Trailcraft Sportscab 6600 Malcolm Douglas

Malcolm Douglas is a living legend in Australia. The Aussie adventurer and documentary maker will forever be welcomed on the wide-screens in many Australian households. Ditto his faithful cattle dog.

A bushman who has lived with aborigines and knows all the survival tricks, Malcolm has now lent his name to a special edition of WA boatbuilder Trailcraft’s Sportscab 6600.

A regular to the wild Kimberley region, he sought a boat with the cruising range to gad about the wild west of Australia - where the tides can be 10m high and low - and access remote areas. That means big built-in tanks, self-sufficiency, shelter from the elements and sleeping space, plus the ability to carry a huge amount of gear and get back home in the face of adversity or engine failure.

What’s more, Malcolm isn’t averse to fishing so his eponymous special edition Trailcraft needed to be a fishing boat, too. Depending on how fishy you want it, there’s still a lot of scope to customise the boat for serious trailerable gamefishing.

Fittingly, the Sydney dealer made something special of its demo Malcolm Douglas Sportscab 6600, launched at the Sydney Boat Show. As it does each boat show season, Boater’s World commissioned a custom spray job from Advanced Airbrush, which painted an eye-catching Kimberley scene on the hull, complete with croc, jumping barra and billabong backdrop. Needless to say, the kiddies playing on the beach alongside were agog. But there’s more to this boat than just eye candy.

SPECIAL FITOUT
Specifically, the Malcolm Douglas Sportscab 6600 has a 310lt long-range fuel tank, a heavy-duty hardtop with radio box, welded, robust, alloy rodholders, an extra large cutting board, and on the test boat there was an optional 9.9hp four-stroke Yamaha auxiliary on a factory bracket.

 The main engine was a Yamaha four-stroke 150hp outboard spinning a 19-inch stainless steel prop. If you envisage carrying a big load, a 17-inch wheel is better suited. I believe Douglas straps 44 gallons of fuel, carries additional water, all the camera gear, a swag, his dog, and more in his boat.

For such jobs, the Sportscab 6600 is an amazing high-volume hull with a super-wide 2.55m beam. In fact, it will require a permit to tow. But, given the width of many American boats these days, that won’t pose a problem. The laser-cut hull – reducing the risk of uneven surfaces – features a 5mm-thick bottom and 4mm sides, with a 6mm transom and central keel beam, plus box section stringers and cross members.

Flotation is achieved via a sealed, self-draining floor, but thankfully there is a riveted inspection hatch under the glued carpet that grants access to the fuel sender and top of the integral alloy tank. The hull is faired for a smooth finish before being painted and backed by a two-year structural warranty.

UTILITY
The keyword with the 6600 Sportscab is utility. The huge plate boat has a commodious cockpit that’s so wide you can sleep across its deck. It’s also got great access to the water through a walkthough transom and deep boarding platform, under which the hull running surface extends. This provides buoyancy to the transom and the setup appeals to divers as well as anglers, I’m told.

Then there is the cabin and hardtop that together, especially with aftermarket clears, provide protection from the elements. And while centre consoles are always popular fishing boats, cabin boats are fast catching up. Everywhere you look on the wide blue yonder these days there are cabin boats at anchor, trolling and drift fishing.

This is an easy boat to get around. Non-skid decks, grabrails and a high bowrail provide support. You can also reach the foredeck through a cabin hatch. If you were to fit outriggers to this boat, as I believe you must, just make sure they are mounted off the hardtop so you can walk around the sidedecks.

Such is the strength of the well-supported hardtop that Douglas unfurls his swag and is known to sleep up there. Others might consider mounting a fish-spotting tower. A six-rod rocket launcher is provided.

Back on the foredeck I found a deep anchor well and a windlass is an option, but for my money I would employ a side anchoring system with dan buoy. Robost bollards are dotted about the deck, along with the six welded rodholders and big aft grabrails.

DUTIFUL DEALER
I get to see a lot of engine setups in my travels and full marks go to the dealer for this waterpoof arrangement. The dealer moved the fuel filter inboard, but brought the rigging, including fuel and steering lines, closer to the motor for a cleaner fitup. Being a wet area, everything was made waterproof and with fewer lines there’s less to snag, gaff or damage by mistake.

You can walk out onto the boarding platform, which has a portside fold-down ladder, and the boat barely shifts. Such is the buoyancy and support from the broad hull underneath that the powerhead on the extra-long shaft Yammie outboard was well above the water with two adults standing out back.

You could mount a berley pot on the transom, but watch the toes at sea. It would be easy for a mako to sidle over the checkerplate area. But for that, the access might come in handy for clearing the rod tip around the motor while fighting a deep-slugging tuna or a big kingfish from a dead boat.

The boarding platform will also assist with gaffing and netting fish. I judged there to be enough room for carrying a tub of bait or berley or mounting a livebait tank, though a small bait tank is provided in the transom.

Along with the built-in bait tank, which needs to be fitted with a scoop for water on the run, there is a storage box with twin batteries well off the floor, access to the aforesaid fuel filter, and an optional dealer-fitted Jabsco pump with deckwash. The cutting board on the Malcolm Douglas special was oversized, to allow him to fillet his barra I guess.

PACK 'EM IN
The boat has a utility box in the transom, twin three-quarter-length sidepockets and big seat boxes. Best of all, a floor hatch lifts on a gas strut to reveal a decent wet well. It drains when underway and you can screw in the bung for dry storage.

There is dry storage under the vee berth in the cabin, but backrests and sidepockets are optional. There’s also a portable chemical loo.

As it was, you could catch 40 winks on the vee berth, especially given the optional infill, and sit out of the weather on the bunks. But the cockpit floor was actually a much larger potential sleeping area, especially with the addition of a mattress. Add covers to make a trailerable camper.

Last but not least, another plug for the dealer. While it isn’t protected by a cover, the wiring was very neatly done, with heat-shrink sealed joins, grommets on all the drill holes through which wiring passes, and conduits and cable ties where appropriate.

DRIVING STATION
The boat’s helm station and seemingly stouter helm seats than those once used by Trailcraft provide a good cruising setup. More importantly, there are handholds and legroom to drive standing up, and the dash is accommodating of electronics.

 The demo boat had Yamaha’s new 2007 multifunction engine gauges: fuel gauge with instant litres per hour, total use, economy settings and more, tacho with trim and trip, speedo with fuel gauge, and optional water gauge (a 96lt tank can be fitted to this boat).

A Furuno GP7000F combo chartplotter/sounder with 50/200kHz transducer was fitted to the centre dash panel, while the radio box was overhead. The boat also had a decent spread of waterproof switches. Trim tabs are an option I would fit to keep the boat stable in cross winds and with an offset load.

HEADING WIDE
Although I guessed the boat’s wide hull and relatively flat run aft would encourage easy planing, I didn’t think it would be quite this willing with a four-stroke outboard and 200lt of fuel. The Yamaha 150 shot the boat to planing speed with virtually no discernible transition or labouring. The boat held plane at 2400rpm and 10.8kts. Low-speed cruise was clocked at 18.6kts at 3000rpm with some out-trim on the outboard. Consumption of 16.2lt/h equates to a safe working range of more than 320 nautical miles, leaving 10 per cent of the 310lt fuel supply in reserve. Just huge.

At 3500rpm, the boat cruises at 23.2kts for 22.5lt/h and a safe range of 290 nautical miles. If seas are calm, you might be able to do 27.5kts at 4000rpm and 30.8kts at 4500rpm. Top speed was 35.2kts. At all speeds the Yamaha was smooth, quiet and agreeable.

Of course, with such a high-volume hull ride, comfort will centre on keeping the forefoot in the water. Insist on loading it up with gear and driving it with a view to keeping the bow down.

But, as Douglas attests, the boat is a fine working platform and a decent fishing machine. And it’s a huge amount of boat for your money.

Move over Malcolm Douglas. Here we come...


HIGHS