BOAT REVIEW Extreme 645CC

Boating NZ met the 645CC at Tauranga. Mat Cranswick and Brady Wallace travelled up from the Extreme factory in Whakatane for the review. They were supported by a team from Tauranga’s MasterTech Marine, which launched a very impressive Extreme 915 we would use as photo boat.
Extreme Boats is a perennial boat show award winner, testament to its build quality, attention to detail, specification level and innovation. The company listens to its customers, continuously refining and improving its designs to reflect owner feedback. And crucially for boat show awards success, Extreme pay close attention to the judging criteria.

Unsurprisingly, the 645CC attracted considerable attention at the boat ramp. She’s a handsome vessel and packed to the gunwales with technology and features. Even the aluminium trailer is special, an Alloy-Tech, override-braked, dual-axle design with attractive alloy wheels built for MasterTech Marine. Rollers support the boat’s keel, while twin banks of rollers either side of the trailer position and cradle the boat.
There’s no mistaking this boat is intended for sport fishing. The centre console layout frees up deck space fore and aft and allows easy access between bow and stern. The whole of the boat’s perimeter is available to fish from, with nothing to obstruct an angler battling a big fish. She’s stable at rest too, thanks to the 2.5m beam, wide chine flats and flooding keel chamber.

The 645CC’s console is wide and relatively deep but there is ample room either side for easy passage thanks to the beamy hull. Built-in rod storage racks on the sides are a nice touch – perfect for storing gear when clearing the cockpit after a strike.
There’s good shelter for seated or standing passengers behind the console with its wrap-around glass screen. The width allows ample space for flush-mounted electronics – two 12-inch Raymarine Axiom MFDs in this case, plus Mercury instruments and a custom Extreme switch panel for the Raymarine CZone interface. There’s also a Vesper VHF radio system with advanced AIS and a four-speaker Fusion sound system. With her sophisticated sonar, this boat is equipped with twin transducers.

Even with all that equipment the helm console and instrument fascia are uncrowded. Grab rails across the top of the fascia and machined into the targa top supports provide useful handholds underway.
The wheel is adjustable, hydraulic steering is nicely weighted and the throttle and shift falls perfectly to hand, though it’s cable rather than digital. Lectrotab trim tabs with a useful automatic function keep the vessel on an even trim and underwater lights are mounted to the topsides of the trim tabs.

The sturdy targa top is supported with billet aluminium uprights. The canvas roof provides shade and rain protection and is furnished with useful roof racks for spearguns, tag poles and the like. A flexible solar roof panel keeps the batteries topped up, there’s an LED floodlight/spotlight on the roof’s leading edge, and an LED cockpit floodlight under the six-position rocket launcher. Optional side screens block off the side decks for improved weather protection.
A seat in front of the console is standard fare for boats of this type, but the 645CC’s is more generous than most. The whole front of the console – seat, seat back and all – hinges up to reveal great storage inside the console. It’s a large space: dry, lined and furnished with seating under which a toilet can be fitted.

A deep-cycle battery for the bow-mounted Haswing electric trolling motor, isolation switches and battery charger are located inside the console, as is access to the console’s electronics is via removable panels.
One of the downsides of many centre console designs is finding somewhere to store the catch. With a flooding keel and a large underfloor fuel tank, for the 645CC an underfloor locker is impractical, while space inside the helm seat module is used for other things – more on that later.
But Extreme has found room for a large, removable, insulated bin under the casting platform in the bow. The whole platform hinges upwards to access the fish bin, opening the captive bin lid at the same time.
The bow platform is designed for fishing – a removable U-shaped padded support tube is meant for bracing against – but if conditions make standing on the platform too risky, anglers can fish from the foredeck. There’s toe room under the bow platform to facilitate this.
We used the Haswing’s ‘anchor’ facility to hold the boat in place while photographing its interior, but a neatly enclosed Savwinch drum winch normally takes care of anchor duties. The winch is operated remotely from the helm with the Sarca anchor carried permanently on the short bowsprit. The bow platform, decks, swim platforms and coamings are covered in attractive looking ‘mocha’ coloured SeaDek.

It is remarkable how much the designers have packed into this boat, especially given that it’s a centre console. The helm seat module has twin seats, each with a fold-down bolster. The seats hinge forward to reveal a gas hob – the approved gas locker is built into the centre console – a food prep area and a sink with fresh running water. Underneath is a fridge and a couple of drawers, with additional storage across the back and in the side of the module – even a pull-out rubbish bin. An amazing utilisation of limited space.
The cockpit and transom are all about fishing. A well-designed – if not overly large – bait station sporting tackle drawers, a battery locker and four rod holders is situatedf aft amidships with integrated tuna tubes (2) either side, a live bait tank to port under the walk-through and second anchor locker to starboard . When not in use, the drop-in transom doors are stored in the centre console.
This boat boasts three rotating, stainless steel through-coaming rod holders per side, plus one fixed, upright model, providing plenty of trolling position options. The targa is easily sturdy enough to mount game poles.

Swim platforms either side of the V6 Mercury have sturdy cages (and more rod holders), one with a drop-down door/boarding ladder and the other with a side-opening door for easier boarding from a floating pontoon or jetty. The platforms add to the boat’s versatility, whether fishing, diving or enjoying other watersports.
Washdown hoses either side help keep the boat clean, handwashers on both sides keep the hands clean and LED cockpit lighting make it easier to see in low light conditions. Lights on the gunwales outside the boat are a nice touch, too, designed to facilitate coming alongside at night.
The show boat is equipped with a 200hp V6 Mercury four-stroke outboard. This engine propels the 645CC to nearly 40 knots and provides excellent throttle response. Hole shots are good and noise levels are relatively low for an open aluminium boat.

There isn’t a lot of hull noise when the boat’s underway and the hull is a dry runner, too, its wide chine flats doing an excellent job of directing spray away from the boat. There’s plenty of structure under the floor and Extremes are strongly built and well finished. The 645CC rides well, the automatic trim tabs doing a good job of maintaining optimum trim for the sea conditions and boat speed.
The propeller lost a bit of grip in the sharpest of turns while throwing the boat around for the pictures. But since this was the first time thios 645CC had been in the water, there is a bit of engine height and propeller fine-tuning still to do.

In every other respect – engine trim range and response, response to the throttle and wheel, overall ride and handling – performance was excellent. On a windy day side curtains might be welcome, but we managed to stay mostly dry without them. In similar, quite windy conditions with a lumpy sea outside the harbour, many centre consoles would have been much wetter.
The Extreme 645CC is clearly a high-quality offering that will appeal to a small group of owners wanting a trailer boat with everything – this boat certainly has more kit than most and offers a level of comfort and convenience not many centre consoles can match.
This is a good-looking, impressive vessel, which the Hutchwilco NZ Boat Show judges recognised in May – spending a few hours with her on the water only served to confirm the judges’ opinions.