With Yamaha Australia joining the event as a major sponsor, the second prize looks more like a first prize - a 5.2m centre console utility boat powered by Yamaha’s brand new 60hp four-stroke outboard. This package is worth nearly $28,000 and will no doubt put more than a smile on the face of the second place winner.

Since I’ve had a long association with Yamaha and the Fraser Island competition, I thought it only fair to grab the prize boat and take it for a run - just to make sure it would make a good prize! This of course meant a fishing session, because that’s what a fishing boat is meant to do.

TEST DRIVE

This isn’t the first UB 520 I’ve been in, and I’ve always enjoyed the soft ride that these boats deliver. The long, narrow nature of the hull is not as prone to the banging and pounding often received in more traditional hulls, and even when you punch into a bit of a chop you will find the ride on the soft side. The aft end of the boat tends to catch and hold onto each crest, reducing any wave jumping that may occur.

The UB or long boat style of hull was designed to take heavy loads over long distances with minimal horsepower. The narrow shape requires less power to get up onto the plane and to keep it there.

The boat isn’t meant to be a speedster, but with the 60hp four-stroke outboard anglers can expect to achieve around 30mp/h. Considering that conditions usually only allow you to travel at around 20mp/h, this engine becomes an ideal companion for the boat.

All Southwind Boats are foam filled under the floor, and in this case the construction allows the gunwales to be foam filled as well. The foam dampens the noise transferred through the hull and aids with buoyancy should you ever find the boat with more water in it than you would like!

THE FISHING

With the smooth running and quiet ride of the hull, and a smooth and quiet four-stroke outboard, this boat is a very effective fishing platform to fish the shallows for flathead or chase surface-feeding pelagics in open waters. And chasing a few tuna is exactly what we did.

Tuna are normally very touchy and can be spooked by the sound of a boat slapping on the water on the approach, but when we dropped the speed down and kept low and constant revs, we could pretty well put the UB520 right on top of the fish. Being able to do this makes the UB520 a dream for fly fishing and lure casting. At times we had the fish so close to the boat with the engine still running that you couldn’t really cast a lure and get it to work in the short distance between you and the fish. Those days are truly spectacular, when the fish are crashing the baitfish all around you.

We had a ball catching a few longtail and mac tuna. There is so much open room to fish around the boat that you can’t help but have a ball. We got a bit carried away with the fish, and with the wind pushing 20 knots we were in for a wet ride home. I have yet to hop in a centre console where you don’t get wet quartering into a sea with a brisk wind right in your face. But even in the harsh little chop we could maintain a moderate planing speed and not feel as though our knees were being punched up into our ribs.

LAYOUT

A self-draining deck allows excess water to run out through the scuppers and makes hosing down the deck a much easier job.

The padded lean seat is pretty well a must because it allows you take the weight off your feet, and lightweights like me have no trouble sitting up on it. The back of the lean chair, which is a stainless frame, boasts four rod holders. The underneath section of the lean seat provides somewhere to tie in a small esky or a couple of tackle boxes.

From past experience I find that the ride is better when there is a bit more weight up the front of the boat. This is easily achieved by placing a big ice box in front of the centre console. On a big day out, once you’ve loaded some ice, bait, and hopefully a few fish in here, there is enough weight to make a difference. The big esky also gives somewhere else to sit while fishing or, in calm conditions, seats for someone to sit while travelling.

The standard boat has four storage lockers. The first locker is under the small casting platform at the bow of the boat that is used as an anchor well. Another two are in each aft quarter of the boat, and one of these houses the battery and the other is for storage. The four-stroke outboard doesn’t require an oil bottle, so there’s the benefit of a bit of extra storage room. The main storage area is in the centre console, where items can be kept dry and out of the way.

With 65 litres of fuel under the floor and the superb economy of the four cylinder 60hp four-stroke, there is more than enough fuel for a big day out on the water.

Third prize for the comp shouldn’t be over looked either – it’s a Yamaha XL700Y Wave Runner worth $15,000. I just need to have a closer look at this outfit to see where we can mount a couple of rod holders.