Honda Jazz 1700 Bowrider

When designing its Bowrider 1700, New World Honda had a prestige car in mind - a Honda, naturally. The brief to the Hoppers Crossing (Victoria) builder was to build a classy boat.

Well, there's no Connolly leather aboard but this family fun boat does look the part, dressed as it is in a more practical nautical vinyl, and lots of it. It's a nice little craft that should compete well in a very crowded marketplace.

INSIDE OUT

The bow features a couple of vee-shaped seats with storage underneath, two cupholders, two grabrails, a low bowrail, a forward cleat and a wet locker or anchor storage below the walk-through windscreen. It has a clip-on cover for inclement weather. The deck is covered in a practical grey carpet that matches the grey and blue-patterned twin bucket seats that are low and comfortable. The driver's is adjustable forward and aft. Gauges for the 90hp Honda four-stroke that powers this rig are well positioned in front of the skipper and indicate what's going on with speed, revs, trim, watts and fuel. Foot lockers in front of both driver and passenger maximises use of space. Naturally there's a CD player and twin speaker set-ups both forward and aft.

The front passenger has a grabrail, glovebox and drinkholder in front. The walk-through, wraparound screen is supported by twin pillars to add strength for those inevitable occasions when people use the windscreen to pull themselves up from their seats or as a balancing handhold when moving forward. The centre section opens quite wide for easy access to the bow.

SPACE AGE
A bench seat across the transom is mounted on a large storage box big enough for all wet weather gear as well as skis and smaller toys, but there is no underfloor storage. A 100lt fuel tank occupies this space.

The transom is moulded, padded and lined as a backrest for the lounge. Grab handles on the coamings give rear passengers something to steady themselves with in boisterous conditions.

The engine well is compact with a swing-down centre panel to accommodate the motor when fully raised. This layout also means that wasted space at the transom is minimised and allows more space inside the boat where you need it.

The 1700 has twin lidded storage boxes in the rear transom quarters, and although there were no rodholders fitted to the test boat, there is space for them in the gunwales. A reverse U-shaped ski and wakeboard pole sits above the motor - another good idea, because it doesn't encroach on cockpit space. The fuel filler is in the outboard well and is easy to access. Twin boarding platforms and handrails give good access to the boat from the stern.

HOW DOES IT HANDLE?
Stability at rest was quite good, obviously aided by the boat's wide shoulders. The Honda 90hp four-stroke really made the Jazz get up and boogie on its small planing plank and we achieved 60kmh at 5500rpm downsea in a half-metre chop. Considering that this boat is designed for fun on calmer waters, this was a good performance. It was quite dry, too, even into a headsea, and rode smoothly on the choppy Port Phillip Bay waters.

The New World Honda package includes a single axle full-roller Dunbier trailer, safety equipment, registration, bilge pump, stainless prop, skipole, bow cover and premium upholstery among other things. It's a fairly complete package and very competitive at under $37,000.

The Jazz 1700 is just one of the New World Honda range of fibreglass boats between 4.7m and 7.1m. No doubt we're going to hear a lot more about these boats with Keith Corr's comprehensive New World Honda marketing machine behind them.