Profile 650H

A careful fit-out retains plenty of cockpit space.

Based in Napier, Profile Boats was started by Mark Lincoln, who has a record of building aluminium pontoon boats going back 22 years.

This includes the early ‘Silver Sharks’, amongst others, and he then worked 13 years for Senator Boats. Five years ago he left Senator to found Profile Boats, which he sold in 2008 to Napier retailer Firmans Marine (who also had a long history with Senator, but parted ways).

Lincoln now runs the manufacturing side, while Firmans handles the marketing, design feedback and setting up. It takes a while to establish a marque in the minds of the boat-buying public, but despite difficult economic conditions, Profile has sold 23 hulls in the last 12 months and employs four staff, including three welders. Expressing its confidence in the future, the firm has invested in a five-metre-wide brake press that will bend up to 6mm aluminium, allowing them to form long panels and pontoons in heavier material without joins.

Firmans/Profile are establishing (if you will excuse me) a profile in the boat market, generously supplying one of their 520C models for a national tour and raffle supporting the excellent Hiwi the Kiwi Fish for the Future programme. Last year a Profile 750HW won the Best Aluminium Fishing Boat open section at the Hutchwilco Boat Show, and a Profile 650H stars on Adam Clancey’s TV show Black Magic Fishing New Zealand. This boat is the subject of this month’s Trailerboat Trial.

Construction

The Profile 650H features a 5mm hull (with the new press, 6mm is an option) and 3mm pontoons. The hull is supported by the pontoon structure itself, four bearers and the keel assembly. The bottom plates are butted up at the keel line and fully seam-welded. Above this a flat plate is welded across the hull, forming a strong triangular section at the keel. An external keel cap is optional. Lateral support is provided by five bulkheads and the transom assembly. The welding is nice and tidy with that ‘knocked-over stack of silver coins’ look that typifies good work. Welds are left unground for full strength, and the attractive orange-gold paintwork looks great.

Considerable reserve buoyancy is one of the best features of this pontoon design. The pontoon construction is split into three separate sealed sections, with a large area under the sealed deck as well. The hull is rated to carry up to eight adults, and Profile offers a three-year structural hull warranty.

Power and performance

The hull is rated for 130-225hp, and the Black Magic Fishing New Zealand boat was fitted with a Mercury Verado 225hp four-stroke, crouched on its mounting bracket like a big black beast waiting to spring. And spring it does, despite all the gear we were carrying on test day. Adam Clancey and co-presenter/diver/cameraman, Darren Shields, needed to do some filming, so as well as three adults (none of us Tinkerbells), we had a load of camera gear, Darren’s dive gear, a load of fishing equipment and a full 200-litre underfloor tank. Those big Verados weigh in at around 300kg, too. Despite all this and a hull weight approaching 900kg, the quiet, smooth Merc jumped us onto plane and quickly ran up to a top speed of 72kph (39 knots) at 6300rpm in calm water, spinning a 15-inch-pitch Revolution Four propeller. In fact, the fly-by-wire controls were so smooth and effortless to use, you had to be careful not to overdo it and throw the passengers off balance.

We launched the Profile 650H at Auckland’s Takapuna ramp one morning just before the Christmas break. Early in the day was flat-calm, and we ran out wide in the Hauraki Gulf, getting a soft, dry ride. The Verado power-assist steering made the boat a pleasure to helm, and visibility was good through 6mm toughened-glass windows. Later in the afternoon a 15-knot wind sprang up against the tide, lifting a steep, capping half- to three-quarter-metre chop, which we took on the bow and starboard quarter on the trip back. An unpleasant sea to travel in, but the Profile handled it well, still delivering a comfortable cruise speed of 46kph (25 knots) at 4100rpm without knocking us around.

A comfortable boat, then, with the reassuring stability and reserve buoyancy supplied by the pontoon design giving faith in its ability to cope with bad conditions.

Anchoring

There is access to the bow around the cabin sides, with non-skid finish panels applied, but it’s easier through the large hatch in the forecabin top. Heavy bow rails offer security. A Maxwell anchor winch pulls a Sarca anchor permanently mounted on the bowsprit, with the control at the helm. A heavy tie-off bollard is mounted on the foredeck. The anchor locker in the bow can be accessed through a generous hatch in the forward bulkhead if necessary.

Layout

This Profile 650H (hardtop) is set up as a day boat. The cabin is lined to deck level, and a chemical toilet is set in the bow. Berths are good for kids to nap on and can take adults at a pinch – as long as you are not as tall as Darren Shields! Tube matting is fitted as far as the helm position. Side shelving supplements under-berth stowage, and a hatch on the back of the console gives access to wiring and steering. A lockable forward cabin is an option.

