Iguana X100 2023 review

Yep, we did. That's because the Iguana X100 has a neat little party trick tucked into its hull; a set of retracting caterpillar tracks that allow it to drive out of the water under its own power.

Okay, so is the Iguana X100 a boat that wants to be a tractor, or a tractor trying to be a boat? Does having the ability to be amphibious compromise the experience, be it on land or water? That's what we're here to find out.

Iguana Yachts is a French boat-maker created in 2008 with the single aim of building an amphibious boat as comfortable on land as it is capable on water.

Rather than go with the usual three-wheeled formula, Iguana has instead adopted a set of tracks that tuck up into the hull when on the water, and extend Earthward when crawling up on land.

The current range is made up of similar-sized centre console RIBs, conventional but Euro-chic centre consoles, and a mix of cabin boats and bow riders. There’s even a fishing version, and joining the range soon will be a battery-powered dual console model that will skim along on foils rather than sit in the water.

The Iguana X100, the subject of our test, is one of the RIB models featuring an inflatable Hypalon collar that aids with buoyancy and stability.

The amphibious platform has other benefits, including dry storage and, because it is not on the water, less potential for damage should storms or cyclones hit.

Australian Iguana Yachts dealer Queensland Marine Centre has the Iguana X100 priced from $650,000 sail-away. That price is pretty much on par with any one of a number of similar-sized circa 10.0-metre premium European or US centre console boats on the market.

Our test boat is fitted with twin 225hp 3.4-litre Mercury FourStroke V6 outboard engines for a combined 450hp, well shy of the 600hp maximum rating this boat can hang off the transom. But there is another engine as well, a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder Ford EcoBoost that is used to power the hydraulics driving the traction system. It is tucked away under the console – the reason this boat does not have a head.

According to Iguana, there are no customisations for this boat – it is what it is apart from what engines you hang off the back of it. However, you can get the boat in its base grey 366-grade Orca Hypalon tube format, or go for an all-white version, including the outboard engines, simply called the White Edition.

The Iguana X100 comes pretty well equipped. As well as the “hydraulic amphibious mobility system” there’s the large cloth-covered T-top; hard-wearing Diamente Tonic fabrics; electric windlass with rode and chain; through-stem polished stainless steel anchor; non-skid deck; freshwater transom shower (handy when boarding from the beach); stainless steel handrails, cleats and cupholders; power steering for the twin Mercury 225s; LED navigation, locker and courtesy lights; ski mast; two suspended captain’s chairs at the helm; four-speaker Bluetooth audio system; and a sturdy fold-out transom ladder – important given the land-based potential of this boat.

Other electrical equipment includes a 10-inch Garmin chartplotter; a VHF radio and a horn.

Iguana’s design team faced a big challenge when designing this boat. Other amphibious boat-makers use a triangle of wheels that drop down from the bow and stern to crawl on land, but Iguana has gone with a set of tracks that drop down out of the hull amidships.

On the water, it’s a much neater design than using wheels as the tracks tuck in tight to the hull when stowed. On land, the Iguana looks a bit like a duck in profile, but the stability of the stance is so good that the factory tested it by cramming 11 people into the bow.

To cater for the demands of the traction system, Iguana builds the X100’s hull out of a mix of aluminium, fibreglass, carbonfibre and stainless steel. Iguana claims the use of lightweight materials means the X100 weighs the same as a similar-size conventional boat.

The drive legs are designed to tuck into the X100’s hull like an aircraft’s undercarriage, leaving a streamlined surface facing the water.

The car engine that drives the hydraulics uses a network of more than 30 high-pressure hoses to drive the traction system, making regular inspection important. The engine uses a radiator mounted in the transom to provide cooling.

The rest of the Iguana X100’s hull is fairly typical for a premium RIB, featuring a deep vee hull forward to cut through waves and chop and a flat planing surface aft with wide, flat chines and strakes helping with lift and cornering stability.

