Quintrex 650 Ocean Spirit

Those who might feel claustrophobic will appreciate the cabin roof hatches which open from the helm bulkhead to just behind the anchor well. We think a retaining clip or strap on the large hatch would be handy as it will slam shut when the boat rolls in big sea or when there is a stiff breeze coming over the starboard forequarter.

The opening centre pane in the windscreen folds forward and down onto the top of the main hatch where it is secured. The main hatch then opens to starboard. This gives unfettered access to the anchor well alleviating the need to struggle through small roof hatches or walking around the coamings on the outside of the cabin.

The aft end of the leg well has a lined locker in the deck and high rails at the end of the bunks serve to retain any bunk cushions should they be installed or any other gear stowed there.

Each side of the fixed remainder of the windscreen is supported by a strut and the screen curves around in one piece for an uninterrupted view out over the forequarters.

The helm station has a flat top on which the Lowrance five-inch depth sounder was mounted and here there would be room for a similarly mounted cabinet up to around eight-inches in the screen without any interference from the windscreen behind.

Still at the helm, the seating is high-backed bucket-seat style mounted on short pedestals which are fixed to stowage boxes on the deck. These boxes taper inwards toward the forward end alleviating the stubbing of toes on the corners when going to and from the seating.

In the cockpit, we find a typical Quintrex-style finish with the use of moulded plastic liners that retain basic flotation behind. There are side pockets within these liners and recessed blanks in which flush-mounted audio speakers can be installed.

The walk-through transom door is located in the starboard side of the rear bulkhead above a raised platform with scuppers on either side. This raised platform also prevents gear sliding out of the cockpit onto the boarding platform should the transom door be left open.

The door itself locks tight with no rattles. When opened, it leads out onto the boarding platform where a swing-down boarding ladder is installed. It has been engineered at the factory rather than being an aftermarket accessory and looks strong enough to take a diver and their associated gear.

The remaining three quarters of the transom has a very broad flat top in which a bait rigging table can be mounted and there’s room for  an optional live bait tank too.

The face of the transom has a permanent cushion to lean against when the rear lounge is down or rest your legs against when fishing.

Behind the seat, the cranking battery and its isolation switch as well as the ETEC engine oil supply are located fixed to the raised platform.
 

The hull is Quintrex’s latest design that will take them most likely into the next decade; the Millennium hull having held them in good stead for the last. As the name suggests it has no problem cutting through chop and in fact gives a smoother ride in chop than their hulls of the former design.
 

If pelagic offshore fishing is your style you will run this boat at around eight knots and 1900rpm for 5.1 litres per hour. Bump the throttle to 2000rpm you will have 9.5 knots on the GPS while using 7.2 lph. An easy cruise of 26 knots and 4000rpm will use 31 lph and if time is of the essence 4500 rpm will give you 28.6 knots for 39.4 lph. At the WOT of 5400 rpm 60.1 litres of fuel is being burnt per hour for 38.2 knots of speed.

Would you need 200 hp? Well, this boat is rated to carry eight people with a total payload of 1020kg and if contemplating this sort of heavy hauling or perhaps a smaller group of divers and all their tanks and weights; perhaps. For the average fish and family boater though, we doubt it.

As far as its ocean-going capabilities, we were hamstrung on the day with strong winds outside so we had to be content to run around the Gold Coast’s Broadwater.

This boat as reviewed is definitely worth further investigation. It’s not a bank account breaker and could be towed with a big six cylinder vehicle without a problem.