Boats of the Year

The Boat of The Year Awards are organised each year by the Australian Marine Industries Federation, and are judged by representatives from a cross-section of the Australian marine media, including Federal Publishing, Yaffa Publishing and Trader Classifieds as well as specialist safety judges from NMSC.

This year, the various magazine editors nominated the boats they'd tested over the previous 12 months and thought worthy of closer inspection, and this lead to a greater number of boats being presented for judging. Of the 161 boats considered across 12 different categories, 64 nominated finalists were water tested over five days at Sydney and the Gold Coast. To even get to this stage was a credit to all manufacturers, as the elimination process was harsh and each boat needed to be unanimously agreed upon by all the judges to be allowed entry.

During each test, the judges were required to mark the boat out of a possible 100 points, and the score sheets were returned to AMIF for collation. Those which scored higher than a 90 per cent average became category winners; those in the high eighties were considered for merit awards.

THE WINNERS
The highest overall point scorer was Bill Barry Cotter's luxury Maritimo 60, which won the coveted Boat of the Year title. But rather than focus on big yachts and cruisers, we looked at the smaller boats which impressed all of the judges.

In the Custom Built category, a Darwin-based boatbuilder by the name of Ocean Master Marine only just missed getting category-winning status, being pipped at the post by the luxurious 47ft Norman Wright Passagemaker. The runner-up, which was this scribe's favourite of the 64-odd boats tested during the competition, was a 6.5m aluminium rig which only seemed to go better the harder you pushed it. Resembling a semi-rigid inflatable, except made from plate aluminium, the Ocean Master Marine 651 submitted boasted the most extraordinary attention to detail in construction and finish I've ever seen - much like a concourse condition hotrod.

With its wide sponsons and flat floor, the Ocean Master Marine 651 made an exceptionally stable and safe fishing boat, but it was when the throttle was pushed all the way forward that this boat shone. All the judges were completely shocked by just how well this rig - which, on the surface, looked like it was designed for rivers and dams - simply ate up the wild open ocean. Obviously the Territorians have been keeping Ocean Master Marine a secret from the east coast - let's hope this unconventional but undeniably effective design gets more popular down south. The 651 is a breathtakingly cool boat.

Another alloy boat to impress was Quintrex's new 540 Freedom Sport. The design has been around for some time, and while the hull has always performed very well, interior comfort levels couldn't match the fibreglass bowrider competition. Looks like those days are over - the 540 was one of the most ergonomically sensible, comfortable, soft-riding and forgiving boats of the competition. The bowpit lounge is the best in the aluminium boat market, while safety and value for money also got it over the line.

The 540 won the Dayboat category, edging out other excellent finalists including Haines Signature 500BR, Theodore Coastal 720 and Savage Scorpion SL500.

The Fishing Non-Trailerable category is always the most hotly contested. While it was always going to be a shootout between the Haines Hunter 650 Classic and Cruise Craft's 625 Explorer, after the scores had been tallied, the Cruise Craft won by a nose. With CE certified build quality, excellent design and superb finish and performance, the 625 will become a timeless classic. Same goes for the Haines Hunter 650, which won a commendation award.

Other finalists included the South Australian diesel-powered Theodore Coastal 720, Sea Quest Olympian 6.1, and Northbank's potent and cost-effective 600 Cuddy.

CRUISING CREDITS
Winner of the Trailerable Cruiser category was, again, Melbourne boatbuilder Whittley. Its 700 Sea Legend earned the title with quality build, intelligent layout and design, and excellent finish. The Theodore Coastal 720 came a close second, and was the only boat to score commendation awards in three separate categories - evidence of this boat's incredible versatility, seaworthiness, finish and value.

ALL SORTS OF IMPORTS
The imported boat entries were judged over a number of categories. Cobalt Boats backed up its win last year in the same Imported Trailerable category with its 200 model - the ultimate expression of dayboat comfort, handling and style for the well-heeled boat buyer.

Bass-fishing boats also made a big impact on the awards this year, with Tracker Marine's 70mph Nitro 901CDX fishing weapon only just edging out the top-performing and excellent value-for-money Triton TR175.

In the towboat category, Performance Marine's Skicraft X-Air scored a commendation award. Other excellent boats which didn't get a gong but probably should have were Adrian Bright Power Boat Engineering's superb 70mph offshore-racing 288 Mid-Cabin; the biggest bang for your buck cruiser, Crownline's 206LS; and Noble Engineering's awesome 6.8m Super Vee fishing boat.

Be sure to check out all these boats and more at this year's capital city boat shows. Boats are different creatures for different people - so although in awards like this there can only be one winner, the most impressive thing about the 64 boats judged during the course of the awards was just how many great boats are out there to choose from. There's a perfect boat out there for you - you just have to decide which one!