Coraline 750 Outsider Boat Review

Boat Review Date: June 2014
Author: Mike Brown

Overview

A great advantage of buying a WA-built boat is the opportunity to have it finished to your specifications. A high proportion of Coralines are built to order, and the review 750 is a distinct one-off for a buyer with a clear idea of what he wanted. The basic structure is standard Coraline, which means tough: for instance the bottom is in 6mm plate.

The layout features a closed hardtop, one with glass all the way up, but that otherwise has plenty of openings: sliding side glass, and a hinged centre windscreen panel for days that call for a cooling blast. That sort of day is also catered for by an awning that stretches to the transom and is carried on an exceptionally beefy frame. 

The hardtop has the usual bank of rocket launchers, side rails that could double up as a roof rack, and a solar panel. This has the rare fitting of dual outlets, allowing independent charging of the dual batteries. Underneath the hardtop is lined, and does a tidy job of housing the radio and marine stereo.

Clears around the entire coverage of the awning convert the space on demand to a large cabin; this required a significant but barely noticeable piece of custom work. An aluminium upstand had to be created on the coaming for the full length of the clears to carry the clears’studs. That needed a disproportionate amount of fabrication time.

This 750 has been equipped to allow not so limited live aboard. The fore cabin has bunks to allow two Australian sized adults to sleep, and also contains an electric flushing toilet. At least two more adults could sleep in the clears-protected cockpit on swags or camp beds. The inner man is looked after by a compact galley unit at the rear of the port side seat. Here are sink, fridge, work top, locker and single burner stove. Illustrating the thorough nature of the fit out, this last item is not a AUD $15 camping job but a stainless steel Italian import.

The seat ahead of the unit is mounted fore and aft and can accept a slightly crowded pair of occupants. This orientation gives better access to the cabin’s sliding, lockable door than would a twin of the driver’s seat. That seat sits on top of a neat duplex locker. Release of a catch allows the seat fixed to the locker top to hinge forward and reveal a shallow compartment. The major share of locker space below it is reached by conventional door.

The cockpit can be cleared for fishing action by removing or folding the lounge at the transom. This opens up a sizeable deck area, and rail length for uncrowded anglers’ elbows. The hull, which has usefully sharp deadrise, gains stability to support those anglers from wide reverse chines. Padding pampers the upper thighs of people at the rails.

Other fittings dedicated to fishing are a drop in bait board and a deck wash. The latter depends purely on the boat’s speed to deliver water pressure. Since deck washing generally happens on the run home, an electric pump was a logical deletion.

Under the cockpit deck is the expected catch tank, but a second lid reveals the unexpected: a clear panel in the bottom. Its purpose is not low tech fish finding – a high end plotter-sounder does that job - but simply the pleasure of seeing what is below the surface.

Fishing often calls for upping the anchor several times a day, and nobody enjoys the chore. As a result power windlasses are becoming much more common, and the Coraline is equipped with what is probably the nearest to foolproof kind, a drum windlass. Its principle is to store the entire length of rope and chain around the drum rather than to winch it in and drop it in the cable locker.

The owner opted for substantial power, fitting a 250hp Yamaha four-stroke. This has the 4.2 litre block, delivering abundant torque. All 250 horses will seldom be called for but that much power on tap means any cruising speed puts little demand on the motor. Electronic controls and hydraulic steering put little demand on the driver – this boat was a delight to drive.

Lowdown

Price as reviewed    AUD $163,500

Length overall           8.1m

Hull length                7.5m

Beam                          2.5m

Fuel capacity            450L

Fresh water               50L

Motor                          250hp Yamaha four-stroke