Haines Hunter 675 Enclosed

MorganHHunt_1 — It wasn’t blowing where we were boat testing, but it was blowing somewhere. A bit of left over chop rolling across the glassy bay let us feel the soft-riding capability of the Haines Hunter.

by Steve Morgan •

It took us a while, but we finally talked Phil Pierias and the team from Port Phillip Boating Centre into taking us for a spin on their Yamaha-powered Haines Hunter demo boat – the 675 Enclosed.

Powered by twin 130hp Yamaha F130s, it’s a smooth-riding, comfortable, well fitted out fishing machine that Phil and the team seem to spend as much time fishing in as they spend taking customers out for water tests in Port Phillip Bay. In fact, the day after we conducted this test, we heard that Phil was off to Lakes Entrance chasing swords. God bless marine dealers who fish!

Phil’s reasonably young for a fifteen-year veteran at owning his dealership. At 44, he’s enthusiastic about his major brands – Yamaha and Haines Hunter. You can see the full video interviews and boat test by scanning the QR code on this page.

Let me start by saying this probably won’t be your first boat purchase. It’s more likely to be your last. The demo model – the ‘Enclosed’ version with hard top and side windows – weighs in at $160,000 with all the bells and whistles. It’s a craft that a serious offshore fisho would consider for inshore and offshore. It allows you to get fishing and back home again in occasionally nasty conditions. And it does it in style.

So what do you get for your cash? First you get a premium Mackay twin-axled trailer to get the 2.8t rig back and forth to the ramp – be it Portland or Eden or your local waters. Most 4WDs nowadays will tow it. Phil’s VW Touareg seemed to have no problems and most twin cab utes have the guts to drag it around.

It’s like the trailer and hull are made to match. Both are made locally in Melbourne and the combined weight of 2.8t isn’t beyond the reach of a lot of vehicles.

To counter the torque from the non-counter rotating props, slightly asynchronous trim would level the ride nicely.

Although the single-engine transom demands a 25” outboard shaft, the twin-rig transom takes a pair of 20” leg outboards.

It would be a surprise if there wasn’t a deck wash in this boat. The switches are close and convenient.

The fully moulded side door allows for easy dive access – or it lets you get that barrel SBT on board without breaking the back. There’s plenty of freeboard with it out, too.

The helm is clean and well thought-out. We’re seeing more and more fold-up seats to enhance the driving experience.

Spacious side pockets hold all of your hour-to-hour tools and gear.

The transom is clean – inside and out. Twin windowed live bait tanks bookend the rigging station. All batteries are accessible without having to point your legs in the air. That’s rarer than you think.

Increasingly, hard top boats use this space to mount the essential radio gear (and the non-essential stereo gear). Check out the viewing angles.

I’m not saying you and all of your fishing buddies could sleep in here at once, but the cabin is spacious and long enough to catch some shut-eye while your mates are doing the hard yards.

Although the single-engine transom demands a 25” outboard shaft, the twin-rig transom takes a pair of 20” leg outboards.

There are plenty of places to chew up the ocean miles – in the seats, resting against the lean post or in the cabin. All places have plenty of available grab rails.

Anglers love flush mounted electronics and MFDs. This Haines Hunter can take a flush mounted 16” and 12” screen, as well as the Yamaha LCD display for your outboard data.

The ‘Enclosed’ interation of this Haines Hunter hull is the most comfortable of the three and allows several anglers to both fish and travel in comfort and style.

The twin Yamaha four-stroke 130hp setup delivered speeds up to 78km/h and economy of over 1.5km/L at 3750rpm.

Secondly, you get the Haines Hunter hull. Also built locally in Melbourne, these hulls have a history of looking good, performing well and maintaining excellent resale value. And lastly you get the Yamahas. The twin-rigged 130s are a reasonably new addition to the Yamaha range – they’ve been on the market for a couple of years and both dealers and customers are singing their praises.

Fitted with cable controls (the 130 isn’t a fly-by-wire outboard) and no counter-rotating prop options, there’s a little skill required in balancing the throttles and trim to get the attitude right. When the balance is right, there’s little need for the trim tabs fitted.

Spinning a pair of Yamaha Talin 18” props, the big rig jumps out of the hole in less than five seconds and then chews up the miles at the high 3000s rpm with a collective economy of just over 1.5km/L. That’s pretty sweet. If you only want 0.9km/L performance, drive it hammers-down. It’ll buy you 78km/h.

There’s no doubt that this demo boat is built for serious fishing. The lean post, Furuno MFD, abundant rocket-launcher rod storage and twin windowed live bait tanks combined with the massive underfloor wet-storage will pique the interest of the most serious offshore anglers.

If you’re serious about checking out this rig further, it’ll be at the 2017 Melbourne Boat Show. Or you can give Phil and the guys at Port Phillip Boating Centre a call. Check out www.portphillipboatingcentre.com.au or like them on Facebook at Port Phillip Boating Centre. Packages start from $125,000 for this hull.

PERFORMANCE
RPM      Speed (km/h)      Economy (km/L)
Idle                   5           2.2
1000                 7           2.0
2000                 13         1.6
3000                 27         1.4
4000                 48         1.5
5000                 62         1.2
6000                 78         0.9
*Time to plane = 4.75 seconds