Unlike other RIBS, the Iguana X100’s five-chamber inflatable pontoons that ring the hull do not sit in the water at rest. However, adding the pontoons lifts the X100’s passenger count to 16 compared with just 11 for the similar version of the Iguana that doesn’t have them.

The Iguana X100’s layout is fairly standard centre console fare. It’s basically a pod for the engines, a U-shaped transom lounge, an aft-facing bench behind the console seats, and a forward two-seater lounge. The only thing that is missing is a sun pad up in the foredeck, which on this boat is a raised step housing the anchor locker.

The side profile of the Iguana X100 is quite good, featuring a raised sheerline around the transom to give the aft lounge a nice, enclosed feeling.

Access to the cockpit is via a stepped companionway cut into the port side of the transom. The shallow duckboard houses a solid-feeling fold-out ladder that swings down in sections to reach around 30cm off ground level when the boat is in amphibious mode.

With the pontoon protruding to one side and the outboard engine to the other, you don’t feel exposed climbing the 1.5 metres or so up into the boat.

Once aboard, the beige seat coverings offset nicely against the grey of the pontoon tubes. The facing aft bench seats are both comfortable, forming a nice social hub that’s partially shaded by the T-top overhead. Storage is built in under some of the seats with the center providing access to the bilge and the hydraulic pump engine’s cooling system.

A wide walkway is provided to either side of the centre console, leading forward to a forward-facing twin jump seat with a pair of central cupholders. Two underfloor lockers are located here; one is drained and serves as a wet item/fender storage while the other is dedicated to the electronics needed to drive the traction system.

The narrow forepeak, which houses the anchor locker for the through-stem anchor, is too small to serve as a sun pad. It doesn’t even have an infill cushion so that it can serve as a seat.

No cleats are forward, meaning you’ll need to run a painter from the bow padeye if you’re tying up at a dock.

This is where the Iguana X100’s premium position in the market is definitely felt. With 450hp at your fingertips, you need a helm to match.

It starts with the twin monogrammed captain’s chairs that back onto the aft bench. They’re individual seats with lift-up bases so you can more easily stand if you want, and include fold-down armrests and manual adjustment. But they’re also suspended, featuring a shock absorber system that smooths out some of the hull’s harshness when punching into a heavy sea.

The console is wide and deep with a wrap-around windscreen offering good wind and weather protection. The wheel is set to port, with the shift and throttle controls for the engines mounted in the centre.

The console includes a moulded footrest below a decent-sized small item storage compartment, and a low-set stainless steel grab rail for the jump seat. The upper section of the console is all white so reflective glare when the sun is low and sneaks in under the large T-top can be a bit of an issue.

The upper part of the dash includes the 11.0-inch Garmin ECHOMAP multifunction touchscreen, a row of analogue/digital engine gauges, and a bank of rocker switches for managing the Iguana X100’s electrics.

Immediately around the steering wheel are the controls for the traction control system consisting of two toggle switches to port and a multifunction screen to starboard. More about those later.

We hit the Gold Coast Broadwater for our test day, with conditions not really challenging the Iguana X100’s claimed seakeeping prowess.

The helm position is good, with decent vision all-around with both the height-adjusting steering wheel and shift and throttle controls falling easily to hand.

At rest, the hull is extremely stable as you walk around the deck, aided by the low-set weight of the extra engine driving the hydraulics and the tractors themselves.

The Iguana X100’s hull is long and narrow, with a deep vee forward, so it’s going to take a bit of effort to get it up onto the plane. However, with 450hp on tap and a few revs on the tacho, it rises up with surprisingly little bow lift.

At 4000rpm, we’re sitting on a comfortable 23.5 knots over the water. At this speed range is around 170nm, or the equivalent of more than seven hours of running.

Performance*

*Both engines
Maximum range on 95% of 500L fuel tank: 172nm@4000rpm

Once up on the plane, the Iguana X100 is responsive to engine trim, nosing down or up in line with the engines’ angles of attack. 

