Hurricane 2400 Sun Deck.

All big, beamy bowriders with heaps of cup holders and V8 stern drives right?

Wrong. Enter the Hurricane. Hurricane is another US manufacturer to be sure, but their boats are a bit different.  Hurricane offers three different types of boat from party pontoons (which aren’t pontoons by the way, but monohull boats -- but that’s not we’re here for this time) to sporty bowriders used for family, fishing or even skiing or wake boarding.

We met up with Dave from Australasian Marine Imports on the Gold Coast to try out one of the newly-arrived imports and came away with little to criticise – especially the pricing.

At an introductory price of $79,990 (without trailer) this is one boat that’s going to have buyers, and some other importers, taking a second look.

Our test boat was the big Sun Deck 2400 OB – the OB standing for outboard. Yes, this is a big 24-footer equipped with a 200hp Mercury Verado.

According to Dave this is one of the big points of difference between Hurricane and the other big American bowrider boats. “Many people don’t want a sterndrive V8, they want an outboard so that they can lift the engine up and fully beach the boat with no problems,” he said.

“We’ve already sent four of these to the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria for that reason,” he added.

Stepping aboard from the swim platform, one finds an L-shaped lounge which is comfortable for four. A removable table turns this into a dinette which is served from a wetbar on the starboard side.

Skipper and co-pilot sit in flush chairs which are adjustable for the driver. Tilt steering also adds to the comfortable ergonomics of the boat. An array of switchgear confronts the driver along with easy-to-read gauges and a standard GPS unit. Other gauges include speedo, tacho, fuel, volt meter, hour meter and a 12-volt outlet.

The stereo is worth a mention too. Not that I am a sound-system buff, but give this a crank and it’ll have your ears ringing like the Avon lady! I don’t know that I have heard a standard system as impressive as this with its powerful amp and sub woofer. You’ll certainly hear it while doing flips on your wakeboard!

Up front, there is comfortable seating for four more people and along the way forward you’ll pass the mini cabin with its toilet within.

On the big foredeck, the importers had mounted two of the optional fishing seats so you can sit and relax with rod and can in hand.

Down aft, there is a plumbed live-bait tank to keep your fish fresh or you drinks cool. The boats are also standard with automatic bilge pumps, showers and pressurised water.

As mentioned, all over the boat are stainless-steel drink holders and storage is exceptionally good including a long floor locker which will store skis or wakeboards.
Our test boat was fitted with

the Xtreme package which included hull graphics (very tasteful I thought), a transom remote for the stereo, chrome seat accents pull-up cleats and what is called the ‘Thunder and Lightning’ sound system.

It also had a targa for boards and skis.

Fuel capacity is 292 litres in the under-floor tank and there is also a water tanks for the sink and showers. Navigation lights and a substantial rubbing strake are also standard.

The build of the boat is solid and it feels it. At 2279kg wet (dry weight is 1696kg), this boat is no lightweight consequently it’s right at the top end of the trailerable range. It is perfect, however, for dry storage. Either that, or it would a great boat to have anti-fouled and leave on your pontoon at the bottom of the garden. Simply jump aboard, turn the key and you’re on the water. Flush the engine when you’re finished and leave it till next time. Too easy.

At one stage, we had to sit and wait as the bigger boat drove by throwing up a huge wake to mix with the chop. It was an ideal test of the stability of the Hurricane and it came out tops!

I’d have to say that over the entire time, bashing into the chop, running with it, copping big wakes either at rest or underway, I never copped a drop of water.

Handling was great. The Sea Star hydraulic steering was light and direct. The boat changed directions easily despite its size and weight and the big Verado seemed a great match.

It was comfortable, dry and whole lot of fun. If this is anything to gauge the Hurricane range by, then I reckon plenty of people will be going around whistling that old Bob Dylan favourite... “He coulda been the Champion of the World”.