AMM 7400 Tournament

Australian Master Marine is riding a wave of success after scooping the Trailerable Fishing Boat of the Year accolade at the 2002 Australian Marine Awards with its Tournament 7400 model.

This boat presents at the large end of the aluminium trailerboat market, but with its handsome lines, slick paint job and lofty bow, would also be at home moored off a private pontoon or at a marina.

As far as handling goes, we encountered typical short, sharp Moreton Bay chop that was no more than a metre high, but steep and rolling very close together. It's these grubby conditions that can quickly reveal design faults in even quite large hulls, but it was water off a duck's back for the 7400 Tournament, whose sharp forefoot and deep-vee plate alloy hull carved its way softly through the mess.

With single finger control delivered by the Hydrive hydraulic steering, the 7400 breezed around the Bay effortlessly and quietly, driven by its twin 115hp Yamaha four-strokes. A wind of about 8kt failed to pick up much spray off the chines, even when the boat was thrown around in some hard and fast turns. What little spray ended up on the windscreen was efficiently swept away by a single wiper blade located on the skipper's side.

With the throttles pulled back, the engines settled to 1500rpm for 12kmh and the Yamaha fuel management system indicated a fuel consumption of 9.5lt/hr. This would make for economical trolling if offshore pelagic fishing is your passion.

Pushing the binnacle-mounted throttles all the way forward, the Yamahas launched the hull cleanly out of the water up to 69kmh in no time at all, with the engines returning 80lt/hr total consumption. Expect better top end speed with two-strokes fitted, but at the price of fuel economy.

Back off the plane and dead in the water, the hull proved very stable with no excessive rock and roll, making it as suitable for family social outings as its is for hardcore offshore fishing.

TAKE A BOW
Access to the bow area is through the cabin roof hatch, which is a friction-hinged design rather than operating on a pneumatic ram. On foredeck I found a Maxwell windlass, which would bring a relieved smile to the face of most deckies.

The generously sized chain and rope locker is installed to the starboard side of the bow point, where a bowsprit incorporates a special anchor cradle featuring multiple polypropylene rollers.

Access to the foredeck was also possible by edging along the gunwale coamings beside the cabin on an effective non-slip painted surface. While traversing this walkway, it felt safer to hold onto the roof than the bowrail, which seemed to be a little too short to offer much security.

The windscreen of the 7400 Tournament consists of three fixed panes of 6mm toughened glass up front with 4mm Perspex on the side windows of the wheelhouse. A set of clears extends the wheelhouse's protection aft by another metre or so.

CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS
Jumping down inside the cockpit and moving forward into the cabin, I found a comfortable V-berth with an infill, which is large enough for two average adults to sleep on. With the infill and a portion of the front of the V-berth removed, an electric loo is accessed. A pullout door offers some privacy, and with the infills removed, the area opens up with plenty of legroom for the occupant. Add a tick to the family-friendly box.

Storage is available forward of the head and under the side berths, with a short storage pocket fitted to the forward walls of the cabin. A pair of vinyl press-stud covers on the rear cabin bulkhead conceals a storage compartment and the helm wiring. The circuit breaker for the windlass is also installed here and is easily found at the front of the aperture.

AT THE WHEEL
The helm area is neatly set out with all gauges arranged in one line, and a spacious dashboard top that extends from the port to starboard window. The Lowrance LCX16CI looked a bit lonely here next to the compass, and a stack of other electronics would easily fit on this flat top with room to spare. A short fence rail fitted to the passenger side makes it an ideal spot to stash hats and sunglasses.

Both the skipper and passenger helm seats are Reelax swivel type with forward and rear adjustment. They are mounted on aluminium storage modules fixed to the floor. Both have access cutaways on the front and side surfaces. The rear section of the skipper's forms a large padded seat, which is actually the lid to a 70lt insulated fibreglass icebox.

A 'Snapper' brand electric fridge/freezer is incorporated into the passenger seat module, and the solar panel on the cabin roof tops up the dedicated fridge battery located inside the seat unit.

A storage bin of about 1200 x 600 x 300mm is accessed via a flush mounted hatch in the deck of the companionway between the two seats.

VHF and 27mHz radios are mounted in a console in the roof of the wheelhouse, without compromising on headroom ? there's about 20cm clearance for a six-foot tall occupant.

ROOM TO MOVE
The work area of the cockpit is partially shaded by a detachable awning mounted on a tubular aluminium frame. Above this is an eight-rod rocket launcher. Two rods on either side are accessible from the cockpit, but you had to stand on the coamings to get at the other four. At night, 12V, 50W halogen lamps illuminate the deck.

Six teak collared rodholders are mounted in the gunwales, with another two aluminium numbers fitted to the baitrigging table on the transom. The baitboard is mounted over a 40lt livebait tank, and beneath that a separate compartment houses twin batteries concealed with a vinyl press stud cover.

A folding aluminium dining table covers this section of the stern.

Full-length sidepockets run either side of the cockpit as well as a flush mounted hatch that allow deck hoses, mooring ropes and so on to be safely stowed out of the way.

The cockpit scuppers run between the outer hull and the inner lining of the transom. This style of scupper has been installed in preference to one that exits through a manifold in the side of the hull, due to the fact the latter design has a habit of getting squashed when bumped against a pier.

A single hydraulic ram operates the starboard motor, which is attached with a rigid linkage to the port engine. A neat boarding ladder drops down over the full width outboard pod, making climbing aboard that little bit easier.

A manually operated waterpump is mounted in the transom coaming under the baitboard, delivering freshwater from a 70lt tank built into the transom.

The killtank extends across the width of the boat and measures 1200 x 400 x 500mm. It's flooded and drained via a 50mm bung. All the necessary fenders and mooring ropes would fit nicely into this cavity. Twin 200lt fuel tanks feed the engines, and the fillers for these two tanks are on the floor behind the seating modules.

LONG RANGER
You don't have to look too hard to see that the 7400 Tournament is a serious fishing boat with the design characteristics and angling equipment to carry out extended fishing sorties. While the berth area seems smallish in comparison with the work area (considering that the boat stretches more than 7m), it could comfortably accommodate two adults for an extended trip away.

In fact, the boat had just returned from a fishing adventure prior to Trailer Boat's test.

Barton Thomas, the brains behind Australian Master Marine, towed this particular boat to the Gulf of Carpentaria behind a Toyota LandCruiser and lived aboard for two weeks as part of a flotilla of three boats. Towing the 7400 Tournament all the way to the Gulf was made a lot easier with the Belco trailer, as they are custom designed to fit each of AAM's boats. Putting the big girl back on the trailer at the end of the test was effortless. It is amazing how a well set-up trailer can take the stress out of launch and retrieve when we are dealing with a total towing weight of 3000kg!

Coming away from the test, I can only agree that the judges got it right and the AMM 7400 Tournament deserved the award. With the Australian Boat of the Year Prospectus already in the hands of Australian boatbuilders, the pressure is on to produce the perfect recipe for success in the 2003 Awards, and Bart Thomas is in the kitchen cooking up a storm.