Trade-A-Boat – April 2018

Wadecraft X310

facts&figures

PRICED FROM

$200,000plus options

GENERAL

MATERIALFibreglass

TYPEPlaning monohull

LENGTHApprox 9.4m

BEAM2.8m

DRAFT565mm (approx)

WEIGHT2500kg (on-water, approx.)

ENGINE

MAKE/MODEL2xVerado275

TYPE Supercharged DOHC EFI straight-

six outboard

RATED HP 275 (each)

MAX RPM RANGE 5800 to 6400

DISPLACEMENT 2.6lt (each)

WEIGHT 288kg (each)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

SHARPCRAFT MARINE

PHONE0411 383 014

EMAILsharpcraftmarine.com.au

thatwouldtesttherear-setconsole

fordrynessandride.Iwasfirstup.

TreatingtheboatlikeIdoallboats,

withcare,rollingoffeach2mswell

withthethrottleat20-odd-ktsand

pushinginafewmorerevsasthe

bow approached the next, the ride

wasgreat.Theamountofwaterover

thebow,practicallynone.Givingit

somemore,andholdingspeedinto

thecomingonslaughtandyeah,a

fewbroketothesidesandsomewas

pulledoverwiththewindbutreally,

itwasbetterthananyotherboatof

itssizeIcanrecall.

Throwing it into some turns, as

Ilovetodo,Itriedtoputthehull

sideonatthepeakofcrest,muchto

mycompanions’worry.Iwantedto

feel how the keel-line responded to

fallingawaywaterandhowtheboat

asawholeliftedwhensideon.It

was good, it was confident. As it

slumpedintothewater,comingoff

the plane, the chines and strakes

didagreatjobofstabilisingthehull

beforethenextwavesimplylifted

uslikeacorkintheocean.Forabig

boat,with550hpandaconsoleset

rearward,itfeltidiot-proof.Timeto

useitforphotos.

STABILITY

As mentioned earlier, the X310 was

to be our photography platform

whentestingthe4.7Scout.Nick

choseitashewantedmyoff-the-

record thoughts on the hull before

committingtopublicisinghis

intention to build them to order,

thatandweneededsomethingbigto

counter the swells.

Itwasbadoutthere,badenough

thatforsafetyreasons,Iwouldhave

pulled the pin completely had we not

had three able skippers between the

twoboats,goodcommunicationand

theluxuryoflaunchingatsheltered

North Haven Marina.

Outinthebrinyproper,thehullsat

wellinthewater.Youcouldfeelthe

keelwasdeepandtheboatheavy,

eventhoughtheraisedfloorhadour

feet well above the waterline. We

weren’t running a full fuel load, only

abitoverhalf,sotherewasroom

fortheboattositdeeperstill.Itwas

surprisingly stable for a 2.8m beam

to nearly 10m length and with more

gear and people, will impress more.

THE WRAP

Boats like these attract a certain

buyer.Thereisnohidingthefact

thatthecostwilldetermany,but

thereisalsotheneedtoknowwhat

you’re doing and what you want to

do.Thisisnota‘firstboat’.Thisis

thelastgo-fast,thelastshow-off,the

last boat you buy to have all of your

mateschooseyoutobethedriver.

“You could feel the keel was deep and the boat

heavy even though the raised floor had our feet well

above the waterline”

98 tradeaboat.com.au

Wadecraft X310