New Quintrex Apex hull is a game changer

Australia’s best-selling boat brand Quintrex claims its new Apex hull is as revolutionary as the debut of the original flared hull way back in 1968 and the Millennium hull in 1999 — both of which proved to be significant historical milestones for Quintrex.

The introduction of the flared hull bottom and Millennium hull were certainly game-changers for Quintrex, giving this household name a substantial advantage over rival brands.

Quintrex is now banking on the new Apex hull proving equally successful. After spending several hours testing the new hulls, our preliminary viewpoint is that these new hulls do represent a major step forward in alloy hull design.

As you can see, they also look wildly different to traditional vee hulls — which in itself is and advantage and a key selling point for Quintrex.

SEVERAL YEARS IN R&D
Accordingly to the supplied literature, Quintrex spent several years researching and developing the new Apex hulls — and we can vouch for that, having spotted a very earlier development "mule" testing on the Gold Coast Broadwater back in 2014.

As noted, the Apex hull looks entirely different to regular vee monohulls. At first glance the forked bow shape is the standout feature, but upon closer inspection you can see that the chines now rise up to the forked deck line at the bow instead of finished at the stem.

The stem itself has a relaxed, more gentle angle to it than the Blade hull, while the sharp vee flare now extends right out to the chines, and further back down the hull — in recognition that it is more important to have the vee cutting surface a metre or so back from the stem where the hull actually meets the water surface.

WATER TESTS
On the water the benefits of the new hull are pronounced. In choppy water the Apex hull rides very softly and comfortably. It is drier than the blade hull too — as the hull flare now rises up to the deck line and is able to catch spray and deflect it away from the boat.

General handling is also very good. In a following sea the more relaxed stem shape and easy sloping bow sections allow the hull to slide, almost skid out of wave troughs, while the wider chines and extended vee bottom flare now give the hull limpet-like grip when cornering — a feature that will lend these new hulls to all manner of towsports.

DECK DESIGNS
The new hull design has benefits above the water line too. The forked bow — which carries the wide beam all the way forward — creates substantially more internal space at the bow enabling Quintrex to include a larger seating area in the Freestyler bowriders and a bigger casting deck in the Frontier fishing rigs.

A new side deck and coaming design also differentiates the Apex models from regular Quintrex boats. The new "Raised Side Decks" increase the internal volume of each boat, raise the cockpit freeboard by around 80mm, and provide a distinctive new appearance.

FREESTYLER AND FRONTIER
The Freestyler and Frontiers displaying during the launch were the first boats in complete new model line-ups, and for the moment are the only boats available with the new Apex hull.

The Freestylers are available in five sizes including the 510, 530, 550, 590 and 630. All have the Apex hull and the new Quintrex Raised Side Decks which make the boats deep inside, and safer for young children.

The new Frontier models from Quintrex are open fishing boats built around the same six Apex hulls as the Freestyler bowriders, so they too are available in 510, 530, 550, 590, and 630 model sizes.

The Frontiers are targeted at anglers looking for a versatile craft capable of fishing lakes and rivers on one day, then heading out to coastal offshore waters the next.

VERDICT
The new Quintrex Apex hulls are radically different to
traditional rounded bow vee monohulls and polarising in appearance, but
they certainly do work.

On the water the hulls are soft, safe,
stable, dry and spacious, attributes that will certainly endear them to
new boat buyers around the country.

Read all our Quintrex Reviews including the new Apex hull models
More at Quintrex