Haines Hunter 680 Patriot

In the box office hit Patriot Games, Hollywood hero Harrison Ford plays the leading role. In this boat bearing the same moniker, an Aussie star deserves applause.

While the Americans may have invented the walkaround, our own Haines Hunter company is attempting to perfect it with the Patriot 680.

One of the best-selling Haines Hunter models, the new Patriot 680 has, of course, an American-made motor on the tail. In this case, Haines Hunter elected to use the exciting new 225hp Bombardier Evinrude FICHT outboard.

This story is as much about the new FICHT motor as the Aussie-made bit, the hull, which is different to many trailerboats. Derived from a US-designed boat, the hull has a keel that's very rounded with no planing plank quite unlike the Haines Hunters of yore.

There is one strake amidships between the chine and rounded and then another strake running forward of this to the bow. The question is, how does the boat remain stable and on track.

Reverse chines at the stern, which are approximately 10cm wide, put paid to any sloppy behaviour. What's more, this series of hull is fitted with electronic trim tabs as a standard to assist the hull's track while planing.

The trim tabs worked extremely well and radically altered the list of the vessel when people moved about the cockpit while under way. They auto tabs are perfect for novice drivers and convenient for experienced skippers, too.

DESIGNS ON FISHING
The enormity of the FICHT outboard is lost on the back of the Patriot, due to its high transom with a full pod. Wiring looms are housed in nylon mesh-tubing emanating from a grommet in the deck, shrouded initially by a fibreglass cover.

Engineering wise, the Haines Hunter is well made. For example, all the through hull fittings below the water line are bronze. This is handy for the many 680 owners who prefer to moor these boats.

From the transom, entry to the cockpit is via a half door which closes tight with its own stainless bolt latch. Fuel filler and a pair of breathers are nearby. Any spilt fuel will runs onto the transom and not inside the boat.

There's a shower rose/deck wash on the portside. Mounted on the transom is a removable baitboard which fits into stainless deck fittings.

The baitboard has two shallow trays for dead baits with further compartments under opening nylon doors for loose tackle. A surrounding gutter drains fish blood and dirty water into the engine well.

A huge livebait well in the starboard corner holds around 70lt of ocean and lots of baits. It's big enough to have a crack at pitch baiting for billfish, should that tickle your fancy.

Standing in the cockpit, one feels safe thanks to padded gunwales supporting the upper thighs while the feet tuck easily under the coamings.

There are two full-length side pockets aside, one above the other, providing stacks of storage for hardware such as gaffs, landing nets, tag poles and suchlike. Two stainless steel rodholders come standard.

INFLOOR AND TO THE FORE
A large hatch in the transom gives access into the bilge. An adjacent hatch reveals the battery With a bit of juggling, a second much-needed battery could fit in here.

The isolator switch and fuel primer bulb also live under the transom. And you can reach the plumbing for the deck wash, fuel filler and breathers if you need to.

In floor are two good-sized recessed kill tanks that drain out the transom via bronze through-hull fittings. The deck proved non slippery when wearing deck sandshoes.

The cockpit is covered with a neat stainless steel framed bimini that has a six-rod rocket launcher. The pedestal-mounted seating for skipper and passenger are on a raised platform which prevents water or fish bits washing forward into the cabin.

To gain access to the foredeck you step-up on a starboard step either side of the cabin illuminated with a light.

The walkarounds, which drain overboard, may be traversed reasonably easy with one foot passing the other.

A Muir winch with a windlass is located on the bow, along with a long bowsprit and deep anchor well. While not a true fish-around, the bow is nonetheless easily accessed at sea.

COMFY CABIN
Access to the cabin is via a bi-fold door.

A marine pump-out toilet is fitted in front of the V-berth. Storage exists under the bunks which can be converted into a double berth with the infill supplied. Storage compartment lids are made from plastic, which is better than moisture-absorbing timber.

Head height is excellent inside the cabin when you are seated and I judged it to be about 20cm above your scone when seated on the aft end of the bunks.

The foot well is deep and is bunged at its lowest point for drainage into the bilge should you spill a lemonade.

HELM HAPPENINGS
The helm is set out with a binnacle-mount throttle. This, I must say, is the smoothest throttle I have ever used. It feels almost hydraulically controlled when shifted through its range. The buttery action took a bit of getting used to.

Bombardier's new Magnum heavy-duty gearbox on this outboard is well matched to the throttle. Full marks to Bombardier for improving the driving pleasure of the outboard motor.

Instrumentation was laid out in a horizontal line across the top of the dash leaving room for two medium-sized electronic screens below. The boat had a pod for a flush-mounted compass directly ahead of the skipper.

Beyond The Seaway there was a mild chop. With a light northerly on top, the sea didn't' trouble the Haines Hunter hull. It was dry when run at differing angles, too.

Without the trim tabs the hull felt like broaching when attempting to mount and cross prop wash, which isn't so unusual for a deep-vee hull. But when the auto-tabs were called into action they gave the boat definite directional stability, with no skewing or broaching.

Stability dead in the water in choppy conditions was good and proved that the reverse chines on this hull do their job. Under way, it is my guess the chines also provide some lift.

The tachometer showed 1000rpm when running the Patriot at a slow bluewater trolling speed of 14kmh. The motor idled smoothly. Shunt the throttle and the boat jumped out of the water.

Full throttle of 5800rpm gave 78kmh. Using the trim button, the boat could hold plane at 17kmh and 2300rpm.

But the Haines Hunter 680 hull has never been a good slow boat. It likes to run.

I have been spoilt by the glut of four-stroke outboards on test boats over the past two years. So it was with some interest that I went about gauging the noise output of Bombardier's 225 FICHT.

Other than the typical ping of the two-stroke system, I found it surprisingly quiet with bearable noise levels at all speeds and no fumes to worry about, either.

The big two-stroke performed extremely well on the Patriot and the package as tested lends itself to some very serious boating, be it offshore work or on the reefs closer to home. Even Harrison Ford would find it exciting.