Kōtare is an Innovision 757 Custom that makes quite a statement – for both the owner and Innovision Boats. Housed at Westhaven’s Oram’s Marine drystack, the boat is an example of the level of customisation Innovision Boats can offer – a happy result of close collaboration between boatbuilder and client.

Painted in Audi Nardo Grey, Kōtare sufficiently impressed the judges at the Hutchwilco NZ Boat Show for them to award it Best Fishing Boat 7-8m for 2023. They were struck by the equipment levels and high-quality construction and fitout. After the show, Kōtare’s owner added many thousands of dollars’ worth of additional gear, mostly electronics, so the boat today is even more impressive than it was at the show.

Kotare’s owner wanted a vessel that was unique in terms of design, styling and functionality, including a custom transom, custom seating and a pilothouse configuration. His start point was Innovision’s 656, which he loves, but once he began working with Innovision on the project, it became clear a bigger vessel was required. Cue the 757.
With the boat in the water, the first thing I noticed once the canvas backdrop was opened was teak trim, which is everywhere, from the coamings to the helm console, fiddles to cabin bulkhead trim. This, says Innovision owner Simon Minoprio, is more woodwork than the company has ever attempted before and a striking feature of the boat.

U-Dek flooring is used throughout, colour-matched to the stitched vinyl upholstery, and there’s an Isotherm fridge-freezer under the front seat, which like the rear seat, has a reversible backrest. Both seats address an elevated table with a swivelling solid teak top offering different usage modes and easy access to the seats. Removable U-Dek foam blocks under the table serve as footrests.
The Simrad fish finding and navigation suite, including HALO radar and a massive through-hull transducer, is also impressive, as is the LED interior lighting set-up with its range of different colours. There’s also a FLIR camera and spotlights mounted on the cabin top and sliding side windows wide enough to lean out of.

Kōtare’s various systems are controlled via CZone, which implements a range of personalised, pre-programmed modes, accessed via the CZone panel or either of the Simrad displays. There’s a second, smaller display aft that hinges outwards, so it’s easily seen from the cockpit. It makes controlling the vessel with the Helmmaster joystick, mounted well back in the cabin beside a second bow thruster toggle, much easier.

The transom set-up – and specifically the sportfishing-oriented bait station with its massive live well and highly functional PVC filleting board – is completely custom. The live well holds around 200 litres of water, which swirls around the tank and is continuously refreshed with seawater by a powerful pump. The idea was to hold the catch so the owner could release alive any fish he didn’t want to keep at the end of the day. The live well also has a clever pressurised lid to prevent water slopping over.

A custom drop-down dive ladder on the starboard side is hidden away behind its own transom door, leaving the transom flush when closed. Kōtare is designed to back up at 6 knots – as fast as the boat will go in reverse – so there are no swim platforms. Game fishing is on the agenda, though for now Kōtare’s owner is content to chase snapper and kingfish in the Hauraki Gulf. To facilitate reversing at speed, the underside of the outboard pod is angled to lift the transom when the boat is going hard astern.
There’s a more conventional live well set into the transom on the port side, plus custom tuna tubes (two) and smaller mackerel tubes (two) set either side of the outboard well. The rear seat base sports tackle drawers, an under-seat gas cooker,a rubbish bin, and a slide-out Icey-Tek chilly bin.

The cockpit benefits from a fresh and saltwater washdown, lockable under-gunwale rod storage can accommodate four rod and reel combos, and there are plenty of rod holders set into the coamings, including adjustable Evolution 360 models. Additional rod holders are positioned across the back of the bait station, with still more in the rocket launcher.
Many of these features are unique to Kōtare, but Minoprio reckons implementing the custom work probably added no more than a month to the boat’s construction time.

“We can offer production, semi-production or full-custom boats based on our range of designs,” says Minoprio, who is looking forward to similar custom projects in future.