Australian Master Marine 5.5m Centre Console

Ironically, at a time when enthusiasts are becoming more particular about what they want in a boat, most manufacturers have had to broaden their product range and become more versatile with their offerings. If they don't, they risk losing business.

But there remains a keen market for those willing to customise boats. Despite the huge variety of pre-built boats available, some with immense lists of options, there is always that special boat that just needs a few changes. One of the most common causes of alteration is simply making the boat fit into a carport or shed.

Custom-built trailerable sportsfishers are made almost exclusively by plate alloy boat builders. They can build a boat to do what you want (and fit where you want it) without compromising too much on the performance of the hull.

South East Queensland has a number of plate boat builders of note - the builder of Trailer Boat magazine stablemate BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing's current project boat, Pacific Sportfish, is one of them.

Another alloy boat builder I've seen go from strength to strength is Australian Master Marine (AMM). Proprietor Barton Thomas is a true craftsman who takes pride in the work he does for all his customers.

HIGH AND DRY
My most recent experience with Barton's handiwork was on AMM's 5.5m centre console. The test day wasn't too pleasant with over 15kt of wind. With centre consoles this usually means a (very) wet tail and often a fairly cold one at that.

As keen bluewater anglers tend to look at the fishing, tides and moon more than the weather, ambient conditions often take a back seat. I know I've caught plenty of good fish when I've been flat out keeping my balance in the boat.

On the day in question it was this particular point that stood out in my mind, but even in the blustery conditions, the boat still travelled along around the 3800rpm mark and to my surprise, we weren't getting wet!

As a centre console owner myself, I know that if we were in my boat and a few others for that matter, we would be travelling at half the speed and still getting well and truly soaked.

Some boats just seem to have the right formula where they handle sea conditions superbly. The 5.5m AMM is one of them.

There is no doubt in my mind that if you're a keen angler and do a lot of sportsfishing, you can't go past the fishability of a well laid-out centre console. The only drawback (apart from the inevitable exposure mentioned above) is limited dry storage area.

The positioning of the centre console has quite a bearing on the craft's fishability and ride. By locating it amidships (as is the case in this rig), it allows you a seat behind the console and one hard up against the front while still retaining a good work area. The advantage of this is even weight distribution - taking into account that two or three anglers will usually be grouped around the console. AMM seems to have the position spot on here.

The layout itself is straightforward.

Two can sit comfortably on the rear 150lt Baileys icebox and two on the front esky.

Except for the iceboxes, the main storage areas are the sidepockets - a pair for the aft cockpit area and a smaller pair along the sides of the foredeck. The underneath section of the bow has also been enclosed to form a storage area. In here you can place lifejackets or additional ropes and floats for anchoring.

The anchor well itself is quite large and more than capable of holding a pile of rope with a generous bowsprit and roller to keep the anchor clear of the paintwork.

The AMM's centre console has the necessary room for electronics behind the windscreen and storage is available below in two levels. Radios and safety gear are usually kept in the top section and larger tackle boxes, oil bottles and tools slipped into the lower half.

A must for a sportsfishing boat is a livebait tank. The AMM delivers a 45lt tank in the transom under the cutting board workstation (another mandatory fishing feature).

A further bonus for the angler is the large wet tank under the aft deck. Filled with fresh seawater and a couple of bags of ice to make a brine slurry, it's ideal for active, gnashing pelagics.

FULL LENGTH FEATURES
The design of the transom area of the AMM is particularly noteworthy. The testboat incorporated a full-width pod and duckboard and a full-height transom with hatches to access cables, batteries and oil bottles. However, like most of AMM's range, the 5.5m is also available in a half pod version.

The full pod makes the boat look (and act) a lot bigger than the 5.5m label suggests, which is logical given the overall length with pod is 6.2m!

The advantage of the full pod is it provides additional buoyancy and a longer planing surface, allowing the boat to slip very quickly onto the plane with minimal effort.

Too much buoyancy can be problematic, especially when it comes to stability. It isn't the case here. The only downsides of the full pod are the cost (due to the increase in labour and material) and the old bugbear of putting the angler further away from the outboard(s) in a fish-fighting situation.

At least AMM's design has the benefit of a useable duckboard (all the outboard cables are wrapped up in flexible conduit and are located straight under the duckboard in the internal transom area). Sea conditions permitting, I'd have no hesitation fishing or standing on the extended transom when fighting a fish.

Up front the hull has a very fine, deep entry which makes short work of chop. Despite only having a moderate 15° deadrise the ride is among the best of the plate alloy boats.

In short, AMM's sums obviously add up. Even advocates of centre consoles will be taken aback by the dry, soft ride of this boat.

If you haven't gathered it by now, I was extremely impressed with the 5.5m. If I hadn't been there myself, I possibly would not have believed that you could travel the 30km across Moreton Bay in 15kt-plus winds and not get wet in a 5.5m centre console.

Driving the boat was also a pleasure and the only fault that I could pick was that the trim tab on the engine needed a little fine tuning.

The choice of the V-four 115hp Evinrude Ocean Pro was appropriate. Acceleration and top speed is not lacking and the fuel economy of this particular engine is better than most in OMC's range. Not only this, the all white engine complements the AMM's white two-pack epoxy paint job, giving the boat a smart business-like appearance.

Quite simply, Australian Master Marine has done an outstanding job with the 5.5m centre console.