BOAT REVIEW Marco 750 Sou’wester

One sign of a great design is when one of your dealers buys your boat, likes it so much he orders some custom refinements for the next one and that becomes the base for a whole new addition to your range. It is a marriage of good design and product knowledge that rarely happens – and when it does the result is bound to be good.

Brad Inder, of Inders Marineland in Gore, has had the Marco Boats dealership for 15 years and was an enthusiastic owner of a 760 Sou’wester model. Without a doubt, Southland is the sort of place that requires a tough, seaworthy boat that will work in all weather conditions.
Having spent many hours at the wheel of the 760 Sou’wester, Brad began to refine his ideas of the perfect expedition fishing machine and it was in conversations with Marco’s Dayne Horne that the idea of the 750 was born.

“Dayne was able to convert my suggestions into working drawings and then refine them,” says Brad. With his eyes firmly set on the wonders of Fiordland fishing expeditions, he adds that “we had to have four berths and plenty of storage space for dive bottles and gear.”
With some modification to the cabin arrangement and some reconfiguring of the hull parameters, including a greater beam, the 750 Sou’wester has become the dream expedition fisher and provides yet another excellent addition to Marco’s impressive range of alloy boats.

Construction
The 750 Sou’wester is built using Marco’s well-proven, bulletproof approach to construction. Eight full-length 5mm aluminium stringers give longitudinal stiffening, and five bulkheads provide lateral support. In the hull, the two bottom plates are fully seam-welded to the keel bar internally, with full seam-welding at the keel-line externally. Chines have the side and bottom plates butted up and fully seam-welded, inside and out.
The Marco has the reassuring combination of strength and agility with a CPC rating for eight adults. The vessel features 6mm bottoms and transom and 4mm sides and topsides, adding up to 2,300kg of strong hull. A 355-litre fuel tank, 61-litre water tank and commodious underfloor locker provide plenty of range for a boat that will get to some remote places.

Getting to and from the water is taken care of by a galvanised DMW tandem trailer with a squadron of rollers to make launching and retrieving a breeze. An Al-Ko trailer brake system takes the worry out of trailering more than three tonnes of boat. With her 2.65m beam, the boat tows as over width, but it is still sufficiently narrow not to require a pilot vehicle.

Layout
The 750 Sou’wester is a launch in a trailer boat’s clothing.
The first impression is of her size, space and clean lines. Her wide beam is carried well forward and out to the chines, giving the fully-enclosed wheelhouse and cabin launch-like space and comfort.
The helm station and living is on one level with a comfortable vee berth and/or large double in the fore cabin. Closing the door to the aft deck keeps the heat in and shuts out all but a whisper from the 250hp Yamaha on the transom.
Aft of the helm station is a small galley that includes a sink and two-burner stove. Below this is the califont for hot water and plenty of storage space. To port is a settee and table arrangement which can convert into another single bunk if required. Beneath it is a Waeco portable 12-volt fridge/freezer to keep the catch fresh.

In the forepeak, a single pipe berth to starboard in the forward cabin supplements the wide vee-berths – an in-fill turns them into a maxi-double. With four internal berths, extended stays are a definite possibility. To achieve comfortable year-round boating the 750 Sou’wester has a fully-lined cabin and diesel heater with a single vent on the dash assuring a clear windscreen in any weather.

The helm station has great visibility through the 6mm toughened glass screen, and a large carpeted dash reduces glare. The elegant and simple instrument panel is dominated by a Garmin display with Yamaha engine gauges immediately above. The GME VHF and Fusion stereo controls are located on the dash above the windscreen, keeping the helm station uncluttered and clean.
A Delta anchor is housed on a robust bow roller with nice detailing on the alloy guard rails to make the foredeck arrangement very slick. The anchor locker can be accessed from inside the forward cabin via a hatch in the collision bulkhead. Otherwise, the side decks are wide enough to sidle around the wheelhouse to the foredeck with ample handholds along the cabin top.
The 750 Sou’wester boasts a very functional and comfortable cockpit with full-length side shelves and a chequer-plate floor which is sealed and drains aft to a sump under the transom wall, fitted with a bilge pump.
To port is the roomy deck-access toilet/shower arrangement. Extending from the rear of the hardtop is a removable canvas cover that increases shelter in the cockpit if required.

Lockers in the transom wall house two batteries and the fuel filter, with provision for a pump for the wash-down hose. Above this are a substantial bait board and rod holders. The large boarding platform on the stern is set off with grab rails and a fold-down ladder on the port side with the step-through.
Under the nice curved stern, mounting plates are fitted for the trim tabs. Capping off an impressive package is the 250hp four-stroke Yamaha turning a 15-inch prop which has more than enough power to get the boat quickly and economically to any destination you please.

On the water
Books, they say, should never be judged by their covers, nor trailer boats by their trailers. But the Marco is an impressive and handsome boat in trailering mode. With a reverse sheer bow, powerful chines and a sleek hardtop cabin she cuts quite a dash. The substantial 6mm hull looks like it could withstand a beating with a sledgehammer – and the hull’s deep vee bodes well for rough weather performance.

Lake Te Anau put on a show of southern conditions with spring doing an impersonation of winter. We had a mix of lake slop rolling down the long northwest fetch with some flat water protection provided by Dock Bay. The immediate sensation behind the helm is of a much larger boat with the weight and ride of a launch rather than a trailer boat.
The 250hp Yamaha’s power got us off the mark quickly when we needed it. The transition onto the plane is effortless without any wheel-standing or rolling-over-the-top sensations. Steering was positive with the well-proven Marco chines giving a sure-footed grip to even the tightest of turns; pushing the spray away from the boat with no hint of cavitation.

She responded well to the trim tabs and her 22 knots cruising speed seemed comfortable at about 3800rpm. With a heavier hand, she had no trouble getting into the 30-knot range with the Yamaha purring quietly at the stern.
The conditions gave us a good contrast between flat water blasting and bashing the lake slop. She seemed adept in either, having the power to get out of the way of the waves without tripping over herself downwind. The feeling at the helm is that the boat will go exactly where you point her.
From the helm, I could not keep my eye from the snow-covered mountains to the west of Lake Te Anau and the thoughts of the fiords beyond. I think a week on the Marco would be the best way to escape the ills of the world for a while.