Haines Hunter 635SF Challenger

The rumour mill had been in full swing for some time before Trailer Boat tested the Haines Hunter 635SF Challenger. "Soft ride, dry as a chip, eats rough water," they said. Well we've heard all that before, particularly from enthusiastic salesmen, so we reserved judgement until the day we could see for ourselves.

So let me firstly say, there are a lot of good judges out there. This boat really does give a soft, dry ride. I can't testify to its handling the rough stuff, as test day on Westernport Bay was only a 20kt wind, but Editor Granville, who has played with a 635 off the Gold Coast in lumpy conditions, believes it's one of the best in its class.

I'll take his word for it. In fact, after my own experience with the boat, I'd venture to say this is the best performing hull that's come out of OMC Haines Hunter in a long time. But we'll come back to performance later.

GO WALKAROUND
The style of the boat follows that set by the 680 and 800 series. It's a walkaround that tries to be all things to all people, so there has to be a compromise here and there, especially in a boat which is just 6.35m long. Although there were a few design features not to my personal liking, the overall package adds up to a pretty good boat.

The hull is reasonably broad in the shoulders, features three strakes per side and quite a broad and soft chine line, a little like larger Sea Rays, with another rolling lip above that. The stern is a cutaway design with the transom pushed forward into the cockpit. That means the motor(s) are bolted onto the hull, not a pod.

The deck is a smaller version of the 680 with a bubble cabin and walk around which is about ankle deep, but that's all you need in my view. It's wide enough and there's plenty of hand support with the split bowrail bolted firmly in place on the gunwales. The bowrail is welded to the bow roller on the sprit.

Behind that is a split bowpost and large, side-opening hatch to the anchor well. It's a good set-up although I'd prefer to see an anchor carrying bowsprit on a boat of this class.

CLASSY CABIN
The cabin is surprisingly large, with plenty of head room and light through two tinted side windows and an overhead hatch. The latter is just wide enough for slim shoulders, although with the walk around deck you really don't need to access the bow through this.

The cabin is fully carpet lined with cloth covered cushions on the V-berth and infills. There's space for a toilet between the bunks and storage under them. Side shelves are long and wide, padded and cloth-covered. Leads, wires and cables from the dash are hidden behind a large carpet 'hatch' velcroed to the surrounding carpet.

There's blue carpet on the floor which continues up the step and onto the cockpit sole. Access to the cabin is via a bulkhead doorway on the left side in front of the navigator's position. It's not overly large, but it's okay. There was no door fitted but this could be easily remedied.

SENSIBLE SEATING
This configuration, coupled with the walk around design means there's precious little room in the helm and navigator station area, particularly with seats installed. Haines has solved the problem by installing seats which fold down and away into pockets either side.

They're a bit of a pain to fold away (the tuck-up legs have a mind of their own) but once they're out of the way there's tons of room. A lot of driving, particularly offshore, is done standing anyway. Even with the skipper's seat in position, there is still plenty of legroom to slide off it and stand up too.

The instruments are all mounted in a bulkhead moulding on the port side of the helm and there's plenty of room for everything, including electronics and radios (which the test boat didn't have). The switch panel is under the helm on the starboard side next to the binnacle-mount throttle, also mounted on the bulkhead. A cutaway section incorporating a side pocket allows room for the right forearm and elbow to operate the controls.

It's a good driving position except when sitting down because the seat is set to the side and not directly behind the helm. It's a little awkward, but part of the compromise package. The windscreen is a four-piece wraparound with good vision in front and well supported by a stainless steel grabrail.

A recessed moulding in the coaming near the skipper's right leg holds the fire extinguisher and a similar recess on the opposite side of the boat is for the EPIRB, both well positioned in case of emergency.

COOL COVER
Protection from the weather was provided by a combination targa and bimini. Clears would be an obvious option above the windscreen and on both sides.

The passenger has a small grab handle in front mounted on top of the dash and a large open side pocket to the left. A huge underfloor storage box is between both positions and covered with a lift-out carpet covered hatch.

You step down a couple of inches to the cockpit sole and I wondered how long it would be before someone tripped over that. In fact the first person who came on board did so. I suppose there's a reason for it being there although I'm not sure why.

The side corner steps in the cockpit which lead to the walkaround are substantial, and unobtrusive. You know they're there so you're not going to trip over them.

The cockpit itself could be bigger. Sure, this is not a large boat but the transom design seems to waste an awful lot of space which could have been better utilised inside the cockpit rather than outside.

Yep, the motor/s, particularly large singles, must have swing-up room but do they really need as much as what this empty platform provides? And do the motor/s really have to swing up to the (almost) horizontal? It seems to be a Haines Hunter trademark to replace the old fashioned engine well with a huge space right across the transom and fill in some of the space with other bits like bins and gateways.

In this instance, the swing-down boarding stainless steel ladder, which swings up into its own recessed moulding in the boarding platform, is excellent. So is the moulded entry space (there's no door) on the port side of the transom with oil bottle hidden under the swing-up step. The bait boxes and live bait tank across the transom to centre and port are terrific.

The battery has its own transom cupboard to starboard and is easily accessible and open to the bilge.

Tacked on the front of the transom is a centrally mounted, half-width fold-down bench seat with padded backrest.

In both rear cockpit quarters there are drain plugs which are raised a centimetre or so above floor height, so once you've got water on board, not all of it is going to drain out. Be prepared for wet feet. Stern cleats were a little on the small side but those amidships were bigger.

As I said earlier, fishing room is a little tight but I'm sure four fishermen would manage. There are four quality rodholders in the gunwales, which don't have anti-skid, but two grabrails are recessed into either side. Coamings, which are ideal at low thigh height, are substantially padded for thigh support. Sidepockets are a reasonable length but the covering boards would make it difficult to store longer items.

PERFECT PERFORMER
From a performance viewpoint, the 635 SF Challenger could not be faulted. Cruising speed was a comfortable 28kmh at 3000rpm. While trimmed right in, the boat managed a respectable 57kmh at 5000rpm. Trimmed right out the Evinrude 175hp FICHT Ram motor, fitted with a 19-inch Renegade stainless steel prop, howled the boat along at 70kmh at 5500rpm.

The hull's attitude was spot on, straight and true. It did lean a little into the wind on our first run, but try as I might later, I couldn't get it to repeat that. It sat flat upwind, downwind and sidewind, from whatever quarter. It turned on a sixpence without cavitation and despite many attempts by Dave to get the hull jumping, it simply stuck to the water beautifully.

At the end of the test there wasn't a drop of water on the screen, which says a lot about the boat's dryness. Backing down wasn't a problem either, with no water coming on board. The Challenger would make an interesting trailerable offshore fishing boat, set up perhaps with twin 115hp FICHT's. It would be a good compromise on the water offering both comfort and fishability. I've no doubt it would handle big seas and a lot of wind offshore. An added bonus is it is towable behind the 3.0lt to 3.5lt class 4WD or a properly set up family six.

Impressive? You bet. The boat is keenly priced by Boronia Marine as well, at $49,000 as tested.