CRUISER ona TRAILER
Big trailer boats are very much in vogue these days, blending the space and comfort of a small launch with the convenience of trailer launching and storage.
The Finnmaster Pilot 8 is a newcomer to New Zealand’s trailer boat market, a beamy 8.4m trailerable launch that packs a lot of well-designed living into a relatively small space. With sleeping accommodation for six or even eight if you fancy kipping under the stars on the cockpit double berth, it’s a well-appointed weekender able to put some distance between you and civilisation.
Finnmaster boats are manufactured in Finland. Like most things Scandinavian they are strongly built and well-finished, even stylish in a purposeful sort of way. Pilothouse designs are becoming more familiar in New Zealand due to increasing numbers of boats imported from Europe where the style is popular.
The Finnmaster has a distinctive reverse sheer windscreen, the cabin top overhang forming an eyebrow that reduces glare inside, and a foredeck/sheerline that falls away slightly towards the bows for excellent forward vision from the helm.
Richard and Suzy Wardenburg from Hybrid Boats imported this Finnmaster Pilot 8 for themselves. Richard’s research had convinced him this was the maxi-trailer boat agency to have and bought the boat sight unseen.
The Finnmaster factory is at full capacity so they’d have waited some time if ordering a boat from scratch. Instead, they accepted this boat, originally destined for another dealer and pre-rigged in the factory for Yamaha outboard power.
The Wardenburgs have a canal-side property at Pauanui where they previously kept a Greenline 40 hybrid launch which has since been sold.
“The tricky bar at Pauanui restricted our use of the Greenline and its displacement speed also limited our range during day trips. The Finnmaster is less affected by the state of the tide over the bar and is fast enough to get us out to the Mercs, the Aldermans and further afield in a day. We also plan to do weekenders to the Barrier,” says Richard.
When the Wardenburgs are at the beach the boat ties up to their jetty and when they head back to Auckland they pull it out of the water and store it on the trailer.
This boat is also ideal for hardstand or dry stack storage if trailering such a large rig is too daunting.
V8 POWER
When Richard and Suzie landed the Finnmaster just prior to the Auckland On Water Boat Show, they set to work rigging it and adding a raft of features. It came very well spec’d from Finland with plenty of extra gear and the list of standard equipment is impressive. But Richard added a 160-litre freshwater bladder to complement the existing 65-litre tank that is now the reserve, commissioned a rear canopy and fitted a Raymarine autopilot and solar panels on the wheelhouse roof.
Finnmaster Pilot 8s are set up for single or twin outboards. Common installations are single 200-300hp V6 outboards or twin 150hp engines. Richard opted for the powerful but lightweight Yamaha F350 V8.
With such a broad torque curve it’s a great match for the boat, providing near 40-knot performance and effortless cruising across a wide speed range. Under acceleration there’s a distinctive V8 growl and the boat leaps on to the plane.
Yamaha gauges and wireless throttle and shift were fitted at the Finnmaster factory, as was the Garmin GPSMAP 7012 multi-function display which interfaces seamlessly with the Yamaha outboard to show performance and engine data.
The Finnmaster’s fuel tank under the cockpit sole holds 410 litres of fuel. Cruising at 22 knots the fuel burn is 53.5 litres per hour with the engine spinning at a lazy 3900rpm.
The Wardenburgs are into family boating so the Finnmaster’s cleverly designed layout was very appealing. Although it’s a trailer boat, the Pilot 8 fulfils all of the functions and delivers most of the live-aboard comfort of a much larger launch.