Image 9m Fishmaster

Image Boats have earned a reputation in the Deep South as tough, capable weekend sportfishers.

Imposing and solid, they’re big, butch boats popular with fishermen and their families. For five years Image Boats’ Dean Wilkes barely sold a boat outside Southland; now the North Island is his biggest market.

“In the last couple of years North Islanders seem to have cottoned on to my boats, and that’s where the majority are going,” Wilkes explained.

The nine-metre Fishmaster we reviewed belongs to a Wairarapa owner, Robert Joblin. With an overall length of 9.25m and a beam of 2.8m, this is a big boat on the road, but as Wilkes points out, tow vehicles today are a lot more capable and the compulsory electric-over-hydraulic braking systems work very well. At 3.2 tonnes on the trailer, light, they need to!

Until a few years ago boats of this size were the preserve of petrol or diesel inboards. With the advent of large four-strokes, outboards have become a popular option. Image builds boats for inboard/sterndrive and outboard power. This boat had a pair of 200hp Suzukis bolted across the transom.

With that sort of horsepower, it’s not surprising that the boat’s performance is brisk. On a blustery autumn morning under louring skies, we put the Image through its paces on a lumpy Waitemata Harbour. Heavily laden prior to a multi-day fishing expedition to Great Barrier Island with a full belly of fuel and water (500L and 200L respectively), the boat still pulled 48 knots at 6000rpm. According to Wilkes, speeds in excess of 50 knots are possible in lighter trim.

The hole-shot is impressive, the pair of large diameter Suzuki propellers offering plenty of purchase. The transition onto the plane is seamless and the boat holds the plane well at low speeds.

“The big Suzukis work particularly well with my boats,” Wilkes explained, “they are geared to spin large props, and the extra blade area really helps the performance of bigger boats like mine.”

The nine-metre Fishmaster is reasonably deep in the forefoot and boasts wide shoulders. There are no strakes, a moderate 17.5° transom deadrise and wide reverse chines.

“One of the reasons my boats are popular with serious guys in Foveaux Strait is that they’re stable and won’t broach. Just point them where you want to go and they’ll go there,” Wilkes told us.

Out on the harbour, Wilkes’ assertions were borne out by the Fishmaster’s rock-steady handling and easy helming. At about half-trim out on both engines the boat feels solid; at a steady 23 knots we covered the water comfortably, taking the worst the Motuihe Channel could offer with a minimum of fuss.

At that speed economy is pretty impressive, too, with the Navman fuel computer showing just 26 litres passing through each engine per hour at 4000rpm. After 80.3 hours running since new, each engine had burned a total of 1014 litres of fuel – an average of just 12.6lph!

The Image 9m Fishmaster is a comfortable cruiser. The ride is generally soft and there’s no banging – a problem with some plate-aluminium boats. This is a solidly-built craft manufactured to survey standard, though Wilkes has taken care to keep the weight within sensible bounds.

The hull is 6mm plate aluminium supported by four full-length 4mm long¬itudinal bearers, welded and stitched; sides and cabin are 4mm alloy, and the cabin roof is 3mm. A fully welded internal keel-strip forms a watertight V-section, isolating the bilge from the rest of the boat. Water drains into the bilge and out via twin 2000lph bilge pumps in the transom sump.

Image Boats are custom builders so every boat has a lot of input from its owners. This boat is no exception, the owner also taking care of some of the internal fit-out and trim.

The basic design is already user-friendly. This is a roomy boat with a cavernous cabin, helped by the boat’s wide shoulders. But the cockpit is still plenty big enough for the most demanding angler. Plenty of beam means three or four anglers across the transom is not impossible and the boat’s stability makes it easy to move around the cockpit while at anchor.

An aluminium sink with deckwash/shower is built into the transom and there’s a huge South Island-style bait table across the back, wide enough for two blokes to fillet cod at once. A live-well is built into the swimstep, which is wide enough for easy boarding via the alloy dive ladder.

An interesting departure from the norm is the pull-out transom door on the starboard side rather than the port side. It’s more hassle to build that way, since the cabling is trickier to route, but it’s much easier to pick up divers when the skipper can see them.

Another unusual touch is a drop-down ladder – actually a hinged section of the bow rail – on the bow for boarding the boat from the beach.

The cockpit sole is bare chequerplate aluminium, acid-washed like the rest of the boat, but tube mat or similar might save the feet on long trips.

The rest of the cockpit layout is fairly conventional: full-length side shelves, wide and deep enough to take dive bottles; a large, shallow underfloor locker; transom lockers for the four battery system (two heavy-duty and two deep-cycle); wide coamings; four stainless steel rod holders; plus a six-position rocket launcher atop the cabin overhang.

