A Tinnie With Glass Class
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday August 9, 1996
Like a breath of fresh air, the new Quintrex 488 Sea Breeze makes a refreshing change from the usually staid aluminium runabouts,
writes DAVID
LOCKWOOD.
QUINTREX Australia is out to stamp its authority on pressed-aluminium boat-building, or so it hopes, with a polished 16-foot family runabout incorporating many of the niceties of more civilised fibreglass craft. Refined and redefined, the new 488 Sea Breeze figures as an efficient, safe, friendly and essentially less "tinnie" aluminium fun-runner.
Subtle improvements over other alloy runabouts are evident in its deck and helm console. But the innovation is in the 488's hull.
Quintrex borrowed the concept from its rivals, the fibreglass boats. There the trend is away from full pods that stick the motor out back like a sore thumb to shorter half-pods which extend from the hull's underside and provide performance-enhancing buoyancy.
The 488's efficiency with a compact 50 hp outboard is due largely to the full-depth half-pod. But some credit must go to the reworked flared-bow hull, on which Quintrex has a mortgage. It has a more gradual entry at the stem and longer keel, with the flare confined to the top sides rather than underwater sections.
Producing a sure-footed ride, without the annoying porpoise-like motion of the old flared-bow hulls, the Sea Breeze is predictable and confidence-inspiring. Such traits will endear it to family fishers taming white horses, to weekend water skiers looking to get little Freddy up on two skis and to the more conservative family boater.
Offshore, the 4.88-metre-long hull doesn't broach when driven hard down the face of waves. It also requires less horsepower to jump out of the hole and hold plane. On the flat, it can turn sharply with only a whisper of cavitation and little loss of speed.
Pressed into duty from 3 mm-thick aluminium sheet on its undersides - many aluminium boats use 2 mm - the 380 kg hull has the mettle to survive the abuse routinely dished out to aluminium craft: misguided landings on concrete ramps, trailers and garage walls. Above the waterline, it is fabricated from 1.6 mm alloy sheet.
On-board security is boosted by higher top sides. Family, fishers and over-zealous kids will find it reassuring to lean overboard since the gunwales come in around the top of the thighs, not at a pivotal point such as the knees.
The rest of the Sea Breeze's cultivation is largely in the aesthetics department, although the moulded-fibreglass dash insert, also borrowed from fibreglass boats, plays a double role. The pretty moulding conceals dedicated storage space for a depth-sounder, marine radio, compass and switch panel. Here, finally, is a step forward from the traditional Clayton's dashboard on alloy craft, usually comprising nothing more than a metal fascia.
In the lay-out department, the standard Sea Breeze has a split bow rail that encourages the anchor rope to drop into an integrated bowsprit and roller. The open anchor well is adequate for most recreational purposes, with storage for a spare pick and rope in the hold under the foredeck.
Access for anchoring is through an opening centre section in the three-piece curved tinted Perspex windscreen.
The tricky helm reflects Quintrex's recent move to factory fit-out to lessen the chance of the dealer getting things wrong. It's a move to be applauded, since the 488 is pre-rigged with wiring looms, switches, throttles and own-brand gauges. These are easy to read.
The dash places the tacho and speedo above the basic plastic sports wheel; a small (optional) LCD Lowrance depth-sounder in a recess to the right, linked to a through-hull transducer; a four-switch gang offset underneath the sounder; trim and volt meter under that again; a compass centrally mounted on its own binnacle; and a marine radio flush-mounted at the bottom.
Also included in the factory pack are navigation lights, bilge pump, a neat flange to help conceal the wiring that exits the transom and a port-side battery box.
On the negative side, the grab rail tracing the inside edge of the windscreen was too narrow in parts to squeeze your hand around. Plus, my pet hate: a plastic glovebox, circa 1970s, on the port side ahead of the passenger.
The Sea Breeze's recommended capacity of five adults is carried on two padded pedestal bucket seats at the helm and on one of those popular padded rear lounges, which is a listed option.
But when the legs and base of the lounge are folded, there is not enough toe-space to stand against the transom. So Quintrex has made the lounge instantly removable, in effect improving the fish-ability of the craft.
Cockpit features of note include wide coamings where you can mount additional rod-holders (two plastic ones are provided) or perch for impromptu seating, aft deck rails, transom cross bollards, a transducer bracket, twin oversized bungs, battery trays and a carpeted marine-ply floor concealing a 54-litre fuel tank.
Improvements need to be made in the area of bilge access, so that the boat-owner can service the factory-fitted pump and remove unwanted dregs such as brass fishing swivels, which have the potential to create electrolysis in aluminium hulls. The inspection panel is screwed in place, hardly encouraging routine inspection of the bilge.
Stretched to 2.2 metres in the beam, and with that half-pod providing additional buoyancy in the tail, the 4.8 metre hull is both stable and voluminous at rest. Two or three adults can stand at the transom and the outboard's powerhead remains well above the water.
Under way, the hull is eager with a comparatively small three-cylinder 50 hp Mercury outboard spinning a 12-inch alloy prop. Carrying two adults and half fuel, it wound out to a comfortable 28.8 knots at 5,500 rpm, planed down to just 2,500 rpm, but at 3,000 rpm and 10 knots, it travelled flat with a seaworthy attitude.
If you were regularly ferrying a family of four, or looking to pull kids out of the deep on doubles, a 60 would be more suitable. The hull is rated to a maximum of 75, which will return around 33-35 knots top-end speed.
Like most aluminium runabouts, the 488 Sea Breeze is a conservative craft for the young family wishing to explore the waterways, catch a few fish and discover that perfect picnic spot before eventually towing the boat to its backyard. The addition of the new half-pod means that you can do these things with a smaller outboard, which uses a lot less fuel and keeps the hull weight down so you can tow it behind the family sedan.
Package price is $17,850, with a long-shaft 50 hp Mercury outboard and single-axle trailer. If sales of its predecessor, the classic Lazeabout, are anything to go by, the affable Sea Breeze will become a big seller.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald