BOAT REVIEW White Pointer 1050 Custom Oona

Three Honda V6 250hp outboards on Oona’s transom certainly don’t lack for thrust – this White Pointer has performance to burn – but their uncanny quietness turns high-speed cruising into a serene experience.
White Pointer Boats and Honda Marine had to overcome a number of challenges with this vessel, including getting the boat’s balance right. With all that machinery hanging off the transom, White Pointer had to tweak the hull slightly and reposition fuel and water tanks. The team at Honda is still working through engine height adjustments and propeller selection.
THREE ENGINES AND ALL THE FRUIT
In every respect Oona is an impressive vessel. She’s primarily a sport-fishing boat, but equipped to the highest possible specification. The owners have left very little off the extras list, confirmed by a glance at the imposing tower on the cabin roof, festooned with lights, cameras, radar and GPS receivers, aerials, horns – even a loud speaker.

For me it is the details that really impress, along with the build quality. Things like two VHF radios, for redundancy
should one radio break down; two Marinco remotecontrolled spotlights and a Raymarine T350 thermal
camera; three high-quality Stidd leather upholstered helm seats and a super-impressive Garmin electronics suite
featuring three 16-inch multi-function displays. The helm console would look quite at home aboard a luxury launch or superyacht.
THERE AND BACK, FAST
Her owner’s requirements were very specific: Oona had to be big and capable enough to take him from Half Moon Bay to fishing grounds around Great Barrier Island and on the eastern side of Coromandel Peninsula, quickly and
in comfort. This is a boat that will cruise at 40 knots when the conditions are right and 28 knots when it’s rough.
On Oona’s delivery voyage from Gisborne to Auckland she covered the last 80 nautical mile leg of the journey
between Whitianga and Westhaven in one hour 58 minutes, averaging over 40 knots.

White Pointer Boats is renowned for its aluminium bluewater hulls and the 1050 is the biggest standard design
it offers. She’s strongly built using frame and stringer construction with a solid internal keelbar. The hull and
transom are 6mm marine grade aluminium with 5mm plate used for the sides and 3mm for the superstructure.
Like every White Pointer there is plenty of scope for owners to customise. Oona is packed with features its owner
specifically wanted.
This boat is beautifully faired and painted. At 10.5m overall (34 feet) with a 3.1m beam and weighing in at
7,300kg, Oona will be stored clear of the water on a lifting dock. She hasn’t been anti-fouled.
She’s is undoubtedly quick. Despite the engines and props not being fully commissioned, we touched 44
knots during our run and initial sea trials in Gisborne yielded over 50 knots. Honda Marine’s Cameron Burch
expects that once the engine heights and props have been tweaked the hole shot and performance across the rev range will improve further. Oona was due to be slipped in a couple of days’ time so Honda Marine could finish the engine set up.
Along with everyone else aboard, I was struck by how quiet the boat was – at rest with the 3.6-litre V6 Hondas idling, you had to strain to hear the engines at all; from the helm it was impossible to tell they were running unless you looked at the gauges. At cruising speed, it was still possible to converse in the cockpit, while inside
the cabin there was no need for raised voices at all. With the cabin doors and windows closed virtually no engine noise intruded and the only sound was water passing the hull.
CONTROL CENTRE
The helm station is impressive. Garmin 16-inch MFDs fill the helm console from one side to the other, also on the passenger side. Vision through the screens is good: three wipers, one for each section, keep the screen clear of rain or spray and sliding side windows and overhead skylights provide ventilation.
The helm position is comfortable. Stidd shock-absorbing gas pedestal seats are supportive and during the delivery voyage played a big part in keeping the crew fresh and focused. Approaching Coromandel Peninsula they had to
contend with 30 to 40-knot winds and big seas.

