The Xtreme 520HS is a performance rig that cuts it on the blue water and rips it on the big rivers.
Last year, the Top End company building the Xtreme range of boats changed hands. The new owner is Mark Walker and the first new boat design to come out of the Xtreme Alloy Boats factory since the change is the Xtreme- 520HS.
The test boat was powered by a 140hp Suzuki 4-stroke engine. It has an overall length of 5.35m and a beam of 2.3m, which allows for plenty of free floor space. The hull is suited to both offshore and estuary fishing, and fills an important size between the 5.0m and 5.5m models.
Fitted with a centre console, a notable design feature is the height of the sides: 1.2m.
As luck would have it, we launched the boat just after a large storm, so the seas were still around 0.5m which provided me with the perfect opportunity to see how this boat performed in choppy waters. I must say I was immediately impressed with how the boat handled these conditions. The hull cut through the chop with minimal spray and slapping, and performed extremely well at speed.
Like all Xtreme boats, this hull is built for speed, and the big Suzuki motor as an ideal fit, powering the boat out of the hole with ease. I was eager to see the top speed this boat could obtain and was not surprised when we hit 72km/h on the GPS AT 6000 revs. The boat also performed well at lower revs and was clocked at 42km/h at 4000 revs and a great cruising speed of 50km/h was achieved at 4400 revs. At this speed the 140hp Suzuki uses around a litre of fuel for every 2km travelled and so is extremely fuel efficient.
This particular boat was custom built and has an extra 50L fuel tank under-floor which allows for a total of 200L and a range of around 400km at cruising speed. This is very useful in the Territory where long distances are travelled regularly.
The XM520HS comes standard with a 4mm bottom and 3mm sides, bow and stern rails, fully-welded rod holders, spacious side pockets, fully-welded gunwales, large anchorwell, quality two-pack paintwork and the stylish SportzBak transom.
Wild Side is a great name for the test boat which had many options fitted, including a customised centre console, enormous casting deck with dry storage, an 85L ice-box under-floor, deck wash, 50L freshwater tank under-floor, electric motor mount, in-deck storage lockers, Plano tackle storage locker, fire hydrant , EPIRB recesses in the casting deck, dual batteries, Fusion stereo with 4-speaker system, Simrad NSS8 sounder/GPS and a Lowrance HDS7. However, with all these options come expense and Mark is willing to sit down with any prospective client to discuss how they would like to personalise their hull according to their budget. A standard 5.2m centre console hull fitted with a Suzuki 115hp 4-stroke outboard (the recommended horse power for this boat) will cost around $52,000. The customised test boat fitted with a Suzuki 140hp motor will cost around $65,000.
For further information, call Mark Walker of Xtreme Alloy Boats Darwin on (08) 89471889 or view the website www.gsmarine.com.au. SPECIFICATIONS Length 5.2m Beam 2.3m Bottom 4.0mm Sides 3.00mm Transom 4.0mm Hull Weight Approx 500kg Max Engine Weight 200kg Max HP 140hp Recommended HP 115hp Fuel Tank 150L