Everyman 595 Centre Console

Everyman Boats is the result of a partnership between builder/designer Nigel Langdale and his cousin and partner, Russell Spires, who handles the marketing.

Nigel has been building aluminium boats for 17 years, starting at Ramco and then contract boat-building for a number of years. Six 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 proved a successful concept and their 685SF won the People’s Choice Award at the 2009 Waikato Boat Show.

Now renamed Everyman Boats, the company works from a manufacturing facility in Frankton, Hamilton. Building is handled by Nigel and Richard Brough, who also built boats for Ramco for six years, and they turn out two hulls a month between them. A dealer network is being developed, and includes Bensemann Boating in West Auckland and Silverdale Marine to the north of Auckland. Currently other sales are handled direct from the factory.

The Everyman 595 Centre Console Detour tested here is owned by Richard Wickett, who lives in Clevedon, south of Auckland, and we launched the boat at the nearby Maraetai Boat Club ramp on a blustery early April morning.

Construction

This aluminium hull features a 5mm bottom and transom, 4mm sides and decks, and a 4mm chequerplate cockpit sole. Structural support is supplied by six longitudinal bearers and three lateral bulkheads (plus the transom), along with six further cross-members. The keel-line and chines are fully seam-welded internally, then back-gouged before the external seam welds are added. The bimini top is constructed, in this case, from stainless pipe.

The welding is solid and workman-like, mostly left unground for maximum strength. This hull features painted sides, the smooth glass-like finish highlighting how very fair the hull is. A rough calculation gave a reserve buoyancy of approximately 110kg.

Power and performance

The design of the 595 features a fine entry, variable to a 15° deadrise at the transom, with modest down-turned chines. This is a beamy hull with plenty of wetted surface and no planing strakes are required.

Recommended power is 90-130hp, and the test boat was pushed by a Mercury 115hp four-stroke outboard spinning a 20-inch pitch prop. On test day, conditions (15 to 20-knot winds) were not ideal for a top-end speed test, but we achieved 60kph (32.4 knots) at 5900rpm. Given that this is a fairly fine-pitched prop and the engine’s maximum revs are listed at 5800-6400, there is probably a little more speed to be had, but it is fair to say that 115hp is sufficient power for normal use.

Fuel capacity is 120 litres in an underfloor tank. The fuel port is on the outside of the transom, keeping any fuel spillage out of the hull.

As mentioned, it was a bit breezy on test day, averaging about 15 knots and picking up to over 20 at times. The waters around Maraetai, in the southern part of the Hauraki Gulf, are shallow and currents can run strong, pushing up a steep chop of over a metre in places as we travelled across the bay to Sandspit Channel.

Although a 15° hull may be considered to have a fairly flat bottom, and you might expect a flat-bottomed hull to pound, this definitely was not the case with the Everyman 595. With a combination of fine entry, wide beam and downturned chines, the hull handled the steep chop very well, being a soft and remarkably dry rider – especially for a centre-console with 15-20 knots of wind on the bow quarter. The added bonus is that with the beam and the relatively flat deadrise aft, this is a stable hull, both underway and at rest, something we appreciated whilst having a quick fish in sloppy conditions out in the channel.

A decent sized ‘screen on the console gives reasonable shelter for two. The steering is a Hy-drive Admiral hydraulic unit, which performs well, and the boat will turn on a dime.

Anchoring

By their nature, centre-consoles give easy access to the bow, and the Everyman 595 is no exception. A chequerplate platform provides a good spot to work the anchor – there is a decent-sized open-topped anchor well in front, and the Quick anchor capstan is operated by pressing a conveniently-placed switch with your knee. A substantial bollard handles tie-off duties, and a split bow-rail dropping hard either side of the fairlead constrains the warp without the need for fiddly locking pins.

Layout

The sealed chequerplate deck drains to a sump under the transom wall, from where water is removed via an 1100gph bilge pump. Hatches in the floor give access to storage holds in the bow and stern. An upholstered seat with backrest is built into the front of the console with grab-rails on each side, and a hatched plastic tank underneath provides stowage (owner Richard Wickett uses this to store his catch in).

Despite a generous-sized centre console and the mounts for the bimini top, the beam of the boat still allows easy walk-around access – the whole point of having a centre-console.

