always going to be in rough water performance. I think it is fair In the cuddy version of this hull, access to the anchor-well is through a large hatch in the dodger. 168 New Zealand Fishing News November 2010

to assume that in a decent chop you would probably take a bit of a beating. Horses for courses – this hull is not intended for rough water. On one of the first days of fiveknot variables we’d had for a long time, the Kaipara was pretty much flat. Sheltered inshore waters are what this boat is designed for, and it relished the conditions. The throttle/ shift was good to use, and while the cable steering was a bit sticky, it was nothing that a bit of light lubrication wouldn’t fix. Anchoring An anchor-well is built into the foredeck, and in the case of this layout (with forward steering and a protective...

When you need a serious wash down system, step up to the ultra cleaning power of the JABSCO PAR-MAX RANGE OF WASHDOWN PUMPS The powerful spray makes cleaning your boat or anchor faster and easier than ever. Suitable for salt water Dry running capability Long life sealed motor PAR-MAX 3 - 11.4LPM / 50 PSI PAR-MAX 4 - 15LPM / 60 PSI PAR-MAX 7 - 26LPM / 80 PSI above deck level under the engine well. This central positioning keeps the boat balanced and gives a reasonable amount of protection from swamping, without lifting the centre of gravity of the hull too much, preserving its stability. Over...

eral gurnard, kahawai and a range of shark species. Dayne got to practice his shark-wrestling technique on a sevengiller before we got the hooks out and sent it home. Specifications Material: runabout (dory version available) Recommended power: 40-60hp Test engine: Evinrude E-Tec 40hp Prop: Fuel capacity: Tote tanks as required Basic key-turn package: (40hp Mercury) $21,990 Test boat courtesy of Kevan Rutter. Left: The stability of the hull comes in useful for tasks such as netting, long-lining and dredging. Right: this boat’s stability makes standing up and walking around the hull easy. Dayne...