Boat Reviews: The Fishing Website

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Everyman 685SF
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Everyman Boats is an emerging brand, having only been around for a couple of years.

The company consists of builder/designer Nigel Langdale and his cousin and partner Russell Spires, who handles the marketing. Nigel has been building aluminium boats for 16 years, having started at Ramco then gone contract boat-building for a number of years. Five years ago he set up his own company in the Waikato under the name TA (for Te Awamutu) Boatshed, launching the Everyman range three years later.

Everyman has proved a successful concept, and is now available in seven models spanning 5.5m to 6.85m. The 685 SF won the People’s Choice Award at the recent Waikato Boat Show and is the subject of this month’s test.

TA Boatshed is moving to rename the company as Everyman Boats and has recently moved to a new manufacturing facility in Frankton, Hamilton. Most sales are handled direct from the factory, but a dealer network is being developed and includes Bensemann Boating in West Auckland.

Construction

This aluminium hull features 5mm bottoms, 4mm sides, 3mm topsides and a 4mm chequerplate deck. Transom construction is a mixture of 4mm and 5mm plate. Framework includes eight longitudinal bearers plus keel bar. Laterally there are three full bulkheads, including the transom assembly, and six full frames. Under-deck supports are at 600mm centres.

Keel construction sees the bottom plates butted together and seam welded, with an internal keel bar added and fully seam welded in place. The downturned chines are butted together and fully seam welded inside and out. Overall, construction techniques are strong and look well executed.

Large buoyancy chambers run along the full length of the hull, one to each side. Reserve buoyancy figures were not available at the time of writing.

Sealed chequerplate decks drain to a sump under the transom, from where water is removed by a substantial 2000gph bilge pump, operated manually or automatically by a float switch.

The welding looks tidy and robust, the hull smooth, and the paint job has been smartly executed.

Power and performance

Recommended outboards range from 150hp to 200hp. The demonstrator was pushed by a top-of-the-line Yamaha V-Max HPDI 200hp two-stroke turning a 17-inch pitch propeller. The standard fuel capacity is 220 litres in an under-floor tank, but a 260-litre tank capacity is available. The filling port and breather are set on the rear side of the transom to avoid any spillage into the hull when filling.

With the relatively short weather windows afforded by the unsettled conditions prior to Christmas, test day was less than perfect, allowing a reasonable assessment of the hull’s capabilities. We launched at Westhaven, Auckland’s main city boat ramp, and headed out into the Waitemata accompanied by 15 knots of southwest wind.

Despite the relatively solid build, with a high-performance Yamaha 200 on the back this rig is certainly no slug. In sheltered water we achieved 73kph (around 40 knots) at 5800rpm. Given that the top-end ‘book’ revs for this engine are 5500rpm, a slightly coarser pitched prop (say, 19-inch) might suit it even better and probably provide slightly more high-end speed, were any needed.

Hydrive Admiral hydraulic steering had been fitted and did the job well. Depending on current angle to wind, we encountered seas of half to one metre as we completed a circumnavigation of Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands. The beat up the northern side of the islands was mostly head-on into a short, steep chop of half a metre or more – typical of this area of shallow water and moderate currents. The Everyman 685SF has fine entry running to a 17° deadrise at the stern, no strakes, and decent downturned chines. These factors allow it to cut through the sea nicely, land softly and throw little spray on the screens (I seldom had to use the Roca wiper). Overall, a pretty good performer.

Anchoring

Substantial bow rails are fitted, and there is room to walk around the cabin sides to the bow; however, if doing this regularly, some anti-skid finish would be advisable (various after-market stick-on panels could easily be added). The easy access is through the hatch in the foredeck.

A Quick anchor winch and permanently-mounted Manson Supreme anchor make the need for bow access irregular in any case. The winch is controlled from the helm and feeds to an anchor well in the bow. The well can be accessed, if necessary, through a screw-out inspection hatch in the forward bulkhead. A substantial bollard is welded to the foredeck for mooring or other tie-off duties.