In the hardtop-protected wheelhouse a decent-sized dash is lined with marine carpet and fitted with a back lip and passenger grab rail – all good features. Electronics are provided by a multi-task Lowrance HDS8, which features GPS/plotter, sounder and radar; this high-definition system offers a clear sonar picture even at high speed. A 12-volt charging system for cell phones and the like is built in, and a Uniden VHF and dual grab rails are mounted overhead.

Upholstered helm and passenger seats feature tilt-back front edges that form comfortable back supports if you prefer to travel standing. A stowage locker under the helmsman’s seat (storing safety gear) is mirrored by an Engel fridge fitted under the passenger side. The rear of the seating units are fitted with fold-down bench seats. An under-deck wet-storage hold is fitted between the seats and is floodable via a bung system.

Sealed chequerplate decks drain to a sump under the transom wall, from where water is pumped overboard by a 1300gph bilge pump. This can be accessed through a gate, should intakes need clearing. Large side pockets (two levels on the passenger side) are wide enough to take dive tanks.

Lighting includes navigation, riding, cabin and wheelhouse lights, forward and rear-facing spotlights on the rocket launcher, and low-level cockpit side lights. Electrical supply for this array and the other power demands are taken care of by a triple battery set-up with isolation switching, in a protected position up in the transom locker.

Wide gunwale tops feature Decktread panels and more grab rails, adding to those on the top and sides at the back of the hardtop. The transom wall features a transom cut-out on the passenger side with a drop-door. To help prevent taking water over the stern should the boat take one ‘up the chuff’ on the beach or when backing up, a wave deflecting rear-facing lip has been built into the top of the transom.

Over the stern is a large chequerplate boarding platform, hand rails and fold-down boarding ladder. Mounting plates for transducers and the water intake for the deck-wash hose are attached to the stern under the platform. The fuel port for the under-deck fuel tank is set on the outside of the transom wall to prevent any potential spillage inside the hull.

There are a lot of features –especially safety features – built into this craft, yet plenty of working space is still on offer.

Fishability

Primarily a fish and dive boat, the 650H features six through-gunwale rodholders sealed through the pontoons, a mount for a Scotty downrigger, mounts for two pairs of three-position Scotty rod-holder arrays, a large permanent bait-station with five rod holders attached, an eight-position rocket launcher on the hardtop, and a live-bait tank. A berley pot is set through the boarding platform, and outriggers on the new Oceanblue mounting bases are being fitted in time for the game-fishing season.

As Darren does a lot of underwater filming for the TV show from this boat, facilities for divers are practical. A large boarding platform, transom step-through and hand rails fit the bill, and although Darren is primarily a free diver, there is plenty of stowage for dive tanks in the hold or side shelves.

The chequerplate deck, added to the stability of the pontoon design, ensured good footing. Toe recesses along the sides, flat gunwale faces to lean on, along with plenty of cockpit space, make the Profile a comfortable boat to fish from.

Test day had a number of other ‘jobs’ attached. Along with this assignment, we needed a dozen snapper or so for family functions, Adam and Darren needed to film some links and cutaways for their show, and Darren planned to pop over the side and get a feed of mussels as well.

Despite good fishing in previous weeks, the snapper played hard to get, until we found a good school late in the morning and quickly filled our requirements using soft-baits and jigs. Even arch-spearo Darren was persuaded to have a go, and caught the best fish of the day, claiming it was his first on a rod! The filming and mussels were also achieved, and even an after-lunch snack of kina was found. When you can have a successful and enjoyable ‘mission’ without anything annoying you, you know a boat is well laid out.

Trailering

The Profile 650H is carried on a DMW Premier trailer: a cradle A-frame design with tandem axles and zinc-protected leaf-spring suspension. Hydraulic brakes are fitted, along with a wind-down jockey wheel, submersible lights and a dual-ratio manual winch. The boat is carried on six pairs of wobble rollers per side and a keel entry roller is also fitted. The rig has a tow weight of approximately 1800kg.

All in all

A great boat. The safety and stability of a pontoon design; plenty of fishing space; a good sea-keeping performance; good looks with a tapered pontoon design; and a practical fish and dive layout – all combine to make this a desirable craft.

Specifications

Material: aluminium

Configuration: pontoon open hardtop

LOA: 6.50m (excludes bow sprit)

External beam: 2.40m

Internal beam: 1.85m

Bottoms: 5mm (6mm option)

Pontoons: 3mm

Deadrise: 17°

Hull weight: 875kg approx

Tow weight: 1800kg approx

Recommended HP: 130-225hp

Test engine: 225hp Mercury Verado

Prop: 15” pitch Revolution Four

Fuel capacity: 200 litres

Trailer: DMW

Tow weight: 1800kg approx

Base key-turn $65,000

package (Yamaha 130hp two-stroke)

As tested: $115,000

Test Boat Courtesy of Profile Boats and Adam Clancey, Black Magic Fishing New Zealand.

	This article is reproduced with permission of New Zealand Fishing News 2010 - by Sam Mossman Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited