Wellcraft 220 Coastal

We wrote the book on fishing boats, big and small. Fresh, original designs built to withstand the rigours of life in saltwater and still deliver years of dependable performance ...

"We fly where others fear to run. Offshore. It's where you put up or shut up. Go fishing or stay on the dock...

"We have a real attitude about building good boats...

"The Pros know. Success on the tournament circuit takes more than luck, it takes attitude. The kind of attitude that makes guys run 40 miles in six-footers just to find bait..."

So reads the Wellcraft brochure, the one titled, somewhat brazenly, Offshore Angling Authority. And don't you just love it? The hip sales talk, the imagery painted of blasting your way through six-footers, knees bent, hull flying, prop spinning in air, spearing from crest to crest like a perfectly pitched skipping stone.

BAY WATCH'S VICE
It's all sales talk, of course, perfectly pitched by American boating companies who are truly masters at selling the production boat. But in Wellcraft's case, the babble is backed by something of substance.

Wellcraft, in case you don't already know, is one of the biggest names in fibreglass boats in America. And one who leans very much towards the performance end of powerboating.

Think speed. Think Miami Vice. Think Bay Watch, if you must. But not boobs, we're talking Scarabs and offshore racing. And racing offshore to go fishing.

But while many sportsfishers in Wellcraft's range apply offshore-race technology. others, like the models in the Coastal range, are made for family fishing and not frightening the daylights out of poor mum and the hapless kiddies. That's pretty much the way it is with the new 220 Coastal, the subject of this article.

The Wellcraft brochure says it has all the practical fishing features of a larger boat packed into a 22-foot hull.

"It's not hard to understand why the 220 is becoming a favourite among fishing families who trailer to their favourite waters..."

Time to test Wellcraft's word...

OFFSHORE AND FAMILY FRIENDLY
The Wellcraft brochure shows the 220 Coastal, a walkaround or centre-cabin design, with dad at the helm, number one daughter in the passenger's seat, mum and a young son sitting on the rear lounge, all with baseball caps on, of course. As they flash cheesy grins, the boat skims across mirror-calm water.

But above this moral image hangs another. Dad sitting in the bow, fishing over the rail, probably for crappie, on a golden pond which is so calm the daughter is actually perched on the cockpit gunwale, her legs dangling perilously close to the water.

These images hardly fit the Australian idea of a 22-foot sportsfisher.

They are, in fact, marketing concepts created to sell the notion of fishing keeping the family together, which is the thrust of the latest marine advertising campaign in America.

Sure, the 220 Coastal can carry a family of four around flat water, but to me it's more a boat to take wide. Small it may be, but it packs a lot inside and, something more Australian fishing-boat builders should look at, has a seriously long-range 378lt fuel tank. There's a full day's cruising to the 100-fathom line, trolling, trolling and trolling some more, in that tank. For bait-fishing, the capacity of the live well is equally impressive around 80lt, and with rounded edges to keep at least a dozen Bermagui-size slimies kicking.

HIDDEN TREASURES
What I like best about American fishing boats - especially the giant-killers aimed at mixing it with the big boys for a fraction of the cost - is the way they incorporate their fishing features. As part of a fully-moulded liner, the fish boxes and livebait tanks, fuel tanks and storage hatches are all integral parts of the boat. Facilities are at hand, yet built in to keep the cockpit orderly.

The other thing you can't help but admire about them is their mouldings.

Since Americans pump out such a high volume of boats, they perfect their moulds before each new model is launched. And with big economies of scale, they retrieve tooling costs in no time. Thus they can afford to include more cosmetic surgery, bumps and curves, than a small-time builder.

And that brings us back to the 220 Coastal. For a 22-footer it has a big cabin. Big enough, in fact, to sleep two adults on the V-berth, which is at least 1.8m long by my testing. It'd be even better for sleeping if it had an infill.

The finish of the cabin is neat. Cushion covers are a blue canvas material which feels better on the skin than sticky vinyl. The curvaceous walls and ceiling are all carpet-lined. Light comes through windows and is joined by fresh air if you open the overhead hatch.

Side pocket storage is clever, using suspended nets rather than inefficient and imposing side pockets. The nets are ideal for holding everything from life jackets to safety gear.

Seating space is for three anglers, sleeping space for up to two, and if nature calls and you're not into tinkling over the side, then one can find privacy on the standard issue Porta-Potti.

There is a bi-folding door which doesn't swing both ways to close off the cabin and when hinged open, it creates a good-size companionway offset to port.

For all the possibilities, however, the cabin will mostly be used for cat-naps. It beckons for a quick 40 winks between strikes, as the drum of the outboard combined with too much bright sunshine and fresh air lulls you to sleep.

ROOM WITH A VIEW
At the helm, you should be shaded. So the bimini top, a listed option, should come as standard. Fitted as an option to the test boat, with the clear zipped out, you had ventilation behind the four-piece armour-plate glass windscreen. The view of the road ahead was also refreshingly clear, but a better set-up would be a bimini top running off a fold-down stainless targa and rocket launcher, as rod storage isn't a strength on this boat.

