Hooker WRC 8m

But, if you park one of these in your driveway, you are sure to have lots of new-found friends and willing crew to help you along the way.

After you have out laid the funds for the suitable tow vehicle you will be pleasantly surprised at how this big beast performs; with consummate ease.

The icebox with a 600-litre capacity takes up a good amount of cockpit that would be expansive to say the least, without it. But, as is, if you wanted to go away fishing for a weeks, it would hold enough ice, food and fillets till your return.

Centrally-located there is ample room to work aft of the icebox while standing at the bait rigging table which is mounted on the rear canopy vertical support posts.

While a hardtop shelters the helm station, to the rear the shade is from a canvas shelter that runs full cockpit length and beam. Understandably, rod fishers would find this a little restrictive but alas, this boat has been customised for the owner's fishing family who enjoy bottom fishing the majority of the time.

At the helm, the throttle controls sit at hand rebated into the cabin liner sharing the flat ledge with Raymarine’s auto pilot control. The dash layout is a large brow fixed to the top of the bulkhead but low enough in profile not to impede good all-round vision.

The panel is dominated by Raymarine’s E120 electronic display with a cluster of Suzuki gauges and a pair of rocker switch panels occupying the remaining space.

The radios are fitted to a console in the hard top from which hangs all-round clears down to the toughened-glass windscreen. The void inside the hardtop is accessed by a front and rear hatch which also serve as ventilators to keep air moving within.

The bow has two very large anchor lockers with flush-mounted hatches that will hold more than enough rope and chain to wear out the average deckhand if pulling it manually. No winch was fitted to the test boat but the size of the ground tackle needed for an eight-metre boat dictates that one should be a priority.

A small amount of stowage space is found under the cushions which, at a squeeze, could sleep two medium-sized adults. You will get good ventilation through the ceiling hatch but its diameter is too small to be of use to access the ground tackle rather than walk around the outside in foul weather.

They will appreciate the additional shade wings that slope down from the side of the awning for that extra protection from the tropical sun.

The impression of being a much smaller boat in part is conveyed by the relatively small cabin which is surrounded by a walk around path but also the low-profile gunwales that taper in slightly from the flare of the forequarters as they sweep aft toward the transom. This ‘boat tail’ design offers less drag in the water when underway, helping to improve fuel economy.

The height of the gunwales achieve what the manufacturer aimed for when designing this boat and that is a practical fishing height without compromising safety of anglers leaning against the coamings. It matters not how effective deck wash systems are, it is always easier to lean over the side to wash fish slime off the hands, not to mention the ease of wiring fish aboard and the ability to swim and release those that don’t end up on the dinner table.

While fishing, one’s feet tuck comfortably under the bottoms of the side pockets which are a part of a total module rebated into the inner liner and for added grip, ribbed aluminium step treads are in place to reduce slippage when wet.

The top of the transom bulkhead has a near flush mounted water filler and another capped port that features a pull out freshwater cold shower; handy for cooling down and rinsing tackle at the end of the days fishing.

Manoeuvrability going astern is very direct and responsive, so backing down on a rampaging pelagic won’t be a problem and multiple hook-ups will be well catered for from the walk-around path forward.

On the cruise at 3500rpm the pair of Suzukis will be pushing the Hooker along at about 30 knots and if you need to get more serious about timeframes, 4500rpm will realise 38 knots and full throttle of 5,800 should have you cracking along at 51 knots!

What you will be looking for on this boat at planing speeds is trim tabs as it is list-sensitive to people moving about.

The weather on the test day was a rare 5 to 10 knot breeze window in a blustery month which was great for the trailer boaters leaving the ramp in droves, loaded to the gunwales for an extended offshore fish on the outer reefs.

We were restricted to making our own wash and waves to run over and we found there were no concerns with the quality of the ride or excessive spray coming on board. In fact, for three hours running very little salt spray found its way onto the cowls of the Suzukis which is indicative of a generally dry-riding hull.