Bonito 622 Profish

Regular readers may recall our recent boat test of Markham Manufacturing's Bonito 6.2 Calais (see Trailer Boat, July 99).

A low-profile family sportsboat, originally harking from New Zealand waters, the Calais is a classy craft with the potential to provide enjoyable time on the water. Matched with a Honda BF130 four-stroke, it is one of the best rigs this tester has sampled in recent times.

Now there is another arm to the Bonito family aimed at serious usage. The ready-to-fish 622 Profish is a sturdy, cuddy-style craft aimed at offshore fishermen. Indeed, the testboat we sampled has been doing just that. Fitted up as a gamefisher and campaigned by Bonito distributor, Black Pete Marine, Team Bonito has been a common sight during the 1998-99 season at NSW coastal gamefishing tournaments. During that time, its operators have found it a capable offshore rig for serious amateur fishos.

INNOVATIVE TOUCHES
Part of the attraction of the 622 Profish is it offers a number of innovative touches absent from mainstream competition.

One such feature is the section of the transom either side of the single engine, which can be removed for easy access to each stern platform. Portside it holds the berley bucket and to starboard a fold-down boarding ladder.

Each lift-out section has a flush fit into the cut-out so when in place there's no evidence of the walk-through facility. Rubber seals held firmly in place by elastic strops inside the cockpit and on the transom, prevent wave slop from passing the infills.

As the cut-outs are above the level of the XL shaft engine well, the structural integrity of the transom is not affected.

The transom itself is constructed from 45mm thick structural plywood encapsulated in glass and resin.

According to Bonito's Australian connection and builder of the craft, Mark Hookham, this form of construction has proven completely delamination-free for the 25 years he has made boats.

The only other plywood in the hull is the cockpit floor and this is also encapsulated. The underfloor area differs significantly to mainstream production hulls. Hookham, using his experience of building the popular 6.4m Connelly ski-race hull, incorporated high-tech foam/glass construction techniques into the Bonito range.

Like the 6.2 Calais, the 622 Profish is constructed with three skins of double bias rovings integrated with gun rovings and orthophalic resin.

The underfloor stringers and transverse supports are 50mm thick sections of polyurethane foam, again encapsulated to form the hull's 'monocoque-style' structure.

The end result, says Hookham, is a significantly lighter hull unlikely to suffer delamination. Quoted figures place the 622 Profish at around 20% lighter than Seafarer's Victory 6.0 ? a popular and proven hull in this size range.

While testing the Profish I was impressed when it gave away nothing to its competition in torsional rigidity or being able to cope with repeated slamming over ocean swells.

In the worsening weather conditions at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River (NSW) it remained dry and handled predictably up, down or across an increasing sou'easterly swell.

MERCURY RISING
Fitted with a Mercury 175EFI (see Engine Talk on page 66), spinning an 18-inch pitch stainless steel prop, two-up (estimated total 1350kg) the 622 Profish planed at 29kmh on 2800 revs.

With the lift created by the lower gullwing chines aft, the hull simply lifted onto the plane and once up, the throttle could be quickly backed off without the hull falling back into the hole.

At 4000 revs we maintained a quick cruise of 52kmh, 34% faster than the Calais/BF130 at the same revs. At Wide Open Throttle, we averaged 80kmh on 5500rpm across a 30cm high chop.

This was 15% faster than the Honda achieved despite the additional windage of outriggers, a rocket launcher atop the canopy and clears atop the Bonito's clear curved windscreen.

With rain squalls setting in at this time the protection afforded by this helm area set-up was a real blessing compared to the open-helmed Calais.

Surprisingly there was significant prop ventilation in hard-over figure of eights, perhaps a result of the motor being set too high on the transom.

Another problem with the test Profish was heavy steering, which could effectively supplement a rigorous weight-training program! Through the figure of eights at 4000 revs the steering was a real handful, unlike the Honda-powered hull.

Due to the noise-amplifying tendency of the canopy and clears the Merc was much noisier than Honda coming out of the hole with a slight miss at around 2500 revs. This harshness was particularly evident when trolling and unfortunately the 175EFI spluttered and smoked as much as a carbie engine.

While low speed manoeuvring ability was good, the Calais/Honda combo was better thanks to the latter's lower idle and more progressive feel to the throttle.

At rest the Profish displayed the solid feel of the Calais and barely felt two adults on one side.

PRACTICAL FISHER
The Profish had a more practical cabin interior than the Calais. For example, vinyl bunk cushions replaced the fabric-covered ones and not only were they easier to clean but they created the impression of an airier interior.

The side and underbunk storage pockets remained yet a really nice touch was the use of varnished timber trim for the partial bulkhead to port of the helm position.

There was a fold-down cupholder (a little flimsy for my liking) to port of this partial bulkhead and a footrest for the passenger.

On balance, I also preferred the helm area of the Profish to the Calais.

The moulded dash panel had full instrumentation with compass atop and Hummingbird sounder to port, but below the panel was a glovebox with cupholder lid in place of the Calais footrest.

The swivelling Reelax helm seat with arm rests and footrests, was much more supportive than the Calais' back-to-back seating.

As with the Calais there was no need to stand at the helm while underway.

The Profish's deep cockpit (not self-draining but fitted with a 63lt/min bilge pump and float switch) is covered in a hard-wearing non-skid material. Cushioned coamings provided good leaning support to haul in a fish, and sidepockets raised off the floor provided toeholds.

A removable livebait tank/cutting board combo was fitted ahead of the engine well, with two oil tanks situated beneath, for the oil-injected Merc.

Two batteries located under the well gave unobstructed access to the transom infills. There would be no problem playing a fish right around the transom of this boat!

Quarter cleats completed the deck hardware aft and as with the Calais the flush fuel filler cap was located in the port quarterdeck.

THE ALTERNATIVE
Having tested a total of three 6.0 Seafarer Victorys over the past couple of years a craft considered by many as a benchmark in this class ? it was interesting to try the Profish.

The Profish seemed every bit as capable.

Its longevity is hinted at given the boat was still in showroom condition even though it had suffered the rigours of a season's worth of extensive offshore usage (the Merc had clocked 129 hours). As with the Calais I couldn't fault the mouldings and gelcoat finish.

As builder Hookham told me during our test: "The 622 Profish is the alternative to mainstream production boats." Seems a fair statement to me!