Such a targa would also get the outriggers up and out of the walkaround.

The helm is simple and very accommodating of fish-finding gadgetry.

SeaStar hydraulic steering was linked to a stout wheel. The dash included matt-black panels, one for mounting gauges alongside the wheel, and one below it where an impressive array of waterproof switches for the wiper, deckhose, live well pump and even live well light(!) were spread-out in single file.

A compass was flush-mounted above the wheel, but the best thing was the big electronics locker, where a sounder, GPS and marine radios can be mounted behind a removable perspex panel.

The pedestal seats (the driver's had a fold-down footrest) were also pretty neat. Contoured from moulded plastic with cushions, they are adjustable fore and aft and could be set-up for driving seated or standing up, without the need to readjust them.

The seats aren't too wide, so stepping from the cockpit into the cabin to get the lure wraps can be done swiftly.

STORAGE FOR THE FISH AND FAMILY
Storage is built-in everywhere it should be. At the foot of the pedestal seats are bins cutting back under the walkways. Just behind the seats is a big moulded bin on each side. They don't impinge on the cockpit or helm area, have padded tops for additional informal seating, and are functional. One is a big icebox, the other the 80lt livebait tank.

Underfloor - transverse in the cockpit sole - is a 1.50m-long fishbox which drains (as they all should) overboard and not into the bilge. It's the place to stuff bait and fish, such as mackerel, mahi mahi or wahoo, in preparation for the table.

The transom includes a bait-preparation area with cutting board and raw-water washdown. There is a waterproof three-tray tackle box flush-mounted into the transom wall, plus a big opening hatch leading into the bilge - and the batteries and their isolating switch.

DECKED OUT
Oil and petrol are fed onboard through deck-fillers. Other deck hardware includes four rod holders, a boarding ladder, a great bow rail - which hits at thigh-height and provides bracing when along the walkarounds - courtesy cockpit lights and those ubiquitous drink holders.

Up front, which is a still foot-over-foot prance to reach, you'll find a padded mother-in-law seat and deck gear which is perhaps a tad on the light side. The bow-sprit is moulded in, but the cleat isn't a big one and the rope locker is even smaller.

Serious offshore anglers will no doubt adopt a side-anchoring system, keeping the rope in a tub, on this boat. And though a listed option, the padded coamings skirting the cockpit are a little luxury everyone should shout themselves.

The transom is a walk-through design with an integrated half-pod and full-length boarding platform which, like the cockpit, is finished in a good grade of non-skid. The pod-and-platform, while not every sportsfishers' favourite configuration, isn't as obtrusive as some pods on larger boats. Berleying using a conventional pot won't be easy, however.

HULL OF A TIME
While the 30ft long Wellcraft Scarab Sport is a dart designed for high-speed running, with 24° of deadrise and a narrow 2.4m beam, the 220 Coastal is a fat, high volume hull by comparison.

The 220's beam is almost 200mm wider than the Scarab's at 2.59m, and its deadrise is a surprisingly moderate 17°.

The hull's entry is fine but it quickly fattens to accommodate the big centre cabin. The shoulders are quite broad and the chines, which really squeeze the spray very flat for a dry ride, are very pronounced. The dry weight of the hull is a moderate 1723kg with a single outboard.

To put it another way, it's no Scarab in performance. You do, in fact, have to walk the boat through the holes and try and keep the bow down and working - even using the trim tabs if you have to. Running through the bear pit that is the puddle under Sydney Harbour Bridge, the hull had to be walked through.

Yet stability, dryness, buoyancy and the overall comfort factor is very high. Everything's a trade-off and if you lean towards the comfort rather than cowboy mentality, the 220 Coastal will please. And with hydraulic steering, it is pleasing to drive.

POWER TO BURN
Fitted with a single 225hp EFI (yep, that's electronic fuel-injection) Mercury Offshore series outboard, and spinning a 21-inch stainless prop, the 220 has plenty of oomph to rocket from out of the water to barely touching it.

At 6000rpm, top speed is in excess of 50mph, the benchmark of most performance boaters. However, you need Sarasota-flat water (where Wellcraft boats are made in Florida) and a tax-free fuel account to do that all the time.

A better bet is to slot the engine into 3500-4000rpm groove, where you're cruising in the early to mid-20 knot range.

If the seas are being unkind, run the engine at 3000rpm and the 220 holds the plane at about 16 knots. Right through the revrange, the boat is dry as a mouth-full of SAOs, sweet to drive and pretty to look at pulled up to the beach.

VOTING WITH THEIR FINS
More importantly, at trolling speeds of around 2000rpm, with a targa top fitted casting shade over the helm, outriggers flopped out, a spread of sexy Hawaiian lures smoking down warm purple waves, the little boat will likely raise fish. And do it comfortably, too.

No matter what the brochures say, it's how many tag flags you have flying at the end of the day - not being a cowboy getting out there first - that's the ultimate measure of success on the small-boat fishing front in this country.