Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback 2023 First Drive

Global powered adventure sports group BRP is expanding its presence in the Australian recreational boating market. 

You likely already know it via its Sea-Doo jet ski range – Australia is consistently one of the largest markets for its products outside North America – and more recently via the all-new Australian-made Quintrex Freestyler X range that wears the BRP logo on its steering wheel and engine.

In 2018, BRP expanded its product line-up by buying Manitou, a US boat maker that was BRP’s largest pontoon boat engine customer in North America.

Like the Quintrex Freestyler X, the Manitou pontoon boat range has adapted to use BRP’s new Rotax S “Stealth” engine technology that provides outboard engine convenience in a package that can tuck away under the transom.

BRP used the 2023 Melbourne Boat Show to officially launch the 7.2-metre Manitou Explore 22 MAX range on the market, setting up the brand with a network of Australian dealers. The first shipment of the tri-hulled boats is on the water and will arrive in Australia, ready for delivery to their new owners, early in the new year.

The "MAX" is a reference to the large rear deck built into this model, a feature that only the low-profile Rotax S engine can provide. BRP has traditionally used "MAX" to identify products that offer more for buyers than standard versions.

For this test, boatsales was allowed to jump on board one of the evaluation models sent here earlier in the year to sound out the market appeal for this unique, user-friendly platform.

By the way, the boat was introduced to Australia as the Explore Twenty Two+4, but when the first customer boats arrive they will be known as the Explore 22 MAX.

The Manitou Explore 22 MAX pontoon boat range runs across three models, all using either a 115hp or 150hp version of the Rotax S engine. Prices will start from $176,098, with the internal layout differing between each model.

These will include “Bench”, which introduces more seating, “Navigator”, which adds more comfort to the first mate’s seat, and the model we’re testing, the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback that has a first mate’s seat that can reverse, turning it into an ideal spotter’s station for watersports.

A standard boat includes the two rear Switchback lounges; a high-backed helm chair; woven vinyl floor; LED navigation, docking and interior floor lights; ski tow pylon; bimini; four stainless steel cleats; 12 USB recharging points and the same number of cupholders; four-speaker Fusion audio system; and a 9.0-inch Garmin EchoMAP combination chartplotter/fishfinder.

Our test boat dips into the add-on packages, with the Signature Bundle (underfloor storage light, house battery with smart switch, privacy station curtain, dinette table, aft audio system remote, wireless charging pad, high-backed helm chair with lift-up bolster) and Select Bundle (LED backlights behind cupholders, six-speaker Fusion audio system with amplifier and subwoofer) pushing the price up to just shy of $180,000.

You won’t see the hull of this pontoon boat used anywhere else on the market, because it uses a patented tri-hull layout, called V-Toon, which is so much more than three alloy cigars bolted to the bottom of a deck.

Yes, it’s a tri-hull design, but instead of three identical cylinders, the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback uses a central tube that is 68.6cm (27.0 inches) in diameter, and on each side is a tube that is 63.5cm (25.0 inches) in diameter. 

The central tube sits 13.5cm (5.25 inches) lower in the water than the outer pair. This allows the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback to pop up on the central hull at planning speeds, with the other pontoons acting like stabilisers to keep the boat level. Each tube uses two almost full-length lifting strakes – the ones on the central pontoon are larger than the ones used for the outer tubes – that help the boat onto plane.

The central pontoon is also optimised at the back to fit the Rotax S engine, including a cowling. 

The front of each tube has a steep, very deep-vee false bow that is designed to cut through the water. A wide splash guard, designed to throw spray down and away from the topsides, caps the top.

Each pontoon attaches to the deck level via an alloy box structure with lateral ribs that run across around every 40.0cm.

Almost all the wiring in the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is housed above the deck, well away from the waterline. Wires that do need to go across the underside of the deck are protected in channels built into two cross-members as well as an outer skin.

