BOAT TEST Reviewed by Erwin Bursik
I
WILL be bold enough to state that the Yamaha Explorer range of ski-boats has become a trendsetter, bringing the monohulled style of 19 foot offshore sport angling craft back into the South African market after quite a number of years where catamaran-styled craft have enjoyed a strong dominance. This is an upgraded and restyled Explorer from the original Explorer built by Grantley Read in about 2010, if my memory serves me correctly, as a 5.1m (16’7”) craft, and upgraded to 19 foot in early 2017. (see the May/June 2017 issue of SKIBOAT and the review by Heinrich Klein). The boat has become extremely popular as a medium-sized offshore craft built for the South African market. The Explorer Evo named Fish Face that Ryan Hansen of Durban Yamaha had completed, powered and rigged, is not only the latest in this range of craft to be built, but was also immaculately finished to perfection for her fastidious owners. It was an absolute pleasure to get to review her off Durban in early September 2020. Before getting into the detail of my impressions of the craft, I need to highlight a few aspects that I noticed and these stem from what I call the resurgence of the monohull craft. Until recently I was a steadfast mono man, despite about three decades of experiencing the strong trend towards the catamaran or twin-hulled craft. Eventually I succumbed and in 2011 I acquired a cat in this mid-range class, but I still love the look and feel of a monohull. Looking at her as she arrived at the Natal Deep Sea Rod and Reel Club slipway behind Ryan’s Land Cruiser and seeing her glide into the waters of Durban harbour, I could not be anything but beguiled at her overall presence and beauty.
Out off Durban’s beachfront in a sea that had been hammered by a south-westerly buster, followed by 18 hours of gale force north-easterly gusting to 30 knots, the water was totally churned up, even though the wind during the morning of the review was but a light to moderate north-easterly. Not totally ideal weather and sea conditions for reviewing a craft of this size, but as we offshore anglers all know, there are times, especially during competitions, when we have to take whatever sea conditions are prevailing.This was one of those days and I was pleased to be on the monohulled Explorer Evo 19. Grantley Read is arguably the biggest builder of small- to medium-sized offshore craft in South Africa. Regular readers would have noticed in the September October issue of SKIBOAT that he launched the SeaCat 800 cabin boat named Basjan, which I reviewed.Yes, Grantley is getting very close to the nine metre class that has, for some years now, become the benchmark among the marlin hunters in South Africa. 38 • SKI-BOAT November/December 2020
