The Trident plate boat range from Quintrex was released last year and this month Quintrex has released the Hard Top range of Tridents with a 650 and a 690 model hitting Quintrex dealers.

With a pedigree built on tough outside work, the original Tridents were accepted very well in the marketplace, but the addition of the Hard Tops adds a level of completion to the range that I liked.

Built specifically for serious offshore work, the Quintrex Trident Hard Tops are constructed with an incredibly sturdy underfloor rib structure that minimises hull movement and attaches to the 5mm bottomsides. This is one tough hull that when tested was put through its paces in no uncertain terms. Imagine testing a hull’s design and build by deliberately running it aground n sand bars, by deliberately trying to flip it in stability testing and by searching out the real rough stuff to asses its performance. That’s the sort of testing Quintrex did on the Hard Top series before its release.

On the media day we were fortunate enough to take a full factory tour and saw Trident Hard Tops being made from the forming of the sides through to the paint and fit out. It was a real eye opener for a boater to see just how everything comes together and how big a job it is to build one of these boats.

And when we got to test out the Hard Tops offshore from the Gold Coast, well we were all very impressed with the end result.

Offshore we ran through some pretty calm conditions inshore so we logically headed further offshore to where the 20 knot westerly was starting to bump up the slop. The Blade Hull was great at handling the messy wind chop against the slight swell and with the Hard Top configuration there was never going to be any spray intrusion in the cabin area.

I would love to have seen these rigs in a bit more swell but I reckon they’d still perform fine, keeping in mind that the Trident Hard Tops were made specifically for offshore work.

Features of the series that impressed were the Blade Hull, a hull design that allows the swell and chop to be pushed aside while still allowing a good degree of stability at rest. That’s a hard compromise to make in any hull, but the Blade Hull appears to have this reasonably well sorted.

Built for anglers, the hard Top design also features 6 patent pending Reel Easy folding rod holders. These rod holders actually fold down to allow anyone on the boat to store or retrieve rods from the top rocket launchers. It’s ingenious and in a bit of slop offshore, really easy to use. I liked it as I am not a 6’10” giant, but rather a 5’11” rover that would have had to previously clamber up a gunwale to access the rods.

Quintrex has also paid attention to the internal design, making things like a window in the livewell, an external pick up for the livewell while underway to keep your bait fresh and a new, deeper and wider bait station that allows bait and fish to be easily processed.

There is also a 135L kill tank that has plenty of room for serious fish, and that is something the successful and the dreamers want in their offshore rig.

One other thing I really liked was that Quintrex had designed the fuel tank and floor to be accessible. Yep that’s right, you will not need to cut holes into your boat’s floor to access the fuel tank if something goes wrong with a Trident and that’s pretty cool. I can barely imagine a bad lot of fuel needing to be drained and the tank accessed and the technician saying “I’ll need to cut through your floor to get at the tank”. No thanks!

The Quintrex Tridents also feature a twin battery set up, transom door, seat boxes with extra storage, a self-draining tread plate floor and 4 welded rod holders all as standard so it’s quite a good unit without additional modifications.

The Quintrex Trident Hard Tops are available as Instant Boating Packages complete with a motor, Quintrex trailer and a 3-year limited factory warranty from Quintrex dealers country wide. The 690 is priced at just under the $90,000 mark when fitted out with an E-Tec 250HO, while the 650 with an E-Tec 225 comes in a tad over $80,000.

For more information on the complete Trident range and more specifically the Trident Hard Top range head to www.quintrex.com.au.