Maxum 1900SR

Our photographer reckoned this was the boating equivalent of a Lexus coupe. A big endorsement indeed, but he was on his first assignment for Trailer Boat and, well, a tad excited.

Then the dealer chimed in and said admirers at boat shows have also likened it to a car - the latest VW Beetle.

While I can see the resemblance between this boat and a sporty car, with the automotive-style designer dash with panache and the racy Sunbeam-yellow hull colour, the new Maxum 1900SR is more than motoring mimicry.

Here is a standout bowrider fighting for attention in the highly competitive summer boating market. Hence the renewed focus on style, on providing a flash finish and a contemporary car-like dash.

Far from being confined to an autobahn, the Maxum 1900SR has been designed expressly for hitting the dayboating trail. Kiss the bitumen at the boatramp goodbye and sally forth for a summer afloat. For this is definitely a savvy dayboat.

A CUT ABOVE
The first of the exciting new 2003 models from this big American boatbuilder, the Maxum 1900SR is a cut above the pack. Unsurprisingly, the boat solicited interest from waterfront homeowners looking for a chic dayboat.

Outside Queensland, where I enjoyed one of those signature sunny days dashing about the Gold Coast, the new Maxum is likely to win the hearts of big-city trailerboaters. The dayboat will match a Prado, Pajero or BMW four-wheeler rather nicely. And it won't look incongruous parked outside the best waterfront eatery in town.

Eye-candy can be found in places other than the designer dash. The decks are graced with swish stainless steel cleats that are somewhat more appealing than those garden-variety horn-shaped numbers. And there is a stainless steel rubrail, not a plastic one that's prone to scuffing.

The high-volume bow is graced with a groovy centre navigation light, horn speaker and twin stainless grabrails that are surely better than those flimsy plastic numbers seen on so many production boats.

I gauged the bowpit to be easily big enough for two adults, and the extra beam means plenty of buoyancy for crossing boat wakes and wind chop without shipping water.

Padded backrests, with storage behind, add to the comfort. There is also storage under the bow seats including a centre section that can be used to hold an anchor.

The new Maxum 1900SR had top quality marine grade vinyl upholstery with firm foam-filling and nice stitching. I also liked the dedicated nook in the bow for holding sunnies and the scalloping of the deck to provide extra elbow room.

FILLED TO FLOAT
What you don't see is the foam flotation. On the construction side of things, the boat felt quite stiff when hurtling down the choppy Seaway and crossing large boat wakes.

Maxum attributes this boat's ride characteristics to a hull built around a light but strong box-beam stringer system. It is claimed to be 70% stiffer than conventional stringer systems, 25% more resistant to torque and 100% more resistant to buckling. All the bulkheads are 'glassed in, too.

The boat's full fibreglass liner features three-piece construction technology. The US manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, who also make Bayliner boats, has an in-house development staff of engineers, naval architects and designers using the latest computer-aided design.

Robotic, computer-driven technology is used to fit hulls, decks and components together and to provide an ultra-smooth finish. Maxum offers a five-year structural hull and deck warranty on this boat.

The so-called Max-Trac hull offers loads of onboard space for a full complement of passengers. Seating exists for six to seven people, and just as importantly there is storage for everything from wetsuits and wakeboards to picnic baskets and drinks.

MADE FOR COMPANY
The wraparound five-piece windscreen, whose centre section opens and falls back on a stopper, is nice and high so you can look through it when seated, but not so upright as to compromise the sporty lines of the boat. The support struts are metal, not plastic.

The Sunbrella canopy canvas, kept in a zip-up sock, comes standard, as does the beautifully moulded dash topped in parts with soft upholstery.

Ahead of the copilot is a lined storage locker with lots of room for personals including your local waterway maps and a phone book so you can book a table for lunch.

The copilot is spoilt with accessories like a drinkholder, icebox with overboard drain and a recessed armrest. Waterproof speakers are alongside, as are lots of upholstered panels that make the boat comfortable to get around.

Underfloor is a central ski or wakeboarding locker that will come in handy for storing wetsuits, as it drains through to the bilge. There are also sidepockets, aft hatches to the steering and batteries and lots of plush clip-out carpet.

The seating comprises a back-to-back seat to port, swivel helm seats and aft quarter seats whose base is wide enough to take your average teenager.

A small hatch gives immediate access to the engine for quick checks and the entire engine box is removable in a matter of minutes for more serious surgery.

As is often the case, the quarter seats can be relocated alongside the padded engine box to create an aft sunpad. A full-width rear lounge seating arrangement is an option, but the standard portside back-to-back seat converts to a sunlounge in any case.

The top of the engine box folds open to create a very clever lunch table. Swivel the helm seat around and the cockpit seating is suddenly positioned around this table, which has four drinkholders and room for placing a burger or bowl of prawns from the local co-op.

The transom has the usual full-width moulded boarding platform, a concealed three-stage swim ladder, central ski-rope hook and concealed venting for the engine.

The platform has room to sit and dangle your feet while at anchor, as one does before diving in. Cockpit carpet is removable for post beach-party clean-ups.

BEST HELM OUT
The piece de resistance is that detail which has been getting everyone talking - the automotive-style dash with titanium finish and groovy retro-looking brushed-alloy rimmed Faria analogue gauges reminiscent of, err, a cool sportscar.

The gauges cover engine oil, temperature, RPM, fuel, volts, speed and trim. Amidst them is a small LCD numerical depth sounder with depth alarm. Toggle-style switches are also laid out in a stylish way. They control lights, the blower, bilge pump and accessories.

There was also a 12V outlet for the mobile or video camera and an hour meter. The sound system had been upgraded to include CD player. I can't think of anything else that you would need.

The helm seat, whose base can be folded up to create a bolster so you can sit up and look over the screen, make this boat great to drive in skinny water as well as through deep sweeping bends.

The padded tilt-adjustable (optional titanium) wheel is handy and recessed throttle just perfect. However, going hard astern was a hassle if you don't swing the seat out of the way of the throttle.

Maxum places the words 'sport boat' alongside the 1900SR. This isn't presumptuous but a fair call even with the base model 190hp V6 MerCruiser petrol inboard motor. Power options range from the 190hp to a 220hp and up to a 260hp inboard.

Maxum claims the top-end motor will return 92kmh top speed and a range of 177km. The top-speed projection with the base 190hp motor is 81kmh and maximum cruising range is boosted to 238km, the factory claims.

I thought the base motor with Alpha One drive was a nice match with this hull. The speedo must have needed calibrating because my figures were better than those the factory supplied.

There was a slight amount of bow lift before planing speed, but the boat leveled off to a slippery slow-speed cruise of 59kmh at 3500rpm while consuming about 30.5lt/hr. It could hold plane down to 2500rpm for wakeboarding.

Fast cruising came in at 4000rpm and 72kmh, while I recorded a top speed of 91kmh at 4950rpm. Such was the comfortable helm set-up that the boat felt under control no matter what speed I was doing. Mum and the kids will find 51kmh at 3000rpm nice and gentle for touring.

At no stage did spray kiss the high windscreen, and the boat did not bash or bang its way about the waterway thanks to a pretty sharp 19° vee at the transom. Rather, it acted as a comfortable conveyance, if not an upmarket sports boat befitting its casual berth outside Marina Mirage during lunchtime.

I've tested a few Maxums before but this, the first 2003 model, represents a marked switch and pitch to upmarket trailerboaters. Rather than being disposable, the new 1900SR deserves a loving home, undercover, in a garage, as you would for a prestige car.