East Coast Boats 765 Hardtop teased ahead of final fit-out
East Coast Boats' flagship trailerable model takes a step closer to its launch dateVictorian offshore trailer boat specialist East Coast Boats has teased images of its 765 Hardtop ahead of the first of the all-new models rolling off the production line.
More than two years in the making, the new model is based on the 765 runabout but features a semi-enclosed wheelhouse to give more all-weather protection.
East Coast Boats shipwright Daniel Leonti said the idea behind the 765 Hardtop came after a chat over a few beers after work that focussed on what the Australian market was missing.
A few ideas came out of that. First, it would have to be a fibreglass boat that met all current adapt to all future Australian Maritime Safety Authority survey requirements that would allow it to be used as a commercial fishing, charter or recreational boat.
It also had to be trailerable, with no restrictions on where or when it could be towed, and light enough to pull behind a 3.5-tonne-rated tow rig.
But lastly, it also had to have a good-looking wheelhouse.
“We believed if someone could tick these boxes you would be onto a winner, so we decided ‘let's do it ourselves’,” Leonti said.
Keeping it real
Also important to this project was keeping the East Coast Boats DNA, which meant developing new moulds rather than sourcing an existing one.
“It was never an option that we considered to use existing moulds from somewhere,” Leonti said.
“We built our own moulds for the 605 Outlaw and that gave us a terrific blueprint to take to the architect because of how it rides and the stability it has at rest.
“That, along with a list of specs we needed it to meet, is how the 765 became what we would call an ‘upscaled’ version of our 605 Outlaw,” he said.
“We first designed the look of this boat around its wheelhouse so that it would look like it was always meant to be there & seamless, instead of looking like an add-on or afterthought.
“We have been approached by several companies over the years wanting us to buy their moulds and build boats … and rebrand them as our own, and each time we've politely declined.
“It would've been easier to do it this way for sure, but we wanted to make our own unique product.”
Launch schedule
The runabout version of the 765 Hardtop first hit the water in the middle of last year as a commercial urchin boat.
East Coast Boats currently has the first two hard-tops in the fit-out stage, one of which will be a new charter boat for Red Hot Fishing Charters.
The other? It will stay local to East Coast Boats' East Gippsland factory. Its owner, a recreational boater, will allow ECB to use it as a demonstrator boat when needed.
That will be handy, as the new East Coast Boats 765 Hardtop has not yet set a date for a debut at any of the Australian boat shows this year.
“It's certainly a possibility [for the East Coast Boats 765 Hardtop to display at a boat show] but it's certainly not a high priority for us to get one there,” Leonti said.
Specifications*
Model: East Coast Boats 765 Hardtop
Length: 7.8m
Beam: 2.45m
Deadrise: 24deg
Length on trailer: 10.5m (with engines)
Weight: 1550kg (breaker, hull only)/1675kg (hardtop, hull only)
Weight on trailer: 2350kg (breaker, no engines)/2500kg (hardtop, no engines)
Live bait tank: 140L
Kill tank: 220L
Flooded keel: 500L
*Preliminary specifications
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