The overhang provides reasonable shelter without impinging on the cockpit too much. The cabin roof also carries the radar dome, aerials and a hand-operated spotlight. There’s provision for outriggers, too.

Sensibly, Image has gone for an external head/shower on the port side of the cockpit. The fully enclosed head is roomy and convenient, with full standing room for showering. A bracket on the wall accepts the auxiliary engine – a practical use of space – and there is plenty of room in the vanity. On the starboard side a seat/locker against the cabin bulkhead houses the LPG bottle.

The cabin interior is also pretty standard for large alloy boats: table and seating to port, helm and galley to starboard. The fully-lined cabin impresses with its size and large, sliding side windows. Windscreens are 6mm toughened glass, and wipers take care of any spray.

The boat’s owner has had considerable input inside the cabin, adding timber trim and fitting nicely-made timber shelving to the cabin sides over the galley. This adds stowage and is an innovation Wilkes will carry over to his own boat.

The big Image is well endowed with stowage space: under the cabin floor, under the seats on the port side, in cubbyholes and shelves, and for’ard under the berths. A Waeco 12V freezer is housed under the seat squab to port, augmenting the galley refrigerator, and there is a 12V LCD display on the port-side rear bulkhead.

The owner hasn’t skimped on electronics, fitting a top-quality Furuno Navnet system. The display is mounted on a bracket on the dash – there’s insufficient room to flush-mount such a large display – but it does compromise the helmsman’s vision somewhat. I found myself constantly peering around it to check for other boats on Auckland’s busy harbour.

The fuel computer and other gauges, controls, switches and stereo head unit are flush-mounted in the dash, which is finished in black vinyl. An overhead console is an option, popular for stereo/DVD and VHF radio installations, but it reduces headroom, so taller occupants may bump their heads, Wilkes explained.

The helm position is comfortable; the cloth-upholstered bucket seat can be adjusted for height and reach. Aside from the visibility issue, the helm position was well laid out and the controls fall easily to hand. The trim control rocker on the throttle handle closest to the driver controls both engines, or engine trims can be adjusted independently. Synchronising the revs proved easy enough.

Travelling in the comfort of the cabin, which is amazingly quiet with the cabin door closed, it’s hard to gauge the boat’s speed. This would be an easy boat in which to cover a lot of ground – push it along and it goes very well, but like any boat, sea conditions and passenger comfort ultimately limit speed; throttle back to a more sedate cruise and it will cope with most conditions.

Up in the forward cabin, good-sized v-berths are finished in blue cloth upholstery, and there’s plenty of light from a large acrylic hatch. Access to the foredeck and terminal tackle is via this hatch or by sidling around the cabin. The bow rail offers reasonable security and there are grab rails on the cabin roof.

Anchoring is done remotely from the helm courtesy of a Lewmar windlass; a hatch in the forecabin collision bulkhead opens onto the anchor locker.

Apart from the v-berths forward, which convert to a double bed, a pair of pipe berths forward and a second double in the cabin (made up by dropping the saloon table and adding a squab and extension) provide sleeping accommodation for six. Wilkes and his family often travel the country with a big Image in tow, camping in the boat on its trailer whenever they’re not overnighting at sea. A boat like the 9m Fishmaster is certainly roomy enough to ensure happy families.

The general standard of finish inside and out is good, though the boat’s not trying to be luxurious. It’s certainly a comfortable interior and the big Image is a comfortable traveller. But it never loses sight of its intended customers, who are more interested in its other qualities: big volume, predictable handling, practical layout and rugged good looks. If the Image 9m Fishmaster were a bloke rather than a boat, it would almost certainly drink Speights.

Specifications

BOAT
Model: Image 9m Fishmaster
Designer: Dean Wilkes
Builder: Image Boats
Construction: aluminium
LOA: 9.25m
BOA: 2.8m
Deadrise: 17.5°
Alloy thickness: 6mm hull, 4mm sides and cabin, 3mm cabin roof
Horsepower range: 250-400hp
Engine options: outboard, petrol/diesel sterndrive
Max speed: 50kts
Fuel capacity: 500L
Length on trailer: 10.05m
Height on trailer: 3.1m
Trailerable weight: 3.2t dry
Price as tested: $215,000
Packages from: $180,000
ENGINE
Make: Suzuki
Type: four-stroke outboard
Horsepower: 200hp x 2
Cylinders: V6
Max rpm: 6200
Propellers: 20-inch SS
Price: $31,000 each approx.
TRAILER
Manufacturer: Image
Braked: Carlisle Hydrostar brakes electric over hydraulic
Suspension: leaf spring 3.5t
Rollers: polypropylene skids
Features: dual-axle, submersible LED lights
Boat package supplied by Image Boats and Robert Joblin. 

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