SKI-BOAT May/June 2017 • 47tle the water is deflected away from the
boat and downwards. This means that
little to no water goes up to create
spray that would make it uncomfortable
and wet on the boat. In the hour and a
half we were on the boat I did not get
any spray on me — not a drop.
A lot of thought obviously went into
designing the layout of the Explorer
Evo because it is very creative as well as
economical. There’s a lot of fishing
space on the boat and a lot of storage
space too.
This layout was created to suit both
the serious fisherman and the family
man who spends quality time with the
family on his craft. To facilitate family
fun time there’s a false transom with a
roll bar, rod holders as well as a ski-rope
mount at the back. On the side there’s
space to load family or friends if you are
taking them out to ride a tube or do
some wake boarding. This platform
with retractable steps also creates a lot
of space for the serious fisherman and
is great for those who enjoy light tackle
boat fishing.
The batteries are situated in a stor-
age hatch in the middle of the false
transom. On the left hand side there’s a
storage hatch that could be used for a
cooler box or just to store some towels
or tackle. On the right hand side there
is a livebait well with a small window in
the front that makes it easy to keep an
eye on the bait and to see that the
pumps are running. It’s enormously
frustrating when you spend ages
scratching around for bait, then get to
your fishing ground, prepare to hook
up a livebait and discover they are all
dead!
Both sides of the boat are fitted with
below-gunnel rod holders, and the
height of the gunnels is perfect to lean
against. They are also padded so that
your knees do not get hurt while you’re
jigging or when you’re fighting a fish.
There is more storage space for rods on
top of the aluminium T-top.
The centre console set up really
impressed me. In front of the console
there’s a seat, but if you lift this seat
you’ll discover a huge hatch that opens
up the whole console. This could be
utilised for many things — as a fuel
hatch or a normal storage hatch, or
even as a space to install a porta-potty.
Between the console and the bow
there is a fish hatch in the floor;
although this hatch is not very wide, it
is deep and very long. You would beable to fit a 25kg ’cuda or yellowfin in
easily. In the bow there’s another seat
with a hatch underneath that is big
enough to contain all your extra gear
and safety equipment. Life jackets take
up a lot of space, but you would have
more than enough room to pack them
away in this under-seat space. This
hatch could also be used as a platform
for flyfishing. Right in the front there’s
a huge anchor hatch.
Grantley mentioned that there are a
couple of changes that could be made
to suit the customer, so if you’re looking
seriously at this boat feel free to chat to
him about your preferences.
A couple of days after the test I
phoned Grantley to chat a bit more
about the Explorer Evo 19ft and to hear
his ideas behind the design of this light
and very neatly built boat. Apparently
Yamaha wanted to add a 19ft monohull
craft to their fleet and the Explorer’s
design was the one best-suited to being
tweaked to ensure it would suit the
serious offshore angler as well as the
angler that enjoys freshwater fishing.
Furthermore, the Explorer is also
well-suited to having a single engine on
the transom; it can be powered by any-
thing from a single 100hp four-stroke
up to a 200hp four-stroke. This will suit
the guys that want to use the boat for
fishing and skiing or wake boarding.
There’s even enough space in the hull
to fit an inboard motor if that’s what
you prefer.
If you’re happier with twin engines
you can choose to power the boat with
anything from 2 x 60hp Yamaha four-
strokes up to 2 x 100hp Yamaha four-SPECIFICATIONS
Length – 19ft (5.8m)
Beam – 2.25m
Draught – 900m
Fuel – 75-100 litres
Hull weight – 780kg
Power as tested – 2 x 70hp Yamaha 4-strokes
Recommended power — from 2 x 60hp 4-strokes up to 2 x 100hp 4-strokes
Buoyancy – foam filled 1840kg