Pitch the boat into a turn and the hull hangs on as it carves out a turn with a hint of drift from the aft section.

Where the Iguana X100 shines is punching through waves and wake. The deep vee forward slices through the water, pushing the spray wide. The rising of Hypalon also helps to cut down on spray coming over the bow section to provide a dry ride.

The suspension seats help with slamming off waves, but conditions inside the Broadwater meant they weren’t really put to the test. Seeing as the Iguana X100 sits in top of a fast offshore hull, they’re likely to be used from time to time.

This is where the test gets interesting. Transforming from water to land and back again is a surprisingly simple, fuss-free process.

Deploying the tractors is as simple as stopping in a mere or so of water and pushing a button on the multifunction screen to the right of the steering wheel. The engine driving the hydraulics fires up automatically, and within about eight seconds the two drive legs are fully deployed.

It’s then just a matter of using the outboard engine to drive the boat forward until the tractors hit the bottom, and then using the two toggles on the left side of the steering wheel to drive the boat like a skid-steer excavator – once you’ve turned off the outboard engines and given them a bit of tilt.

Be a bit harsh with the controls and the experience of climbing up onto the beach, whether it is rock, sand or even a hard surface like concrete, can be a bit jerky as the independent drive system moves one tractor or the other. However, treat the toggles more gently and as one controller and the ride smooths out considerably.

Getting onto a sandbar is an odd experience, with the 10.1-metre length of the Iguana X100 – there’s a lot of boat stretching out in front of the helm – seeming to amplify the pitch as it climbs up the slope. The boat is made to climb slopes of up to 44 degrees, so the gentle slope we’re climbing is no challenge.

The sandbar is soft, yet the Iguana’s tracks sink no deeper in the sand than a footprint if you were walking. A party trick is to turn the X100 in its own length, spinning on the spot. It’s a sand-only trick because if you tried to do it on a hard surface you’d likely pop a track off its runners.

Driving on land is assisted by two forward-facing lights built into the tractor leg and a video camera that feeds back to the multifunction screen controlling the traction system. It is enough to identify any lumps or holes in the sand.

Top speed on land is only 6.5km/h, so you’re going to get nowhere fast – don’t imagine that you’ll be driving this home from the boat ramp. However, if you want to take the Iguana X100 with you on holiday, it can be driven onto a flatbed truck for transport.

Getting back in the water is just as easy as hitting dry land, with just a reversal of the process. Again, it is all done at the press of a single button.

Of note, the engine and hydraulics do make a bit of noise when they are operating, so there’s nothing subtle about it.

As far as amphibious technology goes, the Iguana X100 has found a niche using technology that is a lot more visually subtle than adding wheels to a hull.

It’s a perfect platform for anyone who, say, wants to go out for a morning of diving and then have lunch on their favourite beach.

However, to make the best use of the Iguana X100 you’re going to need what few of us have; access to absolute water frontage via a beach or boat ramp.

Once you’ve sorted that problem, you then have a fast, well-built dayboat that’s perfect for exploring the waterways around you.

Once the day ends, you just park it up onshore until the next outing.

Specifications
Model: Iguana X100
Length overall: 9.45m
Beam: 3.4m
Weight: 4000kg
Height on land: 3.7m
Engines: 2x225hp (as tested)/2x300hp (max)
Fuel: 2x250L
Passengers: 16

Price as tested: $650,000 including hydraulic amphibious mobility system; T-top; Diamente Tonic fabrics; electric windlass with rode and chain; through-stem polished stainless steel anchor; non-skid deck; freshwater transom shower; stainless steel handrails, cleats and cupholders; LED navigation, locker and courtesy lights; ski mast; two suspended captain’s chairs; four-speaker Bluetooth audio system; fold-out transom ladder; power steering; twin 225hp Mercury FourStroke outboard engines

Supplied by: Queensland Marine Centre