Trailcraft 4.7 Runabout

The sheer number of small boats facing the prospective buyer is mind-boggling. On face value, and when perusing their respective brochures, many have similar specifications and standard options. But when one gets down to the nitty-gritty, a few have particular advantages that put them rivers ahead of the flotilla.

One of these is Trailcraft's 4.7m Runabout. Trailcraft are not new to the alloy boat scene. They make up part of the huge aluminium boat manufacturing industry in Western Australia, and it was there that we took this runabout for a spin off Fremantle.

The first impression of the boat on the trailer is one of 'another aluminium boat to test'. However, off its carriage and in the water, this boat takes on a new dimension. At a beamy 2.2m, cockpit space is great for a boat that is only just over double its beam in length.

A fully-carpeted deck with no interruptions further adds to the ballroom-effect of the cockpit, which offers the sort of space usually found in much bigger boats. Another big boat feature is the walk-through transom door that gives access to the floating pod. This door is almost the full depth of the transom, rather than the half-size aperture often seen in boats that must retain a good percentage of their transom or sacrifice strength.

On top of this, the Trailcraft still taunts those in the big boat league with a fully-sealed floor and scuppered deck encapsulated in a hull that consists of 3mm pressed plate sides and 4mm pressed plate bottom! This boat is far from your average tinnie.

With the transom door closed, anglers can stand right in the aft corner between the gunwale and a raised box that sports a padded cushion and a small lower-back rest against the inside face of the transom coaming.

Lifting the lid on this box reveals a battery inside a plastic box stored in one corner and about 150lt of dry storage for such things as oil, lifejackets and other necessary gear.

The starboard aft corner is uncluttered with just a short pocket running from that side to the side of the storage box.

Running toward the bow from each aft corner, sidepockets extend to just past centre of the cockpit.

Comfortable swivel seats with padded bottom, back and arm rests are installed for skipper and a passenger.

The passenger dash has a flush-mounted glove compartment in its face and a four-station switchboard for navigation lights and the like within arms reach of the skipper. This is next to the short companionway that provides access to the centre-opening windscreen and anchorwell. A raised handrail is attached to the top of the dash for passenger grip.

The opening windscreen has two lever locks to fix it shut. When opened, the Perspex door folds out and rests against the bowrail. This aperture, when opened, provides plenty of room to work the ground tackle. Squat bowrails surround the foredeck and stop at the point where the tinted windscreen starts.

On the skipper's side, Mercury instrumentation is easily read. Mechanical cable steering operates the 60hp outboard without hitches. Typical wall-mounted engine controls are close but do not encroach on elbow space.

Dry storage is available under the dash area. A rail with an amplimesh insert runs almost the full width of this space to stop gear from sliding back into the cockpit.

Two plastic rodholders graced the aft corners of the gunwales and a removable anchor light stem was also positioned there.

A fuel filler cap located atop the coaming fed a healthy 120lt aluminium fuel tank below deck, which included a sender unit to the dashboard gauge.

Astern, a good-quality boarding ladder folds down when required and locks out of the way with the use of an elastic toggle strap. It has ramps that hold the steps out from the hull at an angle that make for easy boarding.

Another plus is the overlarge transom bracket, which has plenty of room foran extra transducer or speed and temperature module or both.

Underway, the testboat effortlessly lifted the 300kg human payload out of the water. The boat didn't sit in the hole on take off. Rather, due to its beaminess, it behaves like a punt in that it climbs over the water and accelerates gradually.

That is where the similarities to a punt-style boat end, however. While not an ideal day to put a boat such as this through its paces due to the calm seas, we got the impression that while it was beamy, offering great stability dead in the water and underway, it was reasonably gentle through the water. Running over self-made wash, the hull remained dry, with water being laid out wide and flat.

The testboat planed at 3000rpm and 17.7kmh. A 36.1kmh cruise was achieved at 4000rpm and a top speed of 50kmh was reached at 5000rpm.

While this runabout is designed primarily for estuary and inland fishing, we would have no qualms about running it along the coast and putting it to more rigorous use than we could during the test.