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Advice & Info: Conraad 875 Sports Fisher
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Les Coenraads, a fitter-turner by trade, established his company Metal Works Innovation about a decade ago. Initially a one-man band specialising in certified welding, as a life-long boatie, it was inevitable that he should move into aluminium boat repairs – and then, about six years ago, into designing and building his own boats. Now he has a tight-knit team of six in the workshop, plus an administrative assistant.

The Conraad 875 was designed by Scott Robson and manufactured to Les Coenraads’ exacting standards. The construction and level of finish is very high. Les has stated that his aim was not to be the biggest boat manufacturer in the country; rather, it was to make the best boats. Consequently, everything is top-of-the line and build quality is excellent.

The test boat, Wairere, was built for owner Ron Parton as a basic (at least by Coenraad’s standards – most would think it was fairly highly specc’ed) fish and dive machine. Currently it is based in Tauranga, but it is planned to run it out of Waihau Bay part of the time.

After Boating NZ’s Mike Hunter did a photo shoot at Mayor Island several months ago, I travelled back to Tauranga to do the test – an ambitious day trip to White Island and back; a straight-line distance of over 100nm.

Construction

Conraad boats are individually checked by an independent surveyor during construction and built to survey standard, although not necessarily put into survey. The 875’s all-aluminium construction is strong: six full-height longitudinal bearers under the floor, plus five interlocking fully-welded bulkheads, 6mm hull plates, 5mm sides and 4mm superstructure. Three sealed, pressure-tested underfloor compartments provide around a tonne of reserve buoyancy. With self-draining decks and scuppers, this hull has a high degree of safety.

All plates are computer-cut to ensure each hull is identical. Bottom plates are fully seam-welded, inside and out, to an I-beam keel bar, while chines are also fully seam-welded inside and out. An external rub strip on the outside of the keel is an option. Decks are self-draining. The hull has a deep-V at 20° and two planing strakes on each side to add lift. The trim tabs fitted add control to the attitude of the hull when underway.

No corners are cut with the wiring either. All components are from BEP Marine and there are no fuses on the boat; only circuit breakers are fitted. Cables are all tinned and tied down in tracking.

Finish is immaculate, with pretty much every corner radiused and smooth. What little welding had been left unground, such as the pipe framing on the platform, was very nicely executed, looking like a stack of old-fashioned 50c coins pushed over. The Altex paintwork and Clear Coat are excellent, too, and when combined with the high level of finishing, the surface looks more like glass than alloy.

This is a very finely built boat indeed.

Power and performance

Powered by a Yanmar 315hp turbo-diesel, driving through a Bravo III leg, the rig achieves 37 knots at 3900rpm. This is a big engine for a boat of this size. The 875 carries 500L of fuel under the floor as well as 180L of fresh water, and even though placed under a fair load, still cruises comfortably at 20 knots/3000rpm. The electrical system consists of three batteries (two house) with isolation/linking switches and a Charge Guard voltage-sensitive relay. Batteries are set up in a protected position in the transom wall.

Owner Ron Parton has been keeping fuel records since the boat was put in the water, and over the 83 hours of running (mostly around the 20 knots cruise speed) he has averaged 22.5 litres per hour, approximating one litre per nautical mile.

We travelled from Tauranga to White Island, had a few hours fishing and then returned, completing the 100nm journey. On the outbound leg we were pushing into a two-metre oceanic swell all the way, opposed by 5-10 knots of SW wind, putting a little chop on top. On the return it was mostly a smooth downhill run, but as we approached shallower inshore water, a westerly picked up, lifting a nasty chop of over half-a-metre along the coast. Conditions were not conducive to pleasant travelling, but the big Conraad handled it well, giving a lively, but not harsh ride. It gave its best performance with the bow trimmed well down so the entry could do its work.

Anchoring

A Maxwell anchor winch is set into the foredeck and feeds directly into the anchor well, which can be accessed if necessary by a hatch in the forward bulkhead. Although there is little reason to go onto the bow (with the anchor controls at the helm station and the cabin hatch opening onto the foredeck), there is plenty of room to walk around the cabin sides, with a bow rail and grab rail on the cabin top for safety. A Sarca anchor is permanently mounted on the bow and a substantial bollard fitted.

Layout

The deep, fully-lined forecabin, with a cross berth and two single berths, could sleep three or possibly even four with the berth infill fitted. There is stowage space under the centre berth, while the port and starboard sides are taken up with buoyancy chambers. Two levels of side shelves on the sides and one across the collision bulkhead add to the stowage space, and cabin lights are fitted.

