DECEMBER '08 / JANUARY '09
The latest edition of Modern Boating magazine is out now! To get your copy delivered to your door, simply click o
The latest edition of Modern Boating magazine is out now! To get your copy delivered to your door, simply click o
Modern Boating and Big Hat Productions head out for a glorious day on the water to give the Seawind 1160...
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On Voyager
WORDS & PHOTOS:
WARREN STEPTOE
Twin four-strokes add to the ultimate trailerable offshore fisher.
The Voyager is unique amongst Seafarers in being a centre console with a full size double bunk inside. Seafarer simply call it a 'walkaround'. Our test boat measured 6.8m, its bare hull weighing in at 1.6t, and it cost—along with a quality trailer and the pair of 150hp Suzuki four-stroke outboard motors that powered it—just shy of $160,000. The Seafarer Voyager definitely lives at the higher end of trailerable boats.
A big heavy boat, it isn't trailerable by the average family sedan. And yet, given a suitable tow vehicle, the Voyager is trailerable, and even when compared to top-of-the-range imports around the same size, the Voyager can hold its own against any company at sea. And it's still within legal width for towing in Australia—unlike some imported competitors.
The Voyager also avoids falling foul of another common hassle among competitors which use a moulded hull liner to create cockpit sides—they jam your toes against slippery vertical surfaces; the Voyager doesn't. Never one to compromise anything in rough-water fishing ergonomics, Seafarer's Lindsay Fry dictated that the Voyager's interior would utilise entirely separate deck and side-deck moulds, so essential leg support is available—and not just in the cockpit, but also along the sides of the walkaround vessel.
read on below advertisement
The Voyager's console/cabin is big enough to sleep two people comfortably. There are twin 'drained overboard' fish boxes set into the cockpit sole that would hold even a big Spanish mackerel or wahoo. Inside the helm area you're sheltered from anything the weather might throw your way, especially if a hard version of the targa top is optioned.
There's room to go forward in comfort and safety beside the console/cabin to cast or handle ground tackle. Aft, a plumbed livewell comes standard with a second one optional. The deck is all non-slip 'glass and easy to wash down with a standard high-pressure deck wash.
Structurally, the hull is foam filled—a not-to-be-underrated safety feature—with the deck carried high enough to drain through big scuppers. Padded coamings around the cockpit are standard, as are clip-in carpets and a portable type toilet in the cabin. Fittings throughout are all quality stainless steel, and the standard fuel tank holds a whopping 340L.
One of the first folding split aft-lounges seen in Australian boating graces the transom bulkhead and beside it a transom door is also standard. Rod racks along each side come standard, too.
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WARREN STEPTOE
Twin four-strokes add to the ultimate trailerable offshore fisher.
The Voyager is unique amongst Seafarers in being a centre console with a full size double bunk inside. Seafarer simply call it a 'walkaround'. Our test boat measured 6.8m, its bare hull weighing in at 1.6t, and it cost—along with a quality trailer and the pair of 150hp Suzuki four-stroke outboard motors that powered it—just shy of $160,000. The Seafarer Voyager definitely lives at the higher end of trailerable boats.
A big heavy boat, it isn't trailerable by the average family sedan. And yet, given a suitable tow vehicle, the Voyager is trailerable, and even when compared to top-of-the-range imports around the same size, the Voyager can hold its own against any company at sea. And it's still within legal width for towing in Australia—unlike some imported competitors.
The Voyager also avoids falling foul of another common hassle among competitors which use a moulded hull liner to create cockpit sides—they jam your toes against slippery vertical surfaces; the Voyager doesn't. Never one to compromise anything in rough-water fishing ergonomics, Seafarer's Lindsay Fry dictated that the Voyager's interior would utilise entirely separate deck and side-deck moulds, so essential leg support is available—and not just in the cockpit, but also along the sides of the walkaround vessel.
read on below advertisement
The Voyager's console/cabin is big enough to sleep two people comfortably. There are twin 'drained overboard' fish boxes set into the cockpit sole that would hold even a big Spanish mackerel or wahoo. Inside the helm area you're sheltered from anything the weather might throw your way, especially if a hard version of the targa top is optioned.
There's room to go forward in comfort and safety beside the console/cabin to cast or handle ground tackle. Aft, a plumbed livewell comes standard with a second one optional. The deck is all non-slip 'glass and easy to wash down with a standard high-pressure deck wash.
Structurally, the hull is foam filled—a not-to-be-underrated safety feature—with the deck carried high enough to drain through big scuppers. Padded coamings around the cockpit are standard, as are clip-in carpets and a portable type toilet in the cabin. Fittings throughout are all quality stainless steel, and the standard fuel tank holds a whopping 340L.
One of the first folding split aft-lounges seen in Australian boating graces the transom bulkhead and beside it a transom door is also standard. Rod racks along each side come standard, too.
next page »
« go back
