Trailcraft 475 Tournament

Centre-console tinnies are still among the most popular boats for inshore fisherman. No-one has yet to better the simplicity and practicality of a central driving position and walk-around configuration for fishing in mid-sized boats, as the design places cockpit space above creature comforts, and that's what most serious fishos on a budget demand. The other benefit of the design is cost: without expensive wrap-around screens, a cabin and a canopy, you're saving critical dollars by buying a centre console.

If you can handle a bit of breeze and the odd lick of spray when running out to the reef in a cross-wind, then the affordability and practicality of the centre-console design could be for you.

The Trailcraft 475 Tournament doesn't break new ground on the proven design. However, the major selling points for the boat over some of its competition will be of great interest for readers looking to buy a mid-sized aluminium centre console.

DESIGN AND BUILD
Firstly, the hull is built from thick plate aluminium - but in a first for the industry the boat has attractive pressed clinker sides for aesthetics. The advantage of plate lies in its thickness, strength and the economies it offers during the build process.

The other advantage the 475 Tournament offers in its construction is the strength and quality of its welds. Rather than "stitch" welding - small welds every few centimetres - the seams are fully welded. Along high-stress areas such as keel, chines and gunwales, the joins are welded both inside and out.

The Tournament hull has the deck welded and sealed onto the boat, making a watertight compartment under your feet. With a pair of oversized scuppers in the stern, the cockpit is self-draining, which has more advantages than the obvious safety aspect. When you're leaving the boat in the water on holidays, rainwater can drain overboard rather than slowly filling the bilge, and when it's time to pack up and go home, you can give the cockpit a blast with the hose and wash the fresh water out of the scuppers. Self-draining decks are a more common feature of much larger boats, so this feature is a feather in Trailcraft's cap.

Design-wise, the boat has an adequate amount of vee in the bow which flattens down to a 15 degree deadrise at the stern for stability. Prominent chines also stop the boat tipping excessively at rest and work to throw spray low.

While you can't expect the ride of a ‘glass boat, you're not paying the price for one, and if driven sensibly, the Tournament handles well enough that you won't get the crap beaten out of you when running home ahead of the weather. The other great aspect of centre consoles is that they're designed to be driven standing up, which allows you to use your legs as shock absorbers to save your back when planing over big swells or running into a strong headwind.

INSIDE OUT
Inside is pretty much what you'd expect in a boat of this kind. In the short bow deck you'll find a deep anchor well which will swallow 50m of silver rope and a sand anchor, and an extra heavy-duty bowsprit and roller traced with a low painted pipe alloy bowrail. Some anglers might prefer to have a higher rail for safety, but as the casting deck is quite deep, there's enough support to keep you safe when fishing off the front.

The cockpit sole is carpeted, and drops down a few centimetres at the console to before running back to the stern. Either side there are deep sidepockets and a pair of rodholders in the wide coamings. Four would be better as standard.

The "fastback" stern treatment is a good one: there's an inward-opening transom door to allow access to the rear pod platform upon which the outboard is mounted. There's a long, sturdy, fold-down boarding ladder which is of use when climbing aboard the boat when it's on the trailer. The door is not watertight, though it does have a decent fixture to hold it open.

DRIVE TIME
The console needs a little improvement. While wheel height and angle are fine, the control box is correctly mounted and not showing signs of poor installation, the gauges are easy enough to read when underway, and there's a good-sized space for a gimbal-mounted depth-sounder or sounder-GPS cabinet, I had problems with the screen. The builder will most likely address these issues in subsequent boats, but the test rig screen needed a little work.

First, the acrylic screen was tinted, which looks good but is damn near impossible to see through when seated and wearing sunnies, in low light conditions or when there's salt crusted on it. Second, it was unsupported and not finished properly - if you fell onto it by accident you could give yourself a cut on the forehead. There were no grabrails on the side of the console for passengers' safety.

All that's needed to fix the problem is a decent stainless rail tracing a clear Perspex screen. Not a big job at all. On the plus side there was a decent amount of room to tuck a camera bag, tackle box or your jacket beneath the console and more stowage on the tray beneath the wheel.

The test boat had an aluminum icebox seat with a nice padded lid mounted latitudinal-fashion, making a neat seat for two anglers when fishing, but I preferred to stand and drive and thankfully it didn't steal legroom.

 PERFOMANCE AND HANDLING
This was a feisty little boat powered by an optional four-stroke 60hp oil-injected Mariner. Hit the throttle and it leapt up onto the plane and quickly ran out to its top speed of an estimated 30kt or 55kmh.

The boat was trim sensitive and responded very well with the motor trimmed up a bit and the boat skipping from wave to wave in the substantial chop off Mandurah. As I said, it's a tinnie and there was some noise and a bit of bouncing when driven hard into a headsea, but it proved surefooted when driven beam-on to the waves. The boat loved running down-sea and was exceptionally manoeuvrable and responsive off the wheel. It felt nimble, eager was driven very hard in big chop without complaint. Fun!

I imagine this boat would love short early-morning runs to reefs along the eastern seaboard when seas are favourable to do battle with snapper, trag and kingies. Offshore it would be most comfortable fishing two-up, but in the river or bay three anglers could fish without stepping on deach other's toes.

Optional extras for the boat include a baitboard, plumbing for the livebait tank in the stern, upgraded sounder packages, radios and folding bimini top - all worthwhile additions.

When measured against other centre consoles, the 475 Tournament scores with its bulletproof hull, self-draining deck, a great trailer, a top quality paint finish and good value for money. It's a pretty boat, too, but the console needs improvement and, well, the ride is what you'd expect of a tinnie this size. Horses for courses, right? But at the end of the day, it's a boat most red-blooded saltwater fishermen would be only too proud to call their own.

A POINT OF DIFFERENCE
Plate aluminium is an ideal material for boatbuilding, and there's a lot of manufacturers out there that use it. It's strong, stiff and resistant to denting. Some, however, do it better than others, and the major point of difference with Trailcraft is in the construction techniques used (like full double weld along the keel, chines and gunwales), the exact tolerances achieved during the cutting of the sheet, and the fact that most Trailcraft models come with a sealed, self-draining deck. If anything, Trailcraft boats are over-engineered.

A CAD/CAM computer-controlled plasma cutter cuts the various parts of the boat from a sheet of plate alloy, and the machine allows for incredibly accurate, precise tolerances so the parts fit together properly. The bottom sheets (with a minimum thickness of 4mm, with the exception of the smaller dinghies, and up to 5mm bottoms on the larger boats) and side panels (which are also clinker-pressed by a large machine) are fully welded - not stitch welded, which some boating enthusiasts argue is weaker. Along high-stress areas like keel and chine-lines, the join is welded inside and out to give double the strength. Trailcraft also uses additional bulkheads under the deck for extra strength.

The floor is placed over the bulkheads and again, this is fully welded in to be completely watertight. The fuel tank is still accessible through a sealed hatch in the deck. All Trailcrafts (bar the small open dinghies) have fully-scuppered self-draining decks, an excellent safety feature and strong selling point. Foam flotation is also used to dampen noise and provide additional buoyancy.

The boats go through rigorous quality control checks at each stage of production, from build through to paintshop, fit-out and final finish. Only high-quality OEM parts are fitted.

All Trailcraft models are covered by a three-year warranty.

Trailcraft tinnies roll on Trailcraft I-beam trailers, which are manufactured on-site with each trailer specifically designed and fitted to particular hulls. This prevents damage to the hull that can be caused by dealers fitting incorrect trailers and voiding the warranty. The Trailcraft trailers are also extra heavy-duty and have been designed to prevent corrosion.


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