Layout

There is some under-berth stowage space in the cabin and a toilet can be fitted under the centre berth if required. The cabin will sleep three adults full length with a berth infill added. Two large side shelves add to stowage capacity. The rear plate on the back of the console unlatches to access the steering and wiring. The cabin is fully lined down to the deck. Drainage from the step-down runs to the bilge, under the fuel tank and back to the sump at the stern. A lockable cabin is available on request.

Under the hardtop, a large dash has space to mount electronics. It’s lined with dark marine carpet and a back lip keeps knick-knacks off the floor. A Northstar M84 GPS/sounder unit is mounted here, but does interrupt forward vision a bit for a seated helmsman. Nigel Langdale is onto this however, and has a design for a cutaway dash that accommodates the electronics below the helmsman’s forward line-of-sight. Otherwise all-around vision through the 5mm toughened glass windows is fine when standing.

Side-sliding windows provide ventilation, and other electronics in the form of a VHF and sound-system are fitted in an overhead console. A ‘wet’ stowage hold is fitted under the deck between the helm seats.

Side shelves and an open glove box on the passenger side offer further stowage; a grab rail was fitted for the passenger. Seating is provided by twin, swivelling, upholstered plastic seats on comfortable Softrider pneumatic pedestals with pipe footrests.

The cockpit is big and open with plenty of work space. Grab rails are fitted around the trailing edges of the hardtop. Full, cockpit-length side pockets (about 2.7m long) offer good stowage. The face of the transom wall folds down to provide a low seat and access to the locker housing the twin-battery system, oil tank and fuel filter, along with more stowage room. Isolation switches protrude from the transom, under the starboard gunwale.

The fuel line leading down to the under-floor tank is fitted with an alloy plate guard under the transom; this can be pulled out to get at the bilge pump if necessary. On the port side of the transom a lowered step-through section is fitted. Grab rails are mounted on each side, along with chequerplate boarding platforms and a fold-down boarding ladder. A mounting bracket for water intakes, transducers and so on has been fitted to the stern to allow mounting without breaching hull integrity.

Fishability

The Everyman 685 SF boasts all the makings of a decent fishing boat, with plenty of space, good stability and a chequerplate deck offering good footing. Wide, flat gunwale tops provide a handy perch while fishing, and the smooth internal faces offer good leaning support at the top of the thighs, except where the transom step is cut in. There is plenty of toe room underneath.

Fishing fittings on the demonstrator include: an eight-position rocket launcher on the hardtop; six through-gunwale aluminium rod holders; and a bait-station mounted on the transom. A live-bait tank can be fitted under the transom step.

The full-length side shelves, at around 2.7m, would accept most rods, as well as gaffs, nets, boat hooks, tag poles and so on.

This boat is suited to divers as well. The cockpit’s side pockets are wide enough for dive bottles, and boarding is easy thanks to the fold-down ladder, hand rails, platform and transom cut-out.

Everyman Boats are happy to customise to an owner’s requirements.

Trailering

The demonstrator is carried on a Voyager trailer incorporating the usual cradle A-frame design with tandem axle and zinc-protected leaf-spring suspension and rims. The trailer features two keel-entry rollers and seven pairs of wobble rollers per side, submersible lights, dual-ratio manual winch, wind-down jockey wheel, hydraulic brakes and dual coupling and chains. The boat came off and on the trailer at the ramp with no problems. Everyman provided an estimated tow weight for the rig of 1950kg.

All in all

This is another quality Kiwi aluminium trailerboat from an emerging manufacturer. A good finish, sound construction, efficient sea-keeping, and a fish- and dive-friendly layout should win friends amongst right-thinking people (those who go fishing and diving), as well as being an attractive family boat. Winning the Peoples’ Choice award at the recent Waikato Boat Show indicates that people certainly like what they see and shows strong local support for this marque