Whittley Sea Legend 6.3

With its three-boat Sea Legend range, the Thomastown (Vic) based manufacturer is aiming to change that. For though built alongside the marque's well-known trailerable 'bells and whistles' cruisers, the Sea Legends are aimed at the sports fishing set.

Of course, in typical Whittley style, the Sea Legends have that little bit extra to ensure you're not roughing it when chasing pelagics.

BlueWater Boats & Sportsfishing sampled the Sea Legend 6.3. It was launched at last year's Melbourne Boat Show - in both outboard and sterndrive variants - and has proved the most popular in a Whittley range that is topped by the capacious 7.3, and tailed by the 5.0 'snapper special'.

It's a measure of the popularity of the new Whittleys that our test boat was, in fact, the first prize in the boat show's well-publicised 'Win a Whittley' competition. Hitting the water at the rate of about one a week since the show, demo models are understandably scarce.

So, in deference to the lucky new owner, we limited our appraisal of the 6.3 to an afternoon in the marque's home waters of Port Phillip Bay. As is often the case when you want a piece of water to be at its worst, the test 6.3 was greeted with near-ideal conditions for waterskiing, not hardcore boat testing.

That said, I have no doubt that the boat has the credentials to perform when the seas get nasty. Why? Easy - the deep-vee hull design has been proven in the boat-breaking waters of New Zealand.

BlueWater's Kiwi readers will probably recognise the 6.3 as a Rayglass 650. One of New Zealand's top boat builders, Rayglass entered into a long term agreement with Whittley after a meeting between the two companies at an Auckland boat show a year or so back.

"People have the idea that we're shy about the Rayglass tie-up. Far from it!", Whittley managing director Steven Whittley explained.

"We're very proud to be associated with Rayglass. As the builder of some of New Zealand's best boats, it was a logical connection.

"We get access to great sports fishers and Rayglass, in return, is able to take our cruiser designs into the Kiwi market under its own name," Whittley said.

With both builders competing against imports (especially those from the USA) that offer top-class finish at a very competitive price - largely thanks to enormous production volumes - the logic of pooling Rayglass and Whittley's resources is obvious... And the end result is comparable to the best imports - especially when the discussion turns to fit and finish.

Mind you, the Sea Legend hasn't made it to the Aussie market without Whittley's own stamp being placed upon the Rayglass design. Side by side, the boats are quite different, Steven Whittley revealed.

A stem to stern rundown of the Whittley sees a normal half-cabin sports fishing package delivered somewhat unconventionally - especially in terms of options. How so? Aside from specialised fishing equipment such as outriggers, there are very few options offered. Sounder and GPS aside, what you see on the test boat is what you get.

Up front there's a generous anchor well that is accessible via sidedecks, or more likely, the large 'clearlite' hatch. It's indicative of the quality of fittings Whittley uses that the hatch is a Lewmar item - more likely to be spied on a $300,000 flybridge sports fisher than a trailer boat.

Thanks to this hatch, twin sidelights and generous headroom, the forward cabin itself is very light and airy.

Along with conventional V-berths (easily accommodating of six-footers), the fully lined, carpeted (clip-in) and upholstered cabin features bunk infill, a portable stove and a marine toilet as standard.

High on the port side of the cabin, easily accessed from the main cockpit, a 27MHz GME radio and separate AM/FM cassette stereo are fitted. Again they're standard equipment - like the cabin and cockpit lighting.

Though there's no hatch to seal off the cabin, a zip-in 'door' is available as an option. Mind you, it's the only extra 'canvas' you're likely to need - a quality canopy with side curtains, and a full storm cover is included in the standard equipment list, as is clip-down carpet for the helm area.

The helm itself is well laid out, including space for a flush-mounted sounder and GPS. As well as a comprehensive instrument package, a quality Ritchie compass is fitted standard. It's well-sited too - on your eyeline, well ahead of the helm under the Taylormade curved glass windscreen (with wiper!).

To minimise glare, the helm area features a satin black backing panel - a classy and workable set-up.

Swivel helm seats are fitted. Nothing unusual, but the modules on which they are placed deserve a mention. Based on the 7.3's units, the complex mouldings feature rear-facing crew seats and are hinged to provide access to storage space underneath.

Rayglass' NZ literature claims there's sufficient under-seat room in the 7.3 to store up to 18(!) dive bottles! Whittley's a little more circumspect but, suffice it to say, the 6.3's under-seat space will swallow a mountain of gear.

The cockpit, while not strictly self-draining (small scuppers drain into the bilge where a manual-override auto pump is fitted standard), is adequate without being overly large. With the clip-out rear seats stowed (or better still left at home) there's sufficient space to fish stand-up tackle - even in the sterndrive version.

Paired clamshell covers cocoon the V6 MerCruiser unit. These open to offer excellent access to the powerplant, the inboard half featuring a sink and cutting board. The outboard version of the 6.3 gets a fold-up sink/bait station that, when stowed, offers even more cockpit space.

Both versions feature a single underfloor kill tank (which ideally could be larger) and there's a freshwater wash and pumped live bait tank outboard on the portside extended transom.

Rod storage is offered in side pockets, though in reality, these are better suited to gaff and tagpoles - we'd use the standard five-place rocket launcher and four gunwale holders in preference.

With such bluewater aspirations, you'd expect the Sea Legend to have the goods in the hull department. As mentioned previously, its pedigree is certainly excellent.

Though loosely based on the 7.3's high-performance hull (Rayglass also make a hardtop 8.5-metre version that's got my mouth watering...), the 6.3's undersides were scratch built rather than simply downsized.

A deep 23-degree deadrise flattens out toward relatively soft chines to around 20 degrees to deliver a soft riding, yet stable hull.

I have to admit, the racy lines of the hull and 2.3-metre beam had me expecting the 6.3 to be somewhat tender. However, running clean (trim tabs are not fitted - nor needed), the boat was responsive yet totally user-friendly in the admittedly good test conditions.

Steering effort is minimal in the sterndrive configuration and fast tight turns were a piece of cake with little if any cavitation.

Overall, it's a confidence-inspiring hull, just don't expect the 6.3 to back down like a 680 Haines - the transom is rather low and reversing into any sort of chop is going to score you a cockpit full of water.

At this stage, around three-quarters of Whittley's 6.3 production is for outboard applications. Ex-factory, the maker has favoured OMC's 175hp V6 powerplant. In outboard trim, Aussie-made Hydrive hydraulic steering is also fitted as standard equipment.

Interestingly, the breakdown between sterndrives and outboards is reversed in New Zealand.

The carbed 190hp V6 MerCruiser 4.3-litre mated with Alpha One single-prop leg that graced our test unit readily popped the 6.3 out of the hole. Top speed was a comfortable 42mph (67.6kmh) at 4700rpm and a 30mph (48.3kmh) cruise is available at a peaceful 3900rpm.

Importantly in offshore terms, the 6.3 happily planed as low as 15mph (24kmh) with about 3000rpm in hand.

A 210hp fuel-injected version of MerCruiser's V6 (4.3L EFI) is also available as an option.

The 6.3's fuel capacity of 165 litres could be considered a little low in this type of boat. Not always considered the most economical powerplants, the V-sixes should deliver sufficient range nonetheless.

While not as narrow-focused nor as 'fishy' as other boats in this size category, the Sea Legend forces only a limited number of compromises on anglers.

The flip side is that the Whittley delivers a package that won't scare off the family.

The best of both worlds? Well, it's not far from it...