The console itself, as mentioned, features a stainless pipe bimini top, which supports forward- and rear-facing lights, navigation lights and aerials, as well as the canvas bimini itself. A decent-sized dash tray is handy for odds and ends, and the console also accommodates the steering, throttle/shift, grabrails, instrumentation and switching and electronics (a Lowrance HDS10 GPS/sounder and LVR250 VHF). There is room to stow a chilly-bin or other box underneath, behind the removable footrest. Further stowage is inside the helm bench seat, which also has a backrest that can be reversed when facing astern (as when fishing at anchor).

Large side pockets (about 2.5m long) add to stowage space and are wide enough to take dive tanks if necessary. The transom wall features a step-through on the port side, as well as a shelf that houses the two batteries and isolation switching behind a dome-on cover. Over the transom is a chequerplate boarding platform with grab rails and fold-down ladder.

Fishability

Centre-consoles are made for fishing, with the full walk-around configuration opening up the bow space for use, especially when drifting and casting. The stability of this hull is excellent, and good footing is provided by the chequerplate decking. Wide gunwale tops make a handy perch while bait fishing, and the rear two-thirds of the hull feature flat gunwales faces, giving top-of-the-thigh support with toe room beneath when fishing on your feet. Up in the bow, the chequerplate platform is as useful for casting from as it is for working the anchor.

Four alloy through-gunwale rod holders are set along each side of the hull, with the rear two having gimbal-pin orientations suited to trolling if required. A removable bait-station in the centre of the transom provides an extra four rod holders. This unit provides a good spot for cutting baits and filleting modest fish (it drains overboard), is fitted with towel hooks, and can be removed to fit a ski-pole. A further four rods can be stored in a rocket launcher on the bimini top, and there is space for more in the side pockets.

A plumbed live-bait tank built into the transom step-through should accommodate 10-12 mackerel.

Owner Richard Wickett and his wife are keen on bottom fishing and sometimes set a long-line. They mostly fish the southern Hauraki Gulf or out of Whangamata for snapper, kahawai and kingfish. On test day, although it was rough, windy and the middle of the day, we dropped the pick and Richard slipped a berley bomb over the side for a short time. A school of XOS kahawai dropped into the trail almost immediately, and we had a hectic half-hour or so of non-stop action on cut and soft-plastic baits. Richard is very fond of kahawai kokoda (ceviche) and it suited him to take a few of these big guys home.

The stability of the boat showed its advantages in the sloppy conditions, and the centre-console configuration proved ideal when dealing with the fast surface runs of these active fish as they circled the boat. Overall, an excellent boat to fish from at anchor, and it should be even better for drift and cast-fishing (although the wind did not permit us to utilise this technique on the day).

Trailering

The 595 was carried on a Voyager cradle A-frame A17 single-axle trailer with zinc-protected leaf-spring suspension. This trailer is fitted with five pairs of wobble rollers per side, a manual dual-ratio winch, wind-down jockey wheel, dual coupling and spare wheel. The boat comes on and off the trailer easily (in fact it has to be restrained while the hook is removed when launching). Tow weight of the rig is 1380kg.

All in all

The Everyman 595 is a very useful and good-looking fishing boat. The construction is robust and the level of finish is excellent. Good use of space is made in the layout, making it an easy craft to fish from. It is stable, travels well, and is a dry, soft rider. Everyman Boats pay attention to detail and are willing to customise to owners’ requirements. In short, it ticks all the boxes – what more could you want in a coastal sportfisher?

Specifications

Configuration: centre console

Material: aluminium

LOA: 6.02m

Beam: 2.35m

Bottom: 5mm

Sides and topsides: 4mm

Deadrise: 15°

Hull weight: 560kg

Tow weight: 1380kg

Recommended HP: 90-130hp

Test engine: Mercury 115ph four stroke

Prop: 20” pitch

Price as tested: $72,468.00

Base key-turn price: $52,705.00
(Mercury 90hp 2 stroke)

Test boat courtesy of Richard Wickett.

	This article is reproduced with express permission of NZ Fishing News written by Sam Mossman - 2011 Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited Originally published in New Zealand Fishing News