Fishing Monthly Magazine | July 2022

Page 116

Remora Boats 490 powered by Suzuki 115hp - SC

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Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

We met Jason Olivey for the first time in his shed on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It looked like any fibreglass boat builder’s shed – smelling of resin and covered in fibreglass dust. There were several boats in various stages of construction: one in the mould, one mid-build, and one on the trailer nearly ready for delivery. And like all boat manufacturers he assured us that his shed was too small and he was on the lookout for a new one. It looked like an honest call.

Main: Remora built this 490 as a stock and demonstration boat for Mak Marine. The guys have fitted it with a 115hp Suzuki and a Minn Kota electric motor among other things. Above: 115 is plenty of horsepower for this rig, and it’s fun to drive two-up.

Although there was no fuel metering available for this boat, the 100L underfloor fuel tank is definitely good for several hundred kilometres, based on previous tests with this engine. Remora Boats isn’t Jason’s first manufacturing venture. You may have heard of his brand of Remora Oceanic trolling lures that originated in his lounge room while he lived in Sydney. You can watch the full interview with Jason by scanning the QR code hereby, but he is a lifelong boat builder and always wanted to make his own brand of niche boats. We met him right at the start of his journey. At the time of this boat 116

JULY 2022

test he has finished several boats, but had many more on order. Over the years this hull size and shape has been popular with boat renovators, and the ability to buy a new one off the shelf with no wood in the construction is very tempting for many anglers. “You won’t need to replace floors and transoms in these rigs in a decade or two. Your kids will be re-powering them, not re-building them,” he said. That’s because he uses Therma-lite in the floors

and transoms where plywood used to be the material of choice. It’s a full composite build that has nothing to rot. After checking out the factory, we headed to the closest Remora dealer – Mak Marine just south of Newcastle. They had just finished fitting out a black 490 with a 115hp Suzuki outboard. Brendan Macdonald and his team from Mak Marine were excited to get the rig on the water, so we tagged along to do some filming. You can watch the video boat test by scanning the QR code on this page. It was a late afternoon on Lake Macquarie with only a small amount of chop. We took turns taking the rig for a ride. You need to remember that this is just a 4.55m hull with a

pod. Its light weight gives it responsive performance and versatility when it comes to beach launching or accessing difficult areas, but it’s not going to have everything a 6-7m boat has in it. Storage is basic, with side pockets and some area underneath the console. The test boat was fitted with a framed lean seat that can keep a cooler under it, but there is

also the option of a fibreglass storage and live well combo in the helm seat position. Some will see this as a negative. The floor is kept at the same level throughout. Some people may want a raised casting deck (and the storage that comes with it), however this trades-off gunwale height, which you’ll likely need when fishing in the ocean. The console seems proportionally the right size and there’s a handrail around the top of it that’ll be handy when it’s rough. It fits fish finders up to 16”, bracket mounted on the dash. Small touches, like the customised Remora switch pad are neat. We also liked the mounting for the electric motor on the front - some clever stainless steel tubework presents a good looking and practical solution. I assume not many of these built for fishing will go out of the dealership without one. Judging by the smile on Brendan’s face, we reckon that he was happy with his first Remora. There was no fuel metering installed at the time of testing, but we achieved

a top speed of high 60km/h with the standard Suzuki 19” three blade aluminium propeller and it cruised nicely at 3,500-4,000rpm. Performance data is listed in the table. As tested, this rig will set you back $57,000, however Remora packages start in the late-forties with a smaller outboard. Remora don’t sell direct to the public, so if you’re keen on a quote or a ride, see the guys at Mak Marine or on www.makmarine.com.au. You may also be keen on Remora’s Instagram page – it’s quite active. PERFORMANCE RPM .... Speed (km/h) Idle ......................... 2 1000 ........................ 6 2000.......................11 3000...................... 21 3500 ...................... 36 4000...................... 43 5000...................... 55 6000...................... 64 • Running a 19” 3 blade Suzuki aluminium propeller.

Scan the QR code to watch the Jason Olivey Interview

SPECIFICATIONS Length .....................4.9m Beam .................... 2.04m Fuel ..........................100L Max hp ..................115hp Capacity......... 5 persons Length on trailer .... 7.1m

There are some serious reverse chines underneath this hull, keeping the small chop spray down.


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Articles inside

Boat Test: Remora 490

5min
pages 116-120

Freshwater

9min
pages 112-113

Karratha

5min
page 111

Lancelin

5min
pages 108-109

Bunbury

4min
page 105

Tournaments

30min
pages 96-102

Metro

4min
page 106

Augusta

6min
page 104

Mandurah

4min
page 107

Wangaratta

5min
page 90

Eildon

8min
pages 92-93

Ballarat

4min
page 89

Phillip Island

5min
page 85

Port Phillip Bay

4min
page 84

Port Phillip East

4min
page 82

Canberra

4min
page 71

Hobart

6min
page 75

Geelong

5min
pages 78-79

Offshore

5min
page 74

New England Rivers

3min
page 70

Batlow

6min
page 69

Batemans Bay

5min
page 65

Illawarra

4min
page 64

Sydney North

5min
page 53

Central Coast

3min
page 62

Swansea

8min
page 63

Sydney South

4min
pages 54-55

Sydney Rock

4min
page 52

Pittwater

11min
pages 50-51

Kayak: Baffle Creek

8min
pages 48-49

Mackay

5min
page 36

Sheik of the Creek

5min
page 41

Cape York

3min
pages 44-45

Cooktown

4min
page 43

Townsville

5min
page 37

Hinchinbrook

4min
pages 38-40

Bundaberg

7min
pages 34-35

Starlo’s back to basics

3min
pages 12-15

Northern Bay

6min
pages 28-29

Jumpinpin

3min
pages 20-23

Noosa

5min
pages 30-33

QUEENSLAND The Tweed

4min
pages 16-17

Gold Coast

5min
pages 18-19

Southern Bay

3min
pages 24-25

Level up with livies

14min
pages 8-11
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