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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Take a punt
WORDS + PHOTOS: SCOTT AMON
The Day Tripper is a new breed of punt bringing home comforts to the water.
It's not surprising that punts have been around for a long time. Traditionally they are flat-bottomed vessels offering superior stability, shallow draft and lower power requirements (amongst other benefits) than conventional V-bottom hulls. Up until recently most punts used by recreational boaters and anglers have been pretty basic set-ups. However, a new breed of luxury punt has emerged.
The 6.6m Day Tripper by Pro Punt is built by Yamba Welding & Engineering. They have been building boats for the demanding commercial sector for more than 30 years. Their work is assured under the relevant Australian standard for Quality Management AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000, as certified by Bureau Veritas Certification, which ensures that they are seriously reliable.
Australian and overseas government contracts and repeat business is also proof of that! But the big bonus is that they also build a range of recreational boats for the average boatie or fisho.
The 6.6m Day Tripper is luxury from tip to toe. With an impressive beam of almost 2.4m it has floor-space to burn—something rare in just about any size trailerboat! With that beam and a virtually flat-bottomed hull comes a level of stability (both at rest and underway) that is impressive. It is a dream to walk about a vessel as though you were on dry land. This is definitely a boat for those who might not be big on boating; but at the same time, endlessly comfortable and practical for those who are big on boating—and fishing for that matter. You could spend an entire weekend on the water and not feel like the world is swaying when you step back on land.
With a few more rod holders and a live bait tank this 'party style' boat could also become a serious estuary fishing rig offering access to those expansive shallows where the big flathead, bream and whiting feed.
CONSTRUCTION AND LAYOUT
The construction of the hull is unique in that it employs an all welded process using hollow, three-chambered, high-tensile marine grade aluminium extrusion. The innate strength of the material requires no need for internal or external framing. This method of construction provides high strength and rigidity, inbuilt buoyancy (all hulls are pressure tested), double skin protection from hull penetration, smooth and efficient water contact surface area, economical operation, durability, low maintenance, the capability of carrying extremely high payloads and an unencumbered work space.
read on below advertisement
A side console offers the protection of a small perspex screen and enough room to house relevant marine electronics, compass, radio, instruments, throttle control and steering wheel. More storage space under the console is protected by a neat canvas clip-on cover and the helm seat is a comfortable swivel seat with backrest.
Directly opposite the console on the port side is another console intelligently designed for food and drinks preparation. It even has a kitchen sink, tap and running water serviced by a 40L tank! It has grab rails all around which also aid in restricting the sliding of food and drinks off the shelf. A work light, a locking glove box and more under-console storage finishes this ergonomic console off beautifully.
Comfortable seating within easy reach of the food preparation console is provided by a large seat box with huge padded cushion seat which can hinge back to form a table and give access to a storage compartment that will house a 70L insulated icebox.
The external transom layout is like a large pod arrangement with an expansive recess allowing housing for 2 x 24L fuel tanks and battery, keeping the entire area inside the gunwales free of those cumbersome essentials.
The entire inner transom is a nicely upholstered seat-box set-up with volumes of storage space and foam flotation underneath. The entire bow section is also worked into a huge U-shaped lounge area with storage and flotation. Above this lounge area is a huge anchor well, set into the large flat bow area—that would also act as a great casting deck with the addition of some non-skid strips—and houses a cleat and bowsprit roller.
A fold-away and removable canopy offers weather protection to the bulk of the boat and would offer loads of shade on those hot summer days. All upholstery and paint are nothing short of first class workmanship.
RIDE
The Suzuki DF 70 TX offers plenty of power for the rig and would undoubtedly be extremely economical to run. Being a punt there is no hole to push out of, so it's on the plane from the word go. Cornering is punt-like, with some side slip, and the high speed run across a slight chop is surprisingly devoid of the common hull drumming of smaller punts.
Stability is nothing short of outstanding both underway and at rest. This is an awesome estuary day or weekend boat that I would dearly love to spend some hours on with my family, for a mix of fishing and just enjoying the outdoors.