Most pontoon boats use a rail and skin system for the coamings, but Manitou does it differently. Its models use alloy panels that are heated and pressed into shape – similar to how it is done in the car-making industry – and then powder-coated for an extra layer of saltwater protection.

Should you ding one, just unscrew it and fit a new one.

Manitou used to fit its pontoon boats with a marine ply floor but has recently moved to a new three-layer composite structure that won’t rot. The surface of the floor is coated with a pressed vinyl surface that’s soft underfoot and also absorbs less of the sun’s heat.

The rotomoulded rear MAX deck is at the same level as the rest of the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback. It has a section that lifts up to allow the Rotax S engine to fully tilt up out of the water, and on our test boat, a pair of Linq channels to port fits any 40.6cm (16.0-inch) quick-fit accessories made for the Sea-Doo jet ski range, such as the icebox fitted to our test boat.

The Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is also fitted with the highest speed-rated bimini on the pontoon boat market. You can put it up once you hit the water and forget about it, as it’s rated to faster than the boat can go.

The boat is too wide to tow on Australian roads without restrictions, so check your local regulations. A dealer will help you out with a trailer if that’s how you want to roll. In the US, most owners opt to keep their Manitous on the water, dry stack them or leave them on the hard.

There’s a very strong automotive influence on the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback. You can see that in the solid sides, the headlight-and-grille face and the long, low soft-top convertible-like proportions. Helping to keep the smooth profile are tiny navigation lights – they look like camera lenses – that peek out of the contrasting highlighted panels at the front. Aesthetically, the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is right up there in the looks department.

Even in the water, the boat sits at rest with a slight bow-up attitude, like a sprinter getting ready to take off out of the blocks.

Manitou uses a robust vinyl material for its seats that is cooler to the touch even in full sunlight. It’s also textured so you’re not going to stick to it in the heat of the day. It’s pleasantly finished with contrast piping on the seatbacks and wide panelling on the squabs, with the odd “Manitou” embroidered into it.

The Manitou is a fairly typical deck boat featuring extensive seating in a bow lounge and aft cockpit, and a split console. The MAX deck and bimini, though, help to set it apart. 

There are only four cleats fitted to the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback. It means you’ll need to run long springers if you’re tying up at a dock for extended periods, or use a bridle to help with anchoring into the breeze. They’re not very large, either, so pack thin lines.

A rail around the topdeck would also be handy for tying off fenders.

At the bow is a dedicated full-width platform that is large enough to jump up on from the beach and sit while you get the sand off your feet.

 Access to the enclosed section of the Manitou is via an inward-swinging door featuring a recessed handle that leads to a wide companionway running the full length of the boat. The door is double-skinned and hollow – and would have made an ideal place to stow an anchor.

The bow lounge is made up of outboard seats that can act as a forward- or aft-facing feet-up lounge for one person, or inward-facing seats for multiple occupants. The seats are comfortable with good back support, and have storage built in underneath. Some lift up, and others are on extended hinges that allow them to flip forward.

Built into the base of the seatback are voids that have storage on one side and cupholders on the other – all cupholders on the boat are large enough to hold Yeti flasks. The aft ones even have dual USB charging ports to keep the connectivity alive on an extended day trip. 

The floor of the companionway has a hatch that opens up to reveal a huge storage void.

Passing the split console brings you to the aft cockpit. It’s a much larger space than the bow lounge, featuring long benches along the sides, again with storage and cupholders, and USB ports.

The port seat is one long bench, but on the starboard side, Manitou has been a bit clever; it has incorporated a tri-fold bench into the design. The bench stows flat against the coaming to create a gap that makes it easy to stand right up on the side of the pontoon boat. Flip it, and it becomes a fold-up table that creates a comfy two-seater dinette. Flip it again, and it reverts to a seat squab so that you have a bench seat that matches the space of the one opposite.

The aft backrests can face forward, forming part of the aft edge of the cockpit, or they can lift up and set to face aft, creating a pair of rumble seats so parents can watch their kids in the water.

