610 Territory Legend – By Anthony Gomes
Fish and Boat magazine is all about big fish and tough boats. The 610 Territory Legend is, without doubt, a tough boat that will allow you to get out there and catch those big fish.
I’ve been in, out, and around boats my entire life, from the humble bark canoe, while living and growing up in PNG, right up to game boats, catamarans, yachts, and trawlers. This time and experience has taught me what to look for in a boat, depending on its’ intended use, and some boat builders do it really well, some give it a pretty good crack, and others, well, they usually don’t stay in business too long. It’s no secret that when it comes to recreational fishing boats, the Quintrex name is right up there, and has the same iconic branding to boats as Google has to search engines on the internet. It goes without saying that at Quintrex, these guys and girls not only know how to build a darn good boat, but they somehow manage to pack them with some awesome, practical features and still keep the price extremely competitive. The 610 Territory Legend is one of these boats, and I recently met up with the team from Bills Marine, in Cairns to take this boat out and give it a good working over. Before heading out on the water, I took some time to go over the boat while it was still sitting on the trailer at Bills Marine, and I have to say that this boat gives the visual impression that it is a heck of a lot larger than 610 (Overall length is actually 6.22m). This boat is huge. I couldn’t wait to get it on the water.
Our test day was not the most ideal for boat testing, as I usually like to have at least a good, honest 15knots blowing and the fact that there were at least 30 trailers at the ramp when we arrived told me that the wind wasn’t going to be an issue. That said, we still managed to ‘create’ some rough water and the 610 didn’t even stumble in any way whatsoever. I kinda knew this would be the case, as I took particular note of the hull while it was still sitting on the trailer back at Bills Marine. As I said, Quintrex know what they’re doing and that blade hull and flared bow are an awesome combination, providing you with a smooth and very stable ride that you just have to experience yourself to see just how well the Territory Legend sits solidly in the water and feels very stable and safe, both while underway and at rest.
With 5mm bottom and 3mm sides, this boat feels more like a plate alloy boat and doesn’t have that ‘typical’ sound and feel of alloy boats I’ve been on in the past. I guess this is summed up perfectly when you read the info on the blade hull, which states that the design allows the boat to slice through the water like a knife with its sharper, sleeker shape and increased deadrise. The design also allows for the spray to be released further aft, so you get a drier ride. Maybe I’m getting softer in my older age, but if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s getting wet from spray, and this wouldn’t be the case with this hull.
In addition to the above features, the blade hull also allows for lower planing speeds, and, just as importantly, more top end speed. Talking about speed, our test boat was fitted with the F150XB Yamaha 4-stroke, spinning a stainless 14 1/4 X 17″ prop, and allowed us to reach a top speed on the day of 41knots at 5900rpm. Convert this to kilometres, and it’s a shade under 76kph! You can see now why I can honestly state that this boat was stable while underway, and believe me, we were certainly underway at that speed. Not that you’d want any more power than this, but the hull and transom are rated to 175hp.
While on the topic of outboards, just as Quintrex is a household name in boats, Yamaha is also in this field when it comes to outboards and the F150XB, with its’ 2.6lt capacity and double overhead camshaft with four valves per cylinder allows the motor to deliver a definite punch on the water. The weight of the test motor, with stainless prop is 228kg, and when matched with the 610 Territory Legend, provides an extremely good combination. You’ll sometimes see boat dealers, or owners with an underpowered combination, which can be downright dangerous. This is certainly not the case with this package, and while the top speed may not be something you aspire to reach on a daily basis, it is, in my opinion, far better to have that additional speed and power in reserve than to be in the opposite position. As I said earlier, I’ve been on a lot of boats, and some of these have been extremely unsafe due to being underpowered.
The 610 Territory Legend comes standard with a whopping 120lt underfloor fuel tank. That’s a lot of fuel. Well, our test boat was put together with the serious fisher in mind, and we had dual 120lt underfloor tanks. Perfect for those extended trips and long distances that open up a lot more fishing options, particularly up in the northern part of Australia and I reckon this boat is perfectly suited for regions such as Cairns, Townsville, Cape York, Rockhampton and of course, the Northern Territory, to name just a few fishing hotspots. I immediately thought of Arnhemland when we first got on this boat, as there are a lot of fishing locations up there, and some of them require a fair bit of travel – something I wasn’t able to achieve with my own personal boat due entirely to fuel capacity limitations.
Speaking of extended trips, it’s not only necessary to have the outboard and fuel capacity, but storage also needs to be suitable, and this was also another standout feature that impressed me. There is a very generous amount of storage on the boat, and the fact that the majority of it is underfloor would allow you to store everything you need, not just for a day, but a number of days on the water, while still keeping the entire deck free of clutter. Those underfloor storage areas under the casting deck on the bow were huge, and the shelf at the stern is the ideal place to keep things like tackle bags and lure trays within easy reach. Storage is sometimes overlooked, yet, it’s not until you and a few mates get onto a hot bite with fish like barra, mackerel or tuna, that you realise just how important it is to have a deck area free of clutter. This boat would allow you, and your mates to fight those fish, without having to watch your step so you can concentrate fully on the whole reason you’re out fishing.
As I have already stated, Quintrex just know how to do things correctly and when it comes to options, both as standard and extras, the list is almost endless. To keep this review within publication limitations, I’ll briefly mention just some of the features that I really liked on the boat. Firstly, as standard features, the 610 Territory Legend comes with a carpeted floor, including the casting deck, a live bait tank, marine radio, rear ladder, scuppers and 6 seat positions. The boat is provided with 3 Quintrex Bass Sports seats, and these were the seats on our test boat.
Optional extras fitted to our test boat included, as previously mentioned, the additional 120lt fuel tank, with its’ own separate filler in the gunwale, transom door, sealed timber floor and a bow mount bracket for a 24v electric motor. Our boat had the Minn Kota 80lb Terrova with the 72″ shaft fitted. Again, just like boat and outboard brands, Minn Kota is right up there as well, as is the Lowrance sounder that was also installed. To labour the point, everything on this boat was top quality, and I personally wouldn’t change the combination. This is a seriously well put together package, and fits the market for the serious angler extremely well. This alone tells me that Bills Marine not only stock the best gear, but that the staff know their stuff and have applied this when fitting out the 610 Territory Legend.
Boat Specs:
Length overall: 6.22m
Length on trailer: 7.63m
Height on trailer: 2.25m
Beam: 2.48m
Depth: 1.30m
Bottomsides: 5.00mm
Topsides: 3.00mm
Transom material: 5.00mm
Transom shaft length: XLS
Max load (basic): 880.00kg
Number of people (basic): 7
Max HP: 175hp
Max main motor weight: 250kg
weight (boat only) 760kg
