It’s a real lucky dip when we get to take a boat out for a test. Sometimes we’re cursed with billiard-table flat seas. Other times we are blessed with a bay that looks like a washing machine. It’s these rough days where you can really find out what a hull can do. After all, there’s no such thing as a crappy ride on a calm sea.
SeaJay’s Velocity Sports models are based on the Samurai hull – built with a steep entry, which tapers off to around 16° of deadrise at the transom. Couple that with some wide reverse chines and you get SeaJay’s iteration of a perfect compromise between the ability to carve water and stability at rest.
There are three models in the Velocity Sports range and we tested the largest of them. The test boat was fitted out by Stones Corner Marine as a staff and demonstration model. Powered by a Yamaha F130 four-stroke, it wasn’t missing any of the fruit you’d expect, kind of the same way you never see a butcher with an iron deficiency.
After completing the obligatory performance statistics in the sheltered waters of Raby Bay, Stones Corner’s Troy Wegner and I got the opportunity to take the rig out in more exposed waters to see what it could do. Anything up to around 0.75m the Velocity took in its stride – the length of the hull and mass of the boat allowed the craft to bridge the ‘holes in the road.’
When wind blew against tide and the waves really stood up, you needed to come off the throttle and drive the boat through the troughs and that’s standard for a boat of this length. Also standard, if you decide to quarter the sea while off the plane, you will get spray blown back across you.
Overall, though, there are few aluminium open boats that you’d take on the bay with the same confidence as the SeaJay. The 1.3m depth allows you to crawl through the nastiest slop without stuffing the bow under.
As usual, a mid-range Yamaha provides superlative fuel economy, yielding 2.9km/L at the optimal cruising range (4000 rpm) and backs it up with great hole shot (four seconds to planing speed).
If, for any reason, the bright yellow hull didn’t turn heads at the ramp, the optional accessories certainly would, especially when you decided to remote-deploy the MinnKota 80lb Ulterra. It’s a neat party trick.
Coupled with a Humminbird Helix 9, you have all of the tools you need for tracking down and effectively catching fish anywhere from your local freshwater lake through to offshore and everything in between.
Completing the package is the OEM SeaJay Trailer, built specifically for this hull by Dunbier trailers. Constructed on an alloy I-beam backbone and fitted with braked mag wheels on its twin axles, you can be sure that your investment is being well looked after.
SeaJay are so confident with the combination that they double the warranty on the hull to two years if you choose this option.
As tested the boat rolls off the yard in the low $60Ks. You can get into a lower-spec Velocity Sports 550 package for under $50,000. For more information or a test drive of your own, contact Stones Corner Marine on (07) 3397 9766 or visit www.stonescornermarine.com.au.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Bottom | 4mm |
|---|---|
| Sides | 3mm |
| Beam | 2.45m |
| Depth | 1.3m |
| Floor Ribs | 14 |
| Capacity | six persons |
| Hull weight | 660kg |
| Rec hp | 100 |
| Max hp | 150 |
| Max Motor Weight | 230 |
| Overall Length | 5.60m |
PERFORMANCE
| RPM | Speed (km/h) Economy (km/L) | |
|---|---|---|
| 650 | 8 | 6.8 |
| 1000 | 9 | 5.2 |
| 2000 | 14 | 2.7 |
| 3000 | 22 | 2.2 |
| 4000 | 42 | 2.9 |
| 5000 | 54 | 2.2 |
| 6300 | 70 | 1.4 |
Fitted with a SOLAS 13.5” x 16 pitch propeller.
Clever use of underfloor space allows for a variety of wet and covered options in the final layout of the Velocity.
Reads: 6501
SeaJay’s 550 Velocity Sports is a big, beamy boat. With near-maximum allowable beam (for towing) and a mile of deck space, this rig covers a pile of inshore and offshore applications.
The 60” of MinnKota shaft were just enough to use in calm waters.
Humminbird’s Helix 9 is a great all-round unit and combines side image, down image, GPS and mapping features.
There’s a whole lot of workspace on this front deck. This image doesn’t really do it justice. You could lie across it.
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The Yamaha F130 threw the SeaJay up and onto the plane in around four seconds. It definitely wasn’t a slouch out of the hole.
You can see how deep the sides of this boat are. That bikini bottom is well over a metre above the waterline.
The raised front casting deck sees the angler up the bow fishing with their feet well above the waterline when the boat is at rest. The rails are low enough to cast sidearm.
A steep bow entry tapers down to a 16° deadrise at the transom. On the water, this translated to the ability to punch across a chop of about 0.75m. After that, you need to slow down and navigate the troughs.
If you’re a deeper water angler, you’ll appreciate the lower cockpit floor behind the casting deck. There are no rod lockers in this hull layout – the vertical rod storage in front of the console does just fine.
Matched with a SeaJay trailer OEM built by Dunbier, the Velocity Sports gets an extra year of warranty. It’s a damn sexy trailer, too. Aluminium I-beam construction and alloy mag wheels would make anyone feel funny inside.
Everything you want in a console is right here – room for big electronics, plenty to hold on to, double shelves out of the weather and the ability to drive from a standing or seated position.
The tackle trays in the side of the console were the icing on the cake. If this console was any more hotted up, it’d leave skid marks.
Lots of anglers appreciate the ability to either anchor or use the electric motor, depending on conditions. There’s room in that anchor well to fit an anchor winch, too.