Back up the companionway is a good-sized main cabin and wheelhouse. All the instrumentation and electronics are neatly flush-mounted into the console face, including a Simrad CX44 GPS-radar-sounder and AP26 autopilot, VHF and anchor-winch controls. The controls for the Electro trim-tabs are mounted under the throttle/gear shift, so that leg-tilt, trim-tabs and speed are all easily accessible to the right hand. Built into the front of the cabin ceiling is a CD-DVD player with a fold-down screen.

The large, comfortably-upholstered helm seat is mounted on a gas-shock pedestal and has a clever design, with the front padding roll turning up and back to allow more space in front and forming a bolster to lean against if you prefer to travel standing. If you want a better view over the top of the console through the safety-glass screen, you can sit on this front pad in the rolled-back position, jacking up the seating height by about 150mm. The steering is a hydraulic power system, good to use, with an attractive burl wood wheel.

Behind the helm seat is a galley unit with 180-litre hot and cold freshwater system, three-hob gas cooker and a fridge, with storage drawers underneath. On the passenger side is a bench seat with a stainless foot rail, which pulls out to a double berth. Some of the stowage space under this is taken up by a 110L Waeco electronic freezer. Attention to detail shows in the padded cabin ceiling, with twin stainless grab rails running the length of the cabin – useful when moving around or travelling in rough conditions.

Outside the sliding, locking cabin door is the cockpit. Against the bulkhead is a bench seat that houses the gas bottle, with room for other stowage (a rubbish bin is often put here). The califont for the boat’s hot-water system is built inside one of the rear pillars of the cabin, keeping heat and condensation out of the cabin. On the other side of the cockpit is an enclosed freshwater shower and electric flush toilet. Above is a canvas sunshade, which extends back over the cockpit, but it can be removed if necessary.

There is no getting around the fact that the engine box dominates the cockpit, but being padded and fitted with a work cover, it also makes a useful seat, table and work surface. Two 2000gph bilge pumps are fitted in the engine well.

The deck is covered with marine carpet and drains back to two decent-sized duckbill scuppers. Side pockets run down each side of the cockpit, and high transom step-overs on each side give access out onto the boarding platform/leg cover. The platform is fully enclosed by rails, and at each side a section of railing can be folded down to form a boarding ladder.

Under the platform, trim-tabs, transducers and intakes are attached to brackets separate from the hull. Deck furniture includes four mooring cleats along each side. Overall, a very well-engineered set-up that has everything needed for short- and medium-term stay-away trips.

Fishability

Owner Ron Parton is a keen fisherman with a mind to harvesting quality seafood, and the boat was designed with that in mind. Divers are well catered for, with two fold-down ladders, a boarding platform, transom step-overs and freshwater shower. A davit and winch system is fitted in the cockpit for pulling dropper lines and the like, and a big ice chest is fitted on the transom to preserve the catch. It can take a good load of bluenose or ‘puka, and on test day it swallowed several reasonable-sized kings that didn’t even touch the ends. The bin does restrict movement across the stern platform, but there are ways to get around this, as each Conraad boat is a custom design and can be set up around the requirements of the owner.

Fitted on the transom wall is a good-sized baitboard, which swivels to either side. Also built into the transom top is a saltwater hand-wash basin. Rod storage is taken care of by: an eight-position rocket launcher on the hard top; two through-gunwale holders along each side (with sinker pits that double as cup holders); four clamp-on holders on the bait station (two a side); and a further four built into the platform rails. Two live-bait tanks are built into the boarding platform.

In practice the cockpit fishes four nicely; two on the ends of the platform (where the high step-overs make good seats on a calm day), and two further back in the cockpit. We drift-fished and jigged with large and not-so-large soft-plastics at a couple of spots around White, binning a couple of fair-sized fish and a big trevally for the table, and having a great time catching and releasing smaller fish on light spin rods.

Trailering

Metal Works Innovation makes its own alloy trailers, and the 875 was carried on a triple-axle ‘Alpine’ trailer with Hydrastar braking. This is a heavily-built cradle A-frame design using high density polyethylene-plated benches rather than rollers. A dual-ratio manual winch was fitted, but hardly needed, as in practice the boat was easily coasted onto the trailer. Zinc-coated leaf-spring suspension is used, along with submersible lights and wind-down bow stand. The tow weight of the big rig is 3500kg, dry and empty of extra equipment.

All-in-all

This very high quality build, with no corners cut, has produced a top-of-the-line custom rig – in this case a fish-and-dive boat set up for comfortable stay-away trips. Customers looking for a boat in this league should discuss their requirements with Metal Works Innovation.