The cockpit floor also features a hatch that gives owners access to the two-stroke oil reservoir. They won’t have to use it often; a single fill is good for about 100 hours of use.

Access to the MAX deck is via a lightweight gate that you lift up and swing back. It has a perspex panel that gives good vision aft to the deck and the water beyond. Behind it is a removable ski pole.

The MAX deck is huge, adding another 1.2 metres of space onboard that would ordinarily have been compromised or lost if the design had used a conventional outboard engine. If you’re backing up to the beach, raising the engine also will raise a section of the MAX deck that you won’t be able to walk on. A forward section that doesn’t lift gives good access to the icebox where our drinks for the day are stowed.

A special mention goes to the bimini. It’s huge but is so simple to use. It has a gas strut to make it easy to raise or lower, and the supporting arms that hold the entire thing in place clip in quick-fit settings. One person can easily do the job in a matter of minutes. Once up, it has handy ski boat-style zippered pockets built into it for storing lifejackets or tow ropes.

What's missing? Along with the lack of an anchor locker, the obvious omission is a rubbish bin that is easy for everyone on board to access.

Manitou hasn’t skimped on the split console’s design, creating two comfortable, wide spaces for the skipper and first mate.

The skipper sits in a supportive, comfortable captain’s chair with folding armrests, a rotating base so it can turn and face the cockpit and fore-and-aft adjustment. An integrated footrest makes life at the helm more comfortable, as does the height-adjustable fly-by-wire Gussi sports steering wheel.

The console of our test boat is fitted with the controls for the optional Fusion six-speaker/amp/subwoofer audio system, a recess in the dash for an optional wirelessly recharging a smartphone while keeping it out of the sun, and a 9.0-inch Garmin EchoMAP combination chartplotter and fishfinder. Buttons for the various electronics such as bilge pumps and navigation lights are mounted below the screen. They’re quite small and have tiny graphics on them, so picking them out as you drive is difficult. A low, tinted windbreaker adds to the protection of the wide console but flexes quite a bit as speeds rise.

The digital shift and throttle lever is mounted on an extension of the padded coaming and falls easily to hand. 

Small-item storage is built onto the inboard side of the console via a pair of perspex-framed cubby holes. The top one contains a 12-volt socket as well as more USB recharging ports.

Over on the first mate’s side, the console is dominated by a huge weatherproof glovebox supported via a locking spring. Similar to the skipper’s side, small-item storage is built to the inboard side, although there is a flat floor on this side with no footrest.

It’s this seat where this model gets its “Switchback” moniker from. You can lift the seatback and change it from forward-facing, handy while making passage, to aft-facing so that it becomes part of the cockpit seating party.

The Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is the type of boat where a single drive may be all it takes to convince you to own one.

Pontoon boats are known for wallowing as they cut through waves and chop and the individual hulls either rise on a swell or fall in a tough. It can be fairly tricky walking around the deck while underway.

Not only that, pontoon boats tend to lean out in a turn, with the G-forces trying to throw you off your seat rather than tucking you in.

Manitou seems to have bred out both of these traits with its V-Toon hull design. The smaller outer pontoons allow the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback to lean in slightly while it is up on the plane, letting it turn more like a monohull boat. Meanwhile, the sharp false bows scythe through the water, effortlessly minimising bow lift when cutting through the water.

I remember tensing up and bracing as our test boat, running at around 4000rpm, headed for a passing boat’s wake at an angle that would be far too acute for an alloy monohull boat and basic health insurance. However, instead of launching us skyward and landing with a spine-crunching thud, the Manitou barely wriggled from side to side as it crossed the wake as though it wasn’t even there.

That became the theme of the day; just set the throttle at the desired cruising speed – fast, slow and anywhere in between – pick the course, and steer to it no matter what may come. Sydney Harbour at rush hour would become tabletop-smooth. Even with someone moving about and shifting weight, the Manitou tracks straight and true with almost no change in attitude.

Where you do notice the vee-styled pontoons is if you nudge the Manitou up onto a beach. The extra depth of the central hull means it acts as a fulcrum allowing the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback’s deck to the best way to beach a pontoon boat is via the transom, so it is also barely relevant.

Powering our test boat is the 150hp tune of the 1.9-litre three-cylinder Rotax S fuel-injected two-stroke engine shared with the Quintrex Freestyler X bowrider. This engine is unique in that it has a powerhead that runs parallel to the prop shaft, allowing its makers to build a package that mounts and steers like a conventional outboard engine, and uses conventional gearboxes, but in a much more compact form.

Crunching the outboard engine down is what allows Manitou to build the expanse of real estate on the pontoon boat’s transom.

The Manitou is an alloy boat, so engine vibration is always going to be difficult to hide. The pontoon boat’s makers have done well to minimise it, but it is still there.

Running light, the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is good for around 30 knots, not fast but at the same time not too slow.

We have a fair bit of weight onboard with a full 160-litre fuel tank and seven people bogging it down, all on top of almost 1900kg of boat and outboard engine. At a comfortable 15.0-knot cruising speed we’re sitting on around 4300rpm with 30 percent trim and using around 28.0 litres an hour of unleaded fuel. That yields around 80.0 nautical miles of range, or around five hours of cruising.

Pushing up to 5000rpm, we’re touching on 20.0 knots, enough pace for a fast run home if you ever need it.

The Rotax S’s integrated electric steering makes turning the sports steering wheel finger-light, and the digital throttle makes powering up smooth and easy, although you rely on a rudder angle indicator on the dash as you can't see the engine. Turns are neat rather than sharp – there's a lot of waterline between the three hulls.

The engine is clever enough to electronically dampen shifts between forward and reverse, making them smooth rather than clunky.

The Rotax S engine runs a four-bladed stainless steel prop that gives it plenty of bite on the water. Again, we’re measuring the boat against a fair bit of weight, but the Rotax S was able to push the boat up onto the plane fairly quickly, and in-gear acceleration was progressive rather than instant.

A big positive of the Rotax S is that there is no scheduled servicing in the first five years of operation. Instead, there are annual or 100-hour inspections just to check things are going well and to perform minor maintenance such as removing fishing line that has become wrapped around the prop shaft.

So what of the extended rear deck? It’s a really good resource to have for watersports such as towing a sea biscuit or even just taking a dip to cool off and – dare we say it, but everyone does it – go to the toilet.

It’s also good if you want to use the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback as a fishing platform, with enough depth to the deck to set up a couple of deck chairs with rod holders.

Few boats impress right off the mark when you measure them against their brief. This one does.

This is a family pontoon boat, meant to explore local waterways. It doesn’t need to put performance ahead of comfort, so the focus is definitely on the latter.

And it does that very well. But its standout feature is that clever tri-toon hull design that gives the Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback a huge amount of stability both on the move and at rest. On the move, it provides a safe, comfortable and predictable ride and handling that suits everyone from first-time skippers up to experienced boaties. At rest, it’s a great entertainer offering easy access to the water – the whole reason you’re on this boat in the first place.

The Manitou Explore 22 MAX Switchback is also an excellent platform to adapt to the unique Rotax S outboard engine.

It’s a premium package, but definitely delivers a premium experience.

Priced from: $176,098 including dual rear Switchback lounges; high-backed helm chair; woven vinyl floor; LED navigation, docking and interior floor lights; ski tow pylon; bimini; 4x stainless steel cleats; 12 USB recharging points; 12 cupholders; 4 speaker Fusion audio system; 9.0-inch Garmin EchoMAP combination chartplotter/fishfinder

Price as tested: $179,300 including Signature Bundle (underfloor storage light, house battery with smart switch, privacy station curtain, dinette table, aft audio system remote, wireless charging pad, high-backed helm chair with lift-up bolster), Select Bundle (LED backlights behind cupholders, 6-speaker Fusion audio system with amplifier and subwoofer)

Supplied by: Manitou Pontoon Boats