Sam Mossman travels to the Firth of Thames to investigate a trailer boat that ticks a lot of boxes.
Aluminium boat-building pioneer Graham Ransom (who had been present at the birth of both the Fyran and Ramco companies) was the founder of Morrinsvillebased Marco Boats, which he ran successfully for many years before retiring and selling the company to the Horne family – Dayne Horne and his parents Helen and Bryan – in 2003.
Since then, Dayne and his team have greatly expanded the Marco range, producing everything from rugged hard-core workboats to high-quality recreational cabin boats with finishes that could be compared to custom sports cars.
Everyone wants the space and performance of a bigger boat, but the downsides are that you may need a bigger, more powerful vehicle to tow it, and the tow vehicle uses more gas. The same applies on the water: a bigger (read ‘more expensive’) outboard is required to push a larger craft, and it, too, uses more fuel.
As boats get larger, the costs start to increase at an exponential rate, putting them out of reach for many. One way to break out of the cost spiral is with a ‘little big boat’: one with a clever design that allows some bigger boat features to be incorporated into a smaller craft, but without the cost disadvantages.
Marco has recently released a new model that fits the ‘little big boat’ title, a redesigned version of the 625 Sou’wester. It’s a bit longer, beamier and higher in the sides than the previous model of the same name.
This modest increase in size, along with some careful design, has combined to provide more fishing space, while still allowing room for basic stay-away facilities, in a package with modest towing weight and outboard power.
I travelled to Thames to link up with Marco agent Alan Thomsen and the boys from Peninsula Marine. Although flat-out in the pre-Xmas rush, they were kind enough to make time for this boat trial. They had just finished the fit-up on a new Marco 625 Sou’wester, and with their Kopu yard situated just a couple of minutes from the Thames town ramp at the Waihou River, it was a simple matter to take the boat for a run in the Firth of Thames.
Of course, a trailer boat is dependent on its trailer to get it to the water. The 625 is carried on a DMW Premier single-axle trailer – a cradle A-frame design with leaf-spring suspension. Other features include: alloy wheels with galvanized-steel metal arches; a dual-ratio manual winch; wind-down jockey wheel; hydraulic braking; and submersible LED lights. Tow weight for the rig is around 1600kg dry. The boat is carried on six pairs of wobble rollers, so launching and retrieving was a drive-off, drive-on affair.
Draining the dairy-intensive Hauraki Plains, the Waihou River is just a bit too thin to plough, but the water cleared a bit as we travelled further out into the Firth of Thames.
It was one of those days when thick, high cloud was trapped under a high-pressure dome and the sea was glassy. The 625, with its 16-degree deadrise, 5mm bottom and wide, slightly downturned chines, travelled smoothly, quietly and softly. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find much of a sea to try its rough-water performance – even a passing barge loaded with sand wasn’t throwing much of a wake. However, I trust the pedigree of the marque, and also take comfort from knowing that a potential buyer is not going to shell out the big bucks without doing their own sea trial.
A reserve buoyancy figure was not available at the time of writing, but Marco indicated the boat has positive buoyancy.
The rig is pushed by a Mercury 150hp four-stroke outboard. Performance figures are in the table hereabouts and are pretty decent. Top-end ‘book’ revs are given as 5000–5800rpm for this engine; we achieved 5500 with a 17-inch pitch Vengeance prop, indicating a good prop match. Fuel-tank capacity is 120 litres (a 160-litre upgrade is available), giving a range of about 125 nautical miles on the standard tank.
The level of finish is high, with nicely faired, painted sides and topsides, and the gunwale tops and boarding platform covered with a product called U-Teak from Ultralon. This gives an insulating, non-skid finish, as well as relieving the industrial look of the aluminium work surfaces.
A Maxwell RC6 anchor capstan is mounted on the foredeck and controlled from the helm, feeding the warp and chain through the foredeck into the anchor locker in the bow. A decent fairlead and split bow rails help constrain the warp, and a crucifix bollard takes care of tie-off duties. Access to the bow can be around the cabin sides or through the fore-cabin roof hatchway.
The fore-cabin is fully lined to the deck. Side shelving and under-berth stowage still allow space for an optional toilet, and a standing platform for a bowman working through the cabin-top hatchway is another option. Cabin lights and hatch access to the anchor locker are fitted.
When designing a boat, there is often competition for space between fore-cabin and cockpit. Many people fancy the idea of being able to overnight in their boat (although considerably fewer actually do so) and would like to stretch out comfortably on berths in the fore-cabin. In trailer boats, full-length berths can chew a fair bit of space out of what remains for the helm and cockpit. Marco’s answer is to hinge sections of the helm bulkhead, which can be latched in place against the helm seats. This arrangement allows space for two adults to stretch out (plus a third between them with the berth infill added). It’s a clever ‘have your cake and eat it’ concept.
