KEY POINTS:
As Fyran's Martin Wylie is keen to point out, it wasn't long ago that the average Kiwi boating family owned a 14-foot half-cabin boat with a medium-sized outboard. It was a reasonably affordable rig to buy and didn't cost a lot to run.
Then, as expectations grew and technology improved, the boats got bigger and the outboards more powerful and quite a bit thirstier.
According to Wylie, who is general manager of both Fyran Boats and Honda Marine: "Costs spiralled ever upwards and affordable boating fun disappeared off the radar for many families."
In an effort to reverse that trend, Fyran and Honda last week released their new Fyran 500 - a 5m cuddy cabin boat with a beam of 2.19m and a towing weight of only 845kg.
Built to take advantage of the newly released Honda 50hp outboard, the Fyran 500 has an easily driven buoyant hull, a good-sized cockpit and excellent stability. The 4mm aluminium hull is CPC-rated as unsinkable.
Wylie says the Fyran has been matched with the newly released Honda 50hp four-stroke fuel-injected outboard for good reason.
"The BF 50 is the lightest, most compact, most fuel-efficient and most environmentally friendly 50 horsepower four-stroke outboard motor on the market. It features a host of new technologies including BLAST, ECOmo, PGM-Fi and a new Hi-Amp Alternator that delivers the best charging performance in the class."
BLAST (Boosted Low Speed Torque) is an air-fuel ratio-linked ignition timing control that Wylie says dramatically improves acceleration and hole shot performance.
ECOmo operates in cruise mode and results in a 22 per cent improvement in fuel economy over the model it replaces. "The result is sparkling performance, even with three 90-plus kg blokes on board," says Wylie.
A Fyran 500/Honda 50 combination on a single axle trailer weighs only 845kg.
This means it is easy to launch and retrieve single-handed and can be towed by a small four-cylinder car.
Once under way and cruising at 23mph in ECOmo mode, the package sips just over 6 litres per hour, giving a range of 90 miles on a single 25-litre tote tank. Completing the "back to the future" analogy, the new rig is being offered at what is definitely an entry-level price.
The standard boat, outboard and single axle trailer, fitted up and ready to boogie, is $27,995.
Then there's the deluxe model with all the extras (canopy, electronics and aluminium tread plate), priced around the $30,00 mark.
In 2008, that's not bad at all.
