It seems the demand for amphibious vessels is showing no sign of softening, and with New Zealand manufacturers pioneering amphibious technology, more and more Kiwi boatbuilders are taking the plunge and adding amphibious options to their range.
Auckland-based aluminium boatbuilder Innovision is no exception, with the IV7000 Explorer reviewed on these pages the first of a range of Innovision amphibious options.
Designed by Simon Minoprio, with naval architecture by Brett Bakewell-White, Innovison’s Explorer and Active models have proven popular with Kiwi boaters. They are now offered in new IV6200, IV7000 and IV8000 versions with Anura amphibious technology in either electric or petrol power.
The IV7000 Explorer is a hardtop model, open at the back, based on the Explorer 707 but with quite a few tweaks for amphibious duty, including a bit more volume in the hull to accommodate the extra weight and a revised entry. The transom design is new, as well, particularly the raised boarding platform, which allows unimpeded access from one side of the stern to the other and keeps your feet dry when fishing – and since this is the first amphibious craft in the range, development work is ongoing.
There’s plenty to like about Innovision’s boats, which have earned a reputation for exceptional ride quality in a range of conditions and meticulous build quality. The 7000 models hit a sweet spot between size and performance, including overall seaworthiness. Adding an amphibious system simply further boosts their versatility.
Customised to the owner’s specification, this boat will call Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsula home. It’s set up nicely for fishing, with plenty of rod holders, including rotating Exploding Fish Evo-360 through-gunwale models, a comprehensive transom bait station, and a well-designed aft platform and cage with drop-down rails doubling as boarding/dive ladders. The aft platform is easily accessed from the cockpit and its raised deck keeps the feet dry, while the cage rails provide support at thigh level, making it perfect for fishing.
With its typically high waist and distinctive sheerline (revised for this model), freeboard is ample, there’s good toe-room right around the cockpit, plus electric reel outlets, deep side-pockets, four cup/sinker holders, washdown facilities and the now familiar thigh activated, push-button hand washer on both sides.
The IV7000 Amphib’s high-spec, fully-lined hardtop offers comfort as well as shelter from the elements. It’s an open-backed design, but the roof extends far enough back over the cockpit to provide useful shelter without getting in the way of anyone fishing. There’s LED strip-lighting in the ceiling, cockpit floodlights, a foredeck floodlight forward, and a decent grabrail on the back of the hardtop overhang, plus a substantial built-in, near vertical rocket launcher for up to eight rods. Grey BoatDek is used on the cockpit sole, stern platform, gunwales and coamings, side decks and foredeck, and there’s provision for canvas drop covers to completely enclose the cockpit for storage or overnighting.
The practical interior layout is typically Innovision with a pair of comfortable swivelling Relaxn-branded bucket seats for the front seat passengers, upholstered in two-tone grey vinyl and adjustable fore and aft. Bolsters on both provide support when standing while underway. There’s good dry storage in side-pockets, under the floor between the seats, under the front seats – there’s a Dometic drawer-fridge beneath the helm seat – and under the lower rear seat on the starboard side; on the port side, a slide-out Icey-Tek bin does double duty as a rear facing seat.
A wide bulkhead opening provides access to the forward cabin with v-berths plus infill and provision for a toilet under the squab forward. There’s storage under the berths, though batteries for the bow mounted Minn Kota Riptide Instinct trolling motor take up most of the space on the port side.
Unlike the hardtop, which is flooded with light from the cockpit and wrap-around windows, the forward cabin is windowless. However, LED lights provide good illumination. A hatch gives access to the foredeck with another in the forward bulkhead opening onto the anchor locker with its Lonestar GX2 drum winch (Sarca anchor).
A privacy curtain is an option.
This vessel is fitted with Anura’s S25 amphibious system designed for a payload of up to three tonnes. Power for the hydraulic pumps driving all four wheels is provided by an air-cooled Honda four-stroke engine; power on the water comes from
a Yamaha 300hp V6 outboard.
The S25 installation and associated plumbing and electrics are very tidy. The engine and hydraulics take up little cockpit space, since the machinery, along with the usual complement of batteries, pumps and switches, are accommodated under the transom island/bait station, as well as the boarding platform behind it, which also provides a pair of underfoot wet lockers. The live bait tank is located under the starboard-side transom step-through, with a storage locker under the opposite step-through to port.
