If you want a craft that is equally at home on an impoundment pulling the kids around on a tube, as it is heading to the islands for a fishing day trip, then the Allison Vision 195 Sports Cruiser is the vessel for you.

Simplicity of layout, quality of construction and excellent stability are key features of the Vision that help it fulfil a multi-purpose role with distinction. It also has high sides and a clutter free cockpit to help keep the kids secure and safe and all passenger seats have a grab rail as standard. The rear quarter seats fit snugly into the corners, with plenty of height on the outside, and the base lifts out for excellent access to the stern when fishing.

The Allison Vision is built with no timber in the hull and instead has a full one-piece fibreglass stringer system with built-in foam flotation.

Access over the stern, on the trailer or the water, is easy via the telescopic fold down stainless steel ladder onto the boarding platform and over the full height transom. Full-length fibreglass side pockets drop down and widen at the stern to provide a stack of storage and a carry tray for the battery and oil bottle. This design allows the side pockets to be hosed out and drain fully when cleaning.

The deluxe bucket seats are very comfortable and the footrests double as two handy storage compartments with hinged lids. The optional bimini is low enough to offer excellent shade protection for those in the bucket seats, while being high enough to provide good ventilation. The wrap around screen kept what little spray there was at bay during the test run.

The dash only had two instruments, but the optional I-COMMAND digital readout system, which is fully integrated with the 175hp Evinrude E-Tec outboard, is very comprehensive and impressive. It allows every conceivable combination of read out to be displayed as single, double or quad displays. Speed can be shown in km/h, mph or knots. And the addition of an optional screen adds a full chart plotter to the system.

Access to the anchor is a bit of a scramble in through the cabin and up through the good-sized hatch, but not having access around the side does maximise the interior space in the cab. There is enough for two adults and a stack of storage under the bunks.

Initial positioning of the anchor on the bow roller would require getting up onto the foredeck, but once set up it could to be operated from the safety the cabin. The split bow rail makes for easy positioning of the anchor on the bow roller. From the safety of the cabin it’s a bit of a reach to the split cross bollard, with lock pin, and it would be better if positioned on the rear side of the large volume self-draining anchor well.

The 175hp Evinrude E-Tec provided some pretty good performance figures, producing 20-knots (23 mph, 37 km/h) at 3000 rpm, 25-knots (29mph, 46km/h) at 3500rpm, 28-knots (32mph, 52km/h) at 4000rpm, 30-knots (35mph, 56km/h) at 4500rpm, 35-knots (40mph, 65km/h) at 5000rpm, and topped out doing 37-knots (43mph, 69km/h) at 5600rpm.

The Evinrude got the Allison flying in an instant and kept it very flat coming onto the plane. The E-Tec brand are renowned for their fuel economy and this was clearly evident and easily ascertained via the I-COMMAND readout. It showed that the ideal cruising speed was 27-knots at 3800rpm, and the Evinrude used 25L per hour.

We took the Allison Vision out of Cairns Inlet into atrocious conditions, 25-knot southeaster, and the Sports Cruiser handled it with ease. The deep Vee, wide chines and high sides combined to produce a surprisingly dry ride, and the hull behaved itself at all angles to the swell, producing a soft entry off the waves. Once back in the protection of the inlet we put 300kg of manpower against one gunwale and the Allison sat beautifully, without that feeling of needing to race to the other side to balance her up again.

The Allison Vision 195 Sports Cruiser is ideal for the all-round boatie but the serious offshore angler who is looking for a more dedicated fishing layout would do well to check out her sister craft, the Angler 195 Fishing Boat, built on the same hull. For further information contact Boat Scene in Cairns on (07) 4033 8800.