Doral 7.3m

Doral boats conception and finish are thoroughly North American but they have plenty going for them here in New Zealand.

Jim Mackie-Smith imports Doral boats, marketing them through Ray Bryant Marine. He lived in the US and Canada for over twenty years and became very familiar with boats of this type.

The Doral Ibiza 240CC is a large (nearly 24-feet to the end of the bowsprit), trailerable, centre-console designed for day fishing. It’s built to run hard and fast out to the fishing grounds (which in eastern Canada may be as much as 50 nautical miles away) and back in a day. There is no on-board accommodation, but there is a functional and private head in behind the console’s sliding door.

The centre-console configuration makes for great fishability — bags of cockpit and easy access to the bow. Although some people are uneasy about this style of boat in big seas (they tend to mistrust bow-riders, too), the Doral is built for ocean fishing and is no more likely to ship water than a cabin boat, or runabout. In fact, this boat appears to have heaps of buoyancy forward and its exceptional freeboard is a noticeable feature.

The demonstrator we launched at Tauranga on a blustery Friday was equipped with two Mercury 135hp Offshores. Several engine configurations are available and the boat is said to run particularly sweetly with twin 115hp Mercs. It also accepts single outboards (150hp is good), sterndrives and diesel installations.

On the trailer, the boat is quite imposing. Although surprisingly light at 1800kg including trailer (a result of its hi-tech Kevlar, end-grain balsa and fibreglass construction), the Isuzu Bighorn 3.1 litre diesel knew it was towing on the trip up from Whakatane, according to Jim. A substantial tow wagon (Jim uses a GMC) is a prerequisite for owning a boat of this type.

We pulled away from the ramp and idled down the channel beyond the speed restrictions. Pushing the throttles forward brought an instant response with the boat planing at 3000rpm and then accelerating quickly. In no time at all we were doing 50mph.

Twin bucket seats adjust fore and aft and up and down. They’re comfortable and the console protects seated occupants from the wind. Standing to drive thrusts the head into the wind flow but that’s a feeling I like. Vision through the plexiglass screen is OK though one would need to keep it clean. Grab rails are in evidence everywhere around the boat.

The throttles took a little getting used to. They were very lightly tensioned and I had some trouble synchronizing the engine revs. Every time I tried to adjust one or the other, I would end up knocking it forward or back. The situation wasn’t helped by one of the cables having more slack than the other. A little fine tuning will soon fix the problem. The individual engine trim adjustments are mounted on the dash. There is a very handy single adjustment rocker on the port throttle handle which adjust both engines’ trim simultaneously. This a very useful feature I’d not seen before.

The dash is well-equipped, as one would expect with a North American production craft. There is a full complement of gauges, tilt steering, a Hummingbird fishfinder, VHF, stereo and a multi-rocker switch panel. Drink holders are to be found all over the boat.

Outside the heads we encountered a reasonable swell with a cross chop whipped up by the strong North-wester. It was an uncomfortable sea and our course necessitated a lot of beam-on travel. Although the boat feels quite light and lively, particularly lightly laden as we were, and has just a moderate 18° vee, it copes well with the chop. The ride was fine and the boat stayed dry, thanks to the considerable flare forward. Only very occasionally did we get spray into the boat and then, the console did a good job of blocking it.

Perhaps the most difficult part of driving it was to keep the speed down to suit the conditions — the Doral really wants to boogie. At 3500rpm we were getting along at a very tidy thirty-odd knots. You can cover a lot of ground at that speed; in the slightly lumpy conditions, it wasn’t a bad effort.

A couple of hours blasting around outside was enough to reassure us as to the boat’s ocean pedigree. After that we retired to the harbour for some photos and to go over the huge range of features the boat is equipped with by the factory.

As already stated, this boat is first and foremost a sportfishing boat. This is reflected in the specifications. Most noticeable for me (and indicative of the fishing style in North America) is the provision for no less than three plumbed livebait tanks. Two small ones are situated across the transom and there’s a huge plumbed fish bin/livebait tank under the raised forward cockpit floor. This is big enough to accommodate several yellowfin tuna or a school of livies (when full with water it also helps keep the nose down, something that required a lot of trim in the boat’s light state). Forward of this tank is a large dry storage hold, then a separate anchor locker just aft of the pulpit. The whole foredeck is covered with squabs which can be removed when using the foredeck as a casting platform — ideal for light tackle or saltwater flyfishing.

Under the floor in the aft cockpit are two more lined bins and another hatch (plus one in the transom) gives access to electrics, plumbing and fuel systems. There’s a saltwater deck wash and a freshwater shower in the aft cockpit as well. The cockpit is self draining while all the plumbed tanks drain into a holding tank (34 litres, pumped out automatically) rather than the bilge. Oh, and there are drink holders back here, too!

Stability is excellent, as is the generous freeboard and padded sides. A seat across the transom folds away or can be completely removed when fishing and there are six rod holders fitted as standard. Rod racks down the boat’s sides will take four rods and the rocket launcher-bimini support has two more which could double as outrigger mounts.

The Bimini top is extremely easy to deploy. Once up and secured, the back stay can be removed to enhance fishing room and the green fabric provides shade over virtually the whole deck. The support arch does, however, interfere with the boat’s walkaround capabilities, effectively confining an angler to the bow or the stern.

Aft of the transom is a broad, deep engine well, a moulded swimstep and a folding dive ladder. The well is so deep, anglers with shorter rods may find it difficult to keep their lines clear of the engines when playing fish to the boat. On the other hand, both the well and swimstep are wide enough to step out on in all but the roughest of seas. After the pictures and a few turns at speed (negligible ventilation) we took one high speed run, backing off at an indicated 55mph (though the boat has been clocked at 60mph-plus).

The Doral Ibiza 240CC is a lot of boat. It’s a specialised craft, true, but conditions here are not so different from the US or Canada. Certainly it’s no colder! Most fishers in New Zealand want to go fishing for a day and then come home. A boat like this allows them to do that, in comfort and with all the mod cons. With 378 litres underfloor, it will provide plenty of range and with all those horses on the back, is suitable for family oriented things like skiing or wake boarding. While a centre console provides less shelter from the elements, sea conditions rough enough to turn the Doral into a wet boat will not be pleasant in any craft. The bimini top gives excellent protection from the sun (keep the speed down below 30-knots) and the console offers good protection for the driver and one other.

Specifications

Deadrise 18°

	This article is reproduced with permission of NZ Fisherman Magazine John Eichelsheim Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited