2019 Melbourne Boat Show: Our pick of the head-turning trailer boats

This year’s show includes a number of Australian debuts from local and global manufacturers that step up the game on the water.

If you plan on going to the show, love your fishing and don’t know what to look at, here’s the boatsales.com.au guide to the must-sees of the event.

Four years in the making, and built in Victoria, the Southern Formula 19 follows on from the release of the larger 21 and 24 boats at last year’s show.

The Southern Formula 19 has a balanced profile that conjures a larger presence than its size suggests, and sits proud with distinctive bow flare.

Despite being the smallest of its siblings, a 2.5-metre beam provides an effective use of deck space. The Southern Formula 19 has a removable dive door – the bigger boats use a hinged door, but Southern Formula has gone for a solution that is completely watertight for the 19 – and a non-slip floor.

There is generous real estate on the dash, and Southern Formula says numerous options are available for the Southern Formula 19’s internal layout and transom configuration.

Discerning buyers can trade fuel capacity for kill tank capacity, and vice versa.

The Southern Formula 19’s power is available in twin 115hp/130hp outboard engine configurations. The boat on show in Melbourne is fitted with a 250hp Mercury outboard, but the hull is rated up to 300hp – this will be attractive to potential owners wanting offshore capability in a size range that’s largely underserved in today’s market, and one that means you won’t necessarily need to upgrade the tow vehicle.

Southern Formula has show specials on a basic 19 sitting on a customised Easytow trailer and fitted with a Mercury V6 priced at $97,000 – a saving of $9000 – or a more well-equipped version on display priced from $112,000.

This Kiwi brand recently launched the Stabicraft 2250 Centre Cab and Stabicraft 2250 Ultra Centre Cab at New Zealand’s Hutchwilco show, claiming one of the show’s top gongs for its ocean-rated all-weather Ultra Cab.

MY Marine has managed to get both the Stabicraft 2250 Ultra Centre Cab and Stabicraft 2250 Centre Cab on show. They feature a large fuel capacity paired with economical four-stroke outboards, with the Ultra Cab wearing a 250hp Honda and the Centre Cab a 300hp Yamaha.

Both these engines boast a long-range capability; driven economically, MY Marine says the boats will have easily have a range of at least 250nm.

MV Marine has packages on the deer hunter-friendly Stabicraft 2250 Ultra Centre Cab priced from $160,990. The Stabicraft 2250 Centre Cab on display at the show is normally priced from $189,790, but available on the floor priced from $182,888.

Also on show is “The Beast”, a Stabicraft 2750 Centre Cab powered by a Yamaha 425 XTO outboard engine, and equipped with some great fishing features and creature comforts for extended trips. Its price is $295,000 as displayed.

Catching our eye over at Whittley was its newest release, the Whittley SL 25 OB Coast Tourer Edition. Also available as a smaller SL 22, the Coast Tourer Editions are the hard-topped versions of Whittley’s Sea Legend line of boats.

What’s even more interesting is that the hardtop comes with the option of a lockable sliding cabin door, so if you’re touring, you can leave the boat tied up safely while making on-shore excursions.

The $179,990 Whittley SL 25 OB Coast Tourer Edition on display at the show is priced from $149,990, paired with a 150hp Yamaha four-stroke outboard engine. That offers a viable option for the offshore fisherman to go wide, yet makes it equally at home if the family opts for a weekend of coastal cruising and overnight anchorages.

You’re not going to miss the Northbank 750HT Enclosed. The boat as displayed as a boat show special tips in at $225,988, and features a striking all-white classic hull matched to a 300hp Mercury V8 outboard engine.

Jump onboard, and the Northbank 750HT Enclosed also features a wide, open, uncluttered deck space packed with factory options. The 750 Hardtop version in blue sitting alongside it is packaged at $217,888.

A stone’s throw away from the Northbank is the Extreme Game King 885 Wheelhouse.

Featuring a lockable cabin, the Extreme Game King 885 Wheelhouse sets an imposing figure. Priced as displayed at $325,000, it has a fully welded construction and boasts a mix of comfort with considered aesthetics.

The boat, presented by Inverloch Marine, is fully decked out for gamefishing with outriggers, and packed with live-aboard amenities including a plumbed toilet and full headroom shower.

Out back, a Yamaha 425 XTO draws off a 450-litre fuel tank.

The Bar Crusher 670XT has dropped at the 2019 Melbourne Boat Show as a new release, delivering a beefed-up console.

The console’s dash is a large blank canvas dedicated to housing multiple large multimedia screen combinations, as well as gauges and switches. If the owner ever wants to upgrade, the panel can be swapped out for a new one that can be totally reconfigured for the new set-up.

Other features of the Bar Crusher 670XT include bespoke premium seating with provision for a sizeable cooler box, lockable storage in the console, and a large, weatherproof storage compartment under the casting deck in the bow.

The console roof now allows for radar installation, and 14 rod holders are arranged throughout the all-access fishing platform. Pushing it along the water is a 200hp Suzuki four-stroke outboard engine.

Bar Crusher has also redesigned the folding hard-top for its C-Series boats that crunches the height down to around 2.2 metres. Now able to have a roof-mounted light, and also capable of roof-mounting a fishfinder, It’s the first change to the folding roof since Bar Crusher was founded almost 20 years ago.

We're told the heavy zips on the clears on the display boat will make way for much smaller ones to help with visibility.

Yellowfin Plate has completely made over its range of alloy boats, but the pick of them for anyone with a keen fishing focus is the new Yellowfin 7000 Centre Cabin shown on Streaker Marine’s stand.

The Yellowfin 7000 Centre Cabin boasts a 320-litre fuel capacity, a 225hp Yamaha four-stroke outboard engine, and enough space below for a full-length bunk with the option of a toilet.

The walk-around console is enclosed in a wraparound screen protecting the driver while underway. The $120,590 package at the show even includes a second 9.0-inch Simrad unit mounted to the bait board.

Yellowfin Plate also has its new folding hardtop on the show floor.

The New Zealand-built Extreme 605, shown by Inverloch Marine, and the Australian-made Tabs 7000 centre console boats on show from The Marine Shop both offer good-looking alternative configurations and layouts worthy of inspection.

Premium brands such as Cruise Craft, Haines Signature, Carribean and Haines Hunter plus a scattering of international brands all have a mix of cabin and runabout fishing boats on show, all in different sizes and with varying points of difference in packages and pricing.

The Melbourne Boat Show is at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Southbank, until Sunday. Click here for ticket information and opening hours.