Hi - John Eichelsheim from Boating New Zealand magazine, and today we're taking
a look at the new Whitley 2600. It's a relatively new model from the Australian
manufacturer, and the first one to come to New Zealand.
This boat is really responsive
to the helm, but particularly it's responsive to the throttle even
though it's only a 240 horsepower engine, it gets up and goes very nicely indeed
there's plenty of throttle response, really good out of the hole, and
surprising turn of speed as well.
So the helm position is pretty comfortable. You're sitting up nice and tall.
The visibility is not bad at all, and it feels particularly nice when
the roof is open, you know but a bit of... blue sky overhead which is wonderful but
yeah you've got a good helm, a nice wide console, you get good size instruments in
there. I think you can get a 14 inch display in here if you want to.
Everything's within easy reach and it's a pretty good design.
So nice and comfy here in the cockpit.
It's quite a nice social area,
it's a wrap around settee here.
This is the spot to be looking out across the transom to the sea outside,
but we've also got a folding seat on the on the opposite side, and there's a nice
little drop down step into the cockpit, so nice and easy to get in and out of.
Access to the engine is really good as well, all of the service areas are
easy to get to, makes it particularly easy to look after this engine.
So If we step down into this good-sized cabin, remember this is only a 26 foot boat,
it's got a sliding door so plenty of privacy you can lock it off.
Down here we've got a decent sized galley for a boat of this size, with a single burner...
it's an alcohol stove, there's no gas on this particular boat. Little 12-volt
fridge underneath... some places to store your plates and your bits and pieces, and
a bit more storage under the sink as well. This boat carries
~100 L of water.
Here's another pretty neat feature for a boat of this size, we've got a darn good
size head in here, it's an electric toilet. There's a shower as well you just
pull it up out of the little sink there. There's even an extractor fan like there is
in the galley.
Pretty well-equipped for a boat of this size.
You can spend the night here this is definitely a weekender, this boat.
This is a really good-sized birth, and it's got drop-in squabs so it becomes a large
double berth, really quite comfortable. And lots of headroom as well which is a nice touch.
And the other thing I've noticed is that
there are insect screens for all the windows everything that opens has an
insect screen, of course this boat comes from Australia but this particular boat
is going to go to the South Island and the owners have specified the screens as well.
It's a very pleasant place to be.
So while the Whittley is really a family cruiser, and not specifically a fishing boat...
It's actually got a really useful platform out the back here for fishing,
and even water sports as well. It's quite wide and it's really nice feel
under the feet, it's roomy, you can easily get three or four people out here
fishing or other water sports as well. The gate opens easily, good access...
down to the water there's a dive ladder there, and we've also got a... cockpit shower and
a wash down out here on the platform. The other thing that we've got is canister
barbecue so there's no need for a gas bottle in this boat.
So that's the Whittley 2600. It's a really handy weekender, it's trailer-able, supplied on
a double axle brake trailer, and you can tow it with a decent-sized four-wheel
drive vehicle, it comes in at well under the three and a half ton limit.
So it's really quite a versatile craft that I think families will enjoy.
John Eichelsheim from Boating New Zealand.
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