Silver Condor 730

Fine Finnish

Let's start with a geography lesson courtesy of Wikipedia, which we will suppose is accurate. The web-based encyclopaedia says Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands: 187,888 lakes larger than 500m and 179,584 islands to be precise. Lake Saimaa is, in fact, the fifth largest in Europe. Naturally, then, it's a nation of boaters who like to hear the water lap by the lake shore.

While I haven't been boating in Finland, you could be excused for thinking the Finnish have been boating here. Europe's biggest Alufibre boatbuilder, Silver from Finland, is no herring in the seven seas  of tinnie manufacturers. Spawning an impressive 3000 boats a year, each based on an aluminium hull topped with a fibreglass deck for greater comfort than the traditional bum-numbing bench seats, Silver is out to redefine our notion of how a tinnie should perform.

Yet the Finns, I understand, aren't altogether different from Australians when it comes to how they use their boats. Fishing and family are the primary motives for floating their boat, which is why most Silvers are designed to do a bit of everything really very well. Nordic fusion, if you will. Though the Condor 730 pictured here is a very different kettle of fish.

The new flagship of the Silver range, the Condor takes the concept of dayboating a lot farther than a lake. It's a fascinating runabout with contemporary styling, a terrific seating layout, sweet performance from a single 300hp Mercury four-stroke Verado outboard spinning a 21in prop, and a tinnie hull that lets you pull your boat up to a beach and not worry about scrapes to gelcoat from hidden rocks and shells.

And there is some genuine innovation on this boat, such as the three-piece windscreen, whose wings fold inboard on gas struts so you can walk around the helm console and access the bow. Finnish brilliance and, for a tinnie, a brilliant finish.

While a cursory glance at the Condor reveals it's some kind of bowrider, that most popular of trailerboat layouts for general-purpose use, there the sameness ends. The layout is actually a centre console with a big forward storage area which you top with the supplied clip-in cushions to create a communal sunpad. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Back to the boating.

Such is the impression that the Condor made when it was launched at the last Scandinavian Boat Show that Silver collected an Innovation Award. It's well deserved when you look at the boat hereabouts, a boat that you could never imagine our tinnie manufacturers ever dreaming up. Maybe they need to think big and outside the square?

Measuring 7.27m overall, the Condor is a substantial tinnie, with sufficient freeboard, buoyancy and stability for crossing big bays, harbours and even offshore waters with a boatload of crew. The rating is for up to eight people and, unlike some boats that push the envelope, this one actually has dedicated cockpit seats for them all. And with swivelling action, you can all face each other and the supplied table with a dozen drink-holders. Beats a Yankee boat on that score.

The boat comes standard with a 12V Engel fridge, which was to be fitted, a canopy for shade and even an umbrella. A portable marine head could be carried in the huge forward subfloor compartments that offer storage for everything from water toys to fishing gear. Teak veneer flooring adds to the style, but it's the helm station that has the wow factor.

Think Euro sportscar, with a carbon-fibre dash and dedicated mounting spots for analogue engine gauges including SmartCraft function for fuel consumption, padded sports wheel, groovy chrome DTS throttle and gearshift on a centre console. Along with a Raymarine C80 and a spread of rocker switches, it's a really car-like layout.

As touched on, the three-piece windscreen is a work of art. The wings fold inwards thereby creating thoroughfares to the bow. Outstretched, they offer a useful amount of wind protection even for those seated behind. And just the right amount of chrome or stainless steel, as it was, sets off the whole package.

Construction is something that Silver stands behind. The Condor has a 5mm hull bottom with 2.5mm sides and a fully welded 5mm box-section grid comprising aluminium cross-members and longitudinals for rigidity and to stop metal fatigue. A fibreglass deck is added to the hull and the void between the two skins is filled with foam.

Should the Condor be swamped, no worries, Silver says the boat is virtually unsinkable. In fact, it will float, and remain level and upright, unlike many boats this length whose flotation results in them inverting. What's more, the hull is self draining while the foam provides sound insulation. The typical thump-thump associated with your run-of-the-mill tinnie was noticeable by its absence.

Stainless steel bowrails trace the gunwales of the Condor and the internal freeboard is nice and deep to help contain the kiddies, the dog, and the better half. The rail also provides useful handholds for the bow-to-stern seating and possibly for mounting rodholders, cutting boards, even a gas or heatbead barbie.

Yet it's a split rail so that, along with some non-skid on the deck, you can safely step off this boat onto the shore. Which I did after a beach landing, proving this to be a handy boat for staging foreshore picnics with the family after a morning stint of fun running.

Thanks to a deep engine well, this is a doubly dry boat that won't ship water going forward and astern. Dry storage space isn't in short supply, either, with some four square metres in plenty of hatches for stowing safety and personal gear, and an anchor locker in the bow. You could create a massive icebox for a summer party with the moulded holds, while a windlass is an option, as is a targa arch.

Obviously, the Condor comes with hydraulic steering, which you will want with a 300hp behemoth of a four-stroke on the tail. The boat has a substantial 340lt underfloor fuel tank, good access to the sender and inline fuel filter, bilge with pump and dual battery system.

The boat also has great access to the water via its non-skid topped aft decks either side of the deep engine well. And there is the requisite swim ladder. With a VDO marine stereo with remote, it's pretty much a just-add-water, optional electronics and fishing gear or inflatable toy kind of dayboat to go.

Acceleration from a standing start was impressive with the big four-stoke on the tail. The Condor planed smoothly at 3000rpm for a handy 17.2-knot low-speed cruise and 25.6lt/h. As a light ship with no-one in the bow, the boat travels nicely at 3500rpm and, allowing us to trim the outboard leg up a tad, we are now scooting along at 25.6kts cruise for just 37.4lt/h. Sans thumps, too, although upon an albeit pretty calm harbour.

The accepted economical rev setting on any outboard, that is 4000rpm, returned 30.2kts cruise, which is fast but not so enthusiastic that the boat leaps out of the water. Consumption was a miserly 30.2lt/h. At 4500rpm the boat raced to 35.7kts but consumption jumps to 83.5lt/h, 5000rpm gave 40.5kts for 108lt/h and top speed was 46kts at 5500rpm.

But what matters most on a fast dayboat is comfort and the thrill of the ride. And in this respect the Condor performed atypically for a tinnie. There were no backbreaking thumps, no douses of spray on the face and, thanks to the four-stroke outboard, no fumes and little harsh noise to contend with. A fine Finnish. Aussie tinnie manufacturers take note.