Access to the S25 system is good, but machinery is also well-protected from water ingress and salt spray. The Honda breathes through a grille in the transom wall aft and exhausts high up on the starboard side.
The Yamaha outboard’s rigging is equally streamlined thanks to its digital controls and built-in electric steering. A single conduit houses all the wiring and fuel lines making for a very uncluttered transom and the engine’s white livery matches the boat’s painted colour scheme nicely.
On the water the IV7000 Explorer behaves much like any other Innovision, though there’s no escaping it’s heavier than its non-amphibious cousins. The Anura system adds nearly 500kg, with much of it situated aft – Honda engine, hydraulic pumps and a pair of large retractable wheels on solidly engineered forged aluminium legs. The rest (tandem wheels and a single supporting leg) is suspended under the bow. So, like most amphibious boats, there’s quite a bit of extra weight at the ends of the hull, which can result in some pitching underway.
During our time with the boat, we controlled pitching by trimming the bow down, but Innovision has since slightly modified the hull and changed the propeller to provide extra lift aft, for better bow control and more efficient hydrodynamics.
The boat’s weight certainly justifies bolting 300hp on the transom – Innovision’s Simon Minoprio’s rule of thumb is 100hp per tonne – and the Yamaha does an excellent job. But acceleration is measured rather than breath-taking. Nevertheless, during our test we cruised happily at 30 knots (4,600rpm), or 26 knots at 4,100rpm, according to the 16-inch Garmin 8416 dominating the large helm console. Top speed was around 35 knots with a full load of fuel (275 litres).
The helm console fascia also houses controls for the Zipwake trim systems, which was operated in automatic mode for our review, Fusion stereo, bilge pump and anchor, wiper-washers, a switch panel and the standard Yamaha digital display panel. The VHF radio is also by Garmin and the sonar module benefits from a 1kW transom-mounted transducer.
The helm console must also accommodate controls for the S25 amphibious system, but these take up very little space. The joystick is located to the side, in front of the Yamaha throttle and shift, there’s a large stop-start button on the dash with push-button inputs for wheels up/down, plus a multifunctional digital display to monitor rpm, drive load and other S25 parameters.
Modifications to the hull structure to accommodate the stresses and strains of terrestrial operation were minimal, says Minoprio, because Innovision Boats are built stiff and strong with plenty of underfloor bracing. They’re easily adapted to amphibious operation, he says, and come with a 10-year hull warranty.
We sampled amphibious operation on a North Shore beach, driving the IV7000 Amphib on and off the beach a couple of times, stopping to demonstrate ‘squatting’ on the sand so that we could get on and off the vessel, and generally getting to grips with the S25 controls. With drive to all four wheels and a ‘diff lock’ function, traction is excellent across a range of surfaces. That was good, because to access the beach at mid-tide we had to traverse a partially submerged bank of soft sand. No problems – diff lock, engaged manually from the panel on the dashboard, sends torque equally to all the wheels. For safety, the wheels brake automatically when stopped.
It’s fair to say that Anura’s S25 system is extremely simple to operate, and the controls are straight-forward and intuitive. The user interface provides an intuitive control by wire experience with detailed system telemetry via the LED display.
There’s a large stop-start button for the S25 motor – engine revolutions are modulated automatically to provide sufficient hydraulic power to the wheels.
Wheels up or down is a simple one-touch push-button operation while a bow camera displays the position of the front wheels on the Garmin MFD (they are tucked in under the bow and invisible from the helm). An audible beep lets you know when the wheels are fully down and up. In terrestrial mode, selecting forward and reverse, as well as speed, is controlled by the joystick – push it forward to go ahead and to go faster, back for reverse. The wheel is used to steer.
On the Innovision 7000 Amphib, the amphibious tech feels very well integrated, adding a new level of versatility and functionality to an already very accomplished vessel. For an ICE system, it’s also very quiet.
In engineering the IV7000 to amphibious duty, Innovision has hardly compromised its utility for fishing/diving, family boating, or any other duties. Amphibious capability is a welcome bonus, allowing the vessel to operate independently of boat ramps, land on remote beaches, and provide transport to and from coastal properties like the owner’s in Hahei. The advantages easily outweigh any potential drawbacks. Innovison can even offer a variety of road trailers, if required. It’s easy to see why demand for these vessels is growing.