« go back
The Day Tripper is a new breed of punt bringing home comforts to the water.
It's not surprising that punts have been around for a long time. Traditionally they are flat-bottomed vessels offering superior stability, shallow draft and lower power requirements (amongst other benefits) than conventional V-bottom hulls. Up until recently most punts used by recreational boaters and anglers have been pretty basic set-ups. However, a new breed of luxury punt has emerged.
The 6.6m Day Tripper by Pro Punt is built by Yamba Welding & Engineering. They have been building boats for the demanding commercial sector for more than 30 years. Their work is assured under the relevant Australian standard for Quality Management AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000, as certified by Bureau Veritas Certification, which ensures that they are seriously reliable.
Australian and overseas government contracts and repeat business is also proof of that! But the big bonus is that they also build a range of recreational boats for the average boatie or fisho.
The 6.6m Day Tripper is luxury from tip to toe. With an impressive beam of almost 2.4m it has floor-space to burn—something rare in just about any size trailerboat! With that beam and a virtually flat-bottomed hull comes a level of stability (both at rest and underway) that is impressive. It is a dream to walk about a vessel as though you were on dry land. This is definitely a boat for those who might not be big on boating; but at the same time, endlessly comfortable and practical for those who are big on boating—and fishing for that matter. You could spend an entire weekend on the water and not feel like the world is swaying when you step back on land.
With a few more rod holders and a live bait tank this 'party style' boat could also become a serious estuary fishing rig offering access to those expansive shallows where the big flathead, bream and whiting feed.
CONSTRUCTION AND LAYOUT
The construction of the hull is unique in that it employs an all welded process using hollow, three-chambered, high-tensile marine grade aluminium extrusion. The innate strength of the material requires no need for internal or external framing. This method of construction provides high strength and rigidity, inbuilt buoyancy (all hulls are pressure tested), double skin protection from hull penetration, smooth and efficient water contact surface area, economical operation, durability, low maintenance, the capability of carrying extremely high payloads and an unencumbered work space.
read on below advertisement
A side console offers the protection of a small perspex screen and enough room to house relevant marine electronics, compass, radio, instruments, throttle control and steering wheel. More storage space under the console is protected by a neat canvas clip-on cover and the helm seat is a comfortable swivel seat with backrest.
Directly opposite the console on the port side is another console intelligently designed for food and drinks preparation. It even has a kitchen sink, tap and running water serviced by a 40L tank! It has grab rails all around which also aid in restricting the sliding of food and drinks off the shelf. A work light, a locking glove box and more under-console storage finishes this ergonomic console off beautifully.
Comfortable seating within easy reach of the food preparation console is provided by a large seat box with huge padded cushion seat which can hinge back to form a table and give access to a storage compartment that will house a 70L insulated icebox.
The external transom layout is like a large pod arrangement with an expansive recess allowing housing for 2 x 24L fuel tanks and battery, keeping the entire area inside the gunwales free of those cumbersome essentials.
The entire inner transom is a nicely upholstered seat-box set-up with volumes of storage space and foam flotation underneath. The entire bow section is also worked into a huge U-shaped lounge area with storage and flotation. Above this lounge area is a huge anchor well, set into the large flat bow area—that would also act as a great casting deck with the addition of some non-skid strips—and houses a cleat and bowsprit roller.
A fold-away and removable canopy offers weather protection to the bulk of the boat and would offer loads of shade on those hot summer days. All upholstery and paint are nothing short of first class workmanship.
RIDE
The Suzuki DF 70 TX offers plenty of power for the rig and would undoubtedly be extremely economical to run. Being a punt there is no hole to push out of, so it's on the plane from the word go. Cornering is punt-like, with some side slip, and the high speed run across a slight chop is surprisingly devoid of the common hull drumming of smaller punts.
Stability is nothing short of outstanding both underway and at rest. This is an awesome estuary day or weekend boat that I would dearly love to spend some hours on with my family, for a mix of fishing and just enjoying the outdoors.
« go back