The autopilot is also Garmin, along with a row of five GM120 multi-function gauges, three displaying data for the Honda engines. The throttle controls look and feel classy. Called IST (Intelligent Shift Throttle), they are Honda
Marine’s version of electronic ‘fly-by-wire’.
Two levers engage all three gearboxes and a button synchronises the engines so that only one lever is required to control throttle and engine trim settings for all three. The port engine has a counterrotating propeller; the middle and starboard propellers rotate in a conventional manner.
It’s easy to underestimate your speed in the 1050: a glance at the GPS showed I was travelling at 40 knots but it certainly didn’t feel that fast. At 28 knots total fuel consumption is around 100 litres an hour (all three engines), which is pretty impressive. Fuel capacity is 1,500 litres.
Steering this boat requires minimal effort and the big White Pointer responds well to its Sea Star
hydraulic helm, though you are aware it’s a large, heavy boat. It feels stable and well planted in the straight ahead position; swing the wheel over and it rolls smoothly off the centerline to carve a turn. It’s a deep vee hull so it leans over a bit in sharp turns but it goes exactly where you point it, maintaining its momentum throughout.
Lectrotab trim tabs keep Oona on the level. There’s a Lewmar bowthruster, which was handy dockside, a Lewmar
capstan and an Eberspacher diesel heater with windscreen demister functionality. A Fusion entertainment system
plays through speakers in the cabin and the cockpit.
Oona is equipped with C-Zone digital switching, which allows several pre-programmed vessel modes. The C-Zone
interface can be accessed from any of the MFDs. Nav Station supplied the vessel’s electronics and White Pointer
Boats did the installation.
TRAVEL IN COMFORT
Occupants of the three helm seats are guaranteed a comfortable ride, but there’s plenty of room inside the cabin
for more passengers. Oona can sit five or more around the wheelhouse table, with room for four more on the bench seat along the port side. With the electric cavity windows aft in the up position, the bi-fold door closed and the sliding side windows secured, it’s snug and quiet inside.

There’s a heap of storage under the seats and in underfloor lockers, including a massive locker the owner
has fitted with dive bottle racks alongside the refrigeration unit. Smart looking Flexi-teek flooring extends from the sleeping accommodation through the wheelhouse and out into the cockpit. It’s also used on the side and foredecks, boarding platform and coamings.
Oona will be used primarily as a day boat, but she’s quite capable of making stay-away trips. Through the companionway to port there’s a compact galley; to starboard a decent-sized enclosed head with
shower. The galley features an induction hob, an inverter microwave oven, both 240-volt, plus a 12-volt fridge, a sink and storage for kitchen utensils, cutlery, plates, cups etc.
Up for’ard, a vee berth with infill is complemented by a pair of pipe berths. Details include rod racks along the ceilings, shelving, LED lighting, and plenty of 12-volt and USB outlets.
THE BUSINESS END
Oona’s cockpit is where the serious fun will take place. Big enough to accommodate several divers suiting up, it’s brilliantly set up for sport fishing, including big game fishing. There’s no chair, but all the through-coaming rodholders – four each side – are heavy-duty and the gunwales are the perfect height for bluewater or pulling big fish through the transom door. Alternatively, drag marlin aboard via the starboard side ‘marlin door’, which makes getting on and off the boat such a breeze dockside. A towing pole aft of the bait table looks strong enough for serious duty.
Oona’s gunwale lockers look great and keep everything tidy; there are racks underneath for poles and gaffs and a deep drawer under the bait table for tackle boxes. The table’s working surface is well suited to filleting duties – no annoying lip to make things difficult. It drains over the side and there are cup/sinker holders across the back.

A high-pressure saltwater washdown will keep everything sanitary and there is a freshwater cockpit shower as well.
Thigh-activated hand washers either side of the cockpit is a nice touch – lean over the gunwale to wash your hands in a stream of clean water. Oona carries 400 litres of freshwater.
Oona’s freezer is huge. Positioned against the cabin bulkhead, it does double duty as a seat, sheltered by the cabin roof overhang and in the perfect position to keep an eye on any lures in the wake. On the port side another locker houses the Honda 3kVA generator, which will be used to run the vessel’s 240-volt systems. Each engine has its own 12-volt starting battery, housed under the bait table, with a separate bank of 6-volt house batteries under the seat in the cabin.
MORE TIME TO FISH
Oona is not only a great-looking boat – with her triple engines and high-spec fit-out she’s one of a kind. Capable of fast open water passages, she is designed to maximise fishing time for her owner who, like so many people today, is relatively time-poor.
Less time travelling is more time spent fishing: this boat, capable of cruising at 40 knots in the right conditions, can access prime fishing water fast. With her size and seakeeping abilities, Oona can also go to sea on days when lesser vessels would stay home, which is valuable when your boating time is limited by other commitments.

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