Quintrex 445 Hornet Trophy

The mid-range craft in the Quintrex purpose-built fishing boat lineup, the 445 Hornet is sure to be in the water more often than out. After just one day's boating in the Hornet, I was struggling to hand it back the Newcastle Quintrex dealer, Terrace Boating.

Terrace Boating is only a ski-jump away from the meandering Hunter River, the marine gateway to the vineyards and coal mines of NSW, so what better place to put a hardcore fisher like the Hornet Trophy through its design brief?

CASTING DECK
For a small, open craft, the 445 Hornet Trophy packs a welcome punch. Although it's plated to carry four, the 445 is an ideal size for a lone angler, a father-son fishing trip or for the occasional attempt to show the missus why you love fishing so much.

The compact and light-weight hull makes one-person launch and retrieval practical, while grabrails around the transom to the gunwales make boarding from shore easy, so you just have to climb over the Maxi Pod to access the deck.

Bow boarding is just as easy, as there are no bow rails to contend with, just tie-off points amidships. The smaller 400 and 435 Hornet models do have longer bowrails. There are also 400 standard and 400 wide body models available in the range, but these are basically runabouts without the fishing decks, whereas the 445 is the designed as a hardcore fishing platform.

This is evident in the beauty of the front casting deck. It is nearly 1.5m deep, and almost the full-width of the two-metre beam, which adds up to an impressive amount of fishing space.

 The casting deck features a huge storage locker installed beside a bait tank, and two more lockers underneath, but the highlight is a removable casting seat within reach of the optional Minn Kota electric motor with foot control. All the necessary cables and connections are undercover.

Quintrex has included thoughtful details for fishos, such as the cleat at the bow for tying off, as well as two grab handles at the rear of the front deck, which also house the nav lights. Deck lights are well situated for night fishing and won't cast a beam overboard. The gunwales sport two rodholders, with two inbuilt drinkholders standard. Large killtanks will enable long spells out on the water.

The decks are comfortable and easy to move about when the boat is at rest, and there are plenty of storage spaces to keep tackle, jackets and lunch out of the way of feet.

HELM AHOY
The pod is about 40cm deep with an access cover to the inner hull either side of the Yamaha 60hp four-stroke. Every piece of the deck-space has been thoughtfully used; the deep rear deck holds a 48lt bait tank and storage space to hide the easy-access fuel filter and battery isolator switch.

The cockpit has two swivelling fold-down seats and fully-carpeted decks. Vision is excellent, as the seating is high above the gunwales. There is plenty of legroom, and space to stow lifejackets or a tackle box under the helm console.

Steering and throttle both fall naturally to hand, and the instrument panel is easy to read. There is a wraparound small screen but its height suggests it is intended more as protection for the Yamaha digital tacho and speedo than for driver and passengers. There is some wind blast at the helm.

The tacho also has a trim gauge as well as temperature and oil warning lights with a digital fuel gauge and clock in the speedo. The test boat had a bracket for the yet to be fitted Lowrance 102C colour sounder. Under the sounder is an AM/FM radio as well as light and bilge switches.

STABLE HULL
To the uninitiated, modern purpose-built bass/bream boats may seem a bit unstable, but, believe me, the manufacturers have done their homework.

Every model in the Hornet Trophy range sports a patented Eclipse V-Flared Hull, which Quintrex is designed to be suitable for smooth and rough water. The "super-vee" hull shape at the bow flares radically through to the transom, in a semi-tunnel design that turns downwards to the waterline. This is supposed to generate extra lift by trapping air and drawing it underneath, ideally providing flexibility and lift for the stability of a punt that can handle the choppy stuff as well. The standard deadrise on a Quintrex hull is 12 degrees, but the Eclipse Hull sharpens to 16 degrees.

Being on the expanse of the Hunter River on a pristine day, I didn't get the Hornet Trophy into any chop - so I had to make my own, zipping through my wake (and any others I could find). Those small waves didn't faze this craft at all, and no matter how hard I steered it, the Hornet Trophy remained flat and level with a surprising lack of hull tilt.

Although the Hornet Trophy is much slower than a tunnel hull ski boat, the handling was comparable. The boat remained level in tight turns.

At rest, the craft remained steady, with little tendency to tilt, even with a rowdy boat tester hanging over the side. The Hornet Trophy is a safe boat that will put mums and dads with older kids at ease. It doesn't have the freeboard of the average runabout, but all Quintrex boats include level floatation, which means that even if swamped with water, people and gear, the craft will still float. Given the stability of this craft, there would have to be some serious hi-jinx going on to upset it.

ZIPPITY DO DAH
 The Hornet lived up to its zippy namesake. The Yamaha 60hp primeless ignition fired into life with a single turn of the starter motor. With a bit of throttle, the Yammie stepped the boat out of the hole and onto the plane in less than three seconds. Once there, the boat motored along effortlessly to hit a top speed of more than 60kmh at around 5200rpm. The most economical cruising range would be 4000rpm, which sees you punting along at around 50kmh.

The trim is not overly sensitive and it is easy to find the correct neutral level for motoring without having to exert too firm a grip to counteract the steering. Steering required both hands at speed.

In hard turns, even with the engine fully trimmed, the boat had a tendency to cavitate. It's not a machine for on-water circle work, but for everyday motoring, the 445 Hornet Trophy will suit all bar the fussiest drivers - and you don't want to be on a boat with them anyway!

HIGHS

LOWS