Gold Coast Boating Centre worked closely with Formosa Marine to develop and design the new Sea-Rod 7.4m hard top half cabin with a lockable roller door. Launched at the recent Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, it is the first of its kind and offers many unique innovations.
Scott Mahon, dealer principal of Gold Coast Boating Centre said, “The amount of interest in the Formosa 740 was endorsement that this is going to be one of our most popular models. We signed several orders at the show, and more during the following weeks.”
The new 740 enclosed is ideal for offshore fishing and offers great protection from the elements with your family on board. Scott pointed out, “The 20-degree deadrise hull design with raised sheer and chine line, has been carefully engineered to ensure a balance of performance, speed, stability, handling, fuel economy, and comfort. This provides optimal performance in varying water conditions. With a 300L fuel tank, you can certainly go places on those long offshore trips.”
The Formosa Sea-Rod boats are built to endure the harsh Australian environment. The company are very conscious to keep the boats affordable. The list of standard features and options on the 740 that Scott notes, are impressive. “There are comforts such as a toilet, stove, full cabin berth, and outriggers. Other standard features include heavy-duty dive ladder, kill tank, well-designed bait board, 32mm handrails, and a 60lt fresh deck wash. These features and more truly present a strong robust vessel that ticks all the boxes. There is even provision to fit a sink and refrigerator, if required.”
Formosa Marine is known for the quality of build, safety and performance. The Sea-Rod brand has been developed to meet customer demand with unique 4-chamber water ballast, deep-sided, wide beam hull, giving extra stability at rest. “It boasts 5mm bottom sheets and 4mm sides, and a self-draining deck with one way scuppers. The massive deck space aft creates additional space underfloor for auxiliary water or another fuel tank,” said Scott.
The 740 is fitted with the SeaStar Hydraulic Steering System, to ensure easy handling of the outboard and provide that extra margin of muscle when needed to perform at maximum capacity. “If you want the absolute best ride possible, consider ordering the optional state-of-the-art trim system. These boats can be fitted with the fully automatic Zipwake Trim Control System. During our sea trial, the system significantly enhanced the boat’s performance, fuel economy, comfort and stability. This outstanding feature alone attracted a lot of interest at the show,” Scott explained.
The boat can be easily deployed solo, and retrieved at the boat ramp utilising the unique Tow-Catch™, a hook-and-eye design welded to the keel, and is a standard feature giving you the option to install a quick release boat catch onto a suitable trailer. Confirming this boat’s muscle, Scott stated, “The standard, boat-motor-trailer package deal combines a powerful Yamaha 300HP 24 valve DOHC V6 4 stroke motor fitted with stainless steel prop. During our sea trials, the boat reached speeds of almost 80km/h. The digital gauge fuel management system with fly-by-wire optical controls indicated a cruising fuel consumption of 1.55 km-per-litre at 3000rpm, with two crew on board. Overall, this boat was most impressive and performed beyond expectations.”
Gold Coast Boating Centre is Formosa’s Dealer of the Year for 2017 and is an authorised Yamaha service centre.
For more information call (07) 5576 7388. www.goldcoastboatingcentre.com.au.
Editorial by Andy Kancachian