The curved front windows and sides are constructed from toughened glass, and a wiper mounting had been built in. The large dash has a back lip and grabrail, lined with dark marine carpet. Lighting and a G Com VHF are mounted overhead. A Simrad GO7 XSE multifunction display fills the GPS-sounder requirements, while a Mercury Vessel View display covers the engine instrumentation.
The hatched glovebox is fitted on the passenger’s side, along with a pair of shelves on each side. The upper shelves are short and fully protected under the hardtop, while the lower ones extend the full length of the cockpit (about 3m) to the transom.
Helm seats are moulded, upholstered bucket types with swivel bases, mounted on boxpedestals with internal stowage. Rear-facing bench seats are built on the back of these, designed so they can be folded flat and out the way when not required – a second mechanism for expanding the workspace available in an already reasonably sized cockpit.
Grab rails are fitted to the top and rear sides of the hardtop. Between the seats, an underdeck hold drains to the bilge. It is big enough to take a kingfish or a couple of dive tanks. The tread-plate deck drains to a sump under the transom wall, fitted with a 2000gph bilge pump. This can be accessed through a deck-level swinggate door, which also discloses the fuel-tank fittings while protecting them from knocks or bumps. The twin-battery system, isolation switching, filter and fuel lines, are protected inside two hatches in the transom wall.
The port third of the transom wall is used for a transom step-through with drop-door and a built-in live-bait tank big enough for a load of jack mackerel. It has a front ‘window’ which serves several purposes: the light helps the baitfish stay orientated as to which way is up; it lets you check on the health of the baits; and provides ‘fish TV’ to keep the kids entertained.
To digress a little, the port side is the ‘correct’ side for a transom step-through in a boat used for game fishing. Trailer boats are best suited to standup fishing using forward-chase techniques (they don’t back well and there is not much space for a chair). The helmsman needs a good view of the line to avoid running it over and cutting off the fish, so the angler must be on the starboard side (right-hand, looking forward) of the cockpit when chasing down a fish, and needs an uninterrupted transom wall on that side of the cockpit to brace himself against when underway.
A fold-down ‘T’ dive ladder is fitted (preferred to the ‘H’ style by divers, as they are easier to climb with dive fins on) adjacent to the step-through, with grab-rails fitted on both sides and a non-skid Ultralon ‘U-Teak’ covering on the platform.
The transom-mounted baitstation is removable (the fitting also takes a ski-pole if required). The removable cutting board is incised with a fish measure; there is also a knife gutter with drain, along with knife and tool slots and three rod holders along the rear. A mount under the unit accommodates a standard plastic tackle tray – another useful fitting.
Further rod stowage is provided by a six-position rod holder on the hard-top, supplementing the three main rod holders along each gunwale, giving a total of fifteen.
There is space for a low-profile fish box under the transom wall, and the underdeck hold can also be used, but as is the usual practice these days, a removable ice box is mostly used for catch storage.
With the tread-plate deck giving good footing, and sufficient toe space allowing anglers to easily brace themselves against the flat gunwale faces with good top-ofthigh support, this stable platform is great to fish from.
Marco’s new version of the 625 Sou’wester is robustly built to a good level of finish, and by incorporating some clever design ideas it successfully walks a narrow line between being small and light enough to easily tow, launch and power, but large enough to provide basic stay-away functionality without chipping into cockpit work space. This model should be a winner for the Morrinsville firm.
Mercury 150hp Four Stroke 17” pitch Vengeance prop
RPM Speed (km/hr) Fuel (litres/hr)
1000 8.9 3.3
2000 13.0 8.2
3000 35.0 14.2
4000 50.0 25.7
5000 63.5 42.0
5500 (max) 70.0 (37.8 knots) 54.5
Conditions: calm, little wind.
Material: aluminium
Configuration: open-back hardtop
LOA: 6.40m
Hull only length: 5.85m
Beam: 2.33m
Gunwale height: 800mm
Deadrise: 16 degrees
Hull weight: 875kg
Bottom: 5mm
Sides: 4mm
Transom: 5mm
Rec power: 115-150hp
Test engine: Mercury 150hp four-stroke
Prop: Vengeance 17-inch pitch
Tow weight: 1600kg approx.
Key turn: $75,000 (Merc 135hp fourstroke)
As tested: $92,000
Test boat courtesy Peninsula Marine, Thames
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