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Bowriders continue to be a huge seller with family boater buyers, and it’s not hard to fathom the reasons when you look over models like the Blue Fin 485 Bowrider Sports.

This style of trailer boat makes a lot of sense, especially in the warmer summer months of Australia. The extra seating space up front gives you the chance to separate the kids when needed, or put your feet up and enjoy a glass a wine at sunset.

The alloy hull ensures the Blue Fin bowrider is a practical craft for bumping around mangroves and getting down and dirty when you’re estuary fishing. It’s also a fairly roomy, stable craft for its length and so well suited to estuary or close bay fishing.

At an overall length of five metres the Blue Fin 485 bowrider falls about the right-size for towing behind a car, parking in the car port and fishing coastal bays and estuaries. While essentially geared mostly to estuary fishing there’s no reason you could use this tinnie out to close reefs on a good day.

Blue Fin is a Queensland brand that has done quite well in recent years by specializing on affordable tinnies. It’s followed the same formula with this new bowrider, delivering a package that should appeal to the first-time boat buyers. As tested ex-dealer it’s a tasty $31,990 with a single-axle trailer, inshore safety pack and a Yamaha 70hp motor. Price might be a bit higher in other states.

Over winter I had the pleasure of catching up with this new bowrider on Gold Coast waters. First off, it was a pleasure to see plenty of room in the main cockpit. Some bowriders seem to squeeze rear cockpit space in the quest to get a bigger bow space. But not here, back aft there’s room to haul out the rod, flick a lure and generally do you’re fishing thing.

 And a rear lounge ensures you can quickly switch the Blue Fin from family ‘cruise’ mode to fishing very easily.

The sports description is fairly accurate given the low bow rail, attractive curved windscreen sporty two-tone paint scheme.

Hailing from sunny Queensland it’s no surprise the interior is painted in a cool, crisp white offset by cool-looking aqua-green upholstery.

An especially clever touch is the padded seat over the rear deck. This negates the need for a transom door because you can use the seat to pivot yourself aboard. The seat also provides a natural ‘swim bench’ for adults or kids to sit when swimming, or fishing.

Combined with a rear landing deck and a folding ladder (portside) to you have pretty easy access aboard.

The Blue Fin 485 Bowrider Sport is rated to take five adults; however that could equally be two parents and four kids if total weight didn’t exceed 400kg. This is good news for parents because sometimes you have a much more peaceful time afloat if you’re little darlings can ‘take a friend’ along. It sure is better than hearing those words every parent dreads, “I’m bored!”

DESIGN

Blue Fin has taken a fairly conventional approach in the hull design of this bowrider. They’ve stuck to the proven coastal/estuary style with fairly high-sided with sharp Vee entry quickly flowing to softer Vee sections aft.

Overall length is five metres including anchor bowsprit. Beam is 2.1m for a good level of stability and hull depth a fairly generous 110cm to ensure Blue Fin 485 is a fairly dry ride in bumpy waters.

There are also extra wide chine lips in the bow area to give extra spray deflection in choppy waters.

The Blue Fin also sports an external keel to protect the bottom plus a full-depth transom pod so the boat can carry four-stroke motors.

Our test boat looked a stunner on the trailer with crisp black topsides framed by white borders. This all looks pretty nice with the aqua green upholstery and topside decals.

Another stand-out feature is the smooth plate alloy topsides. It’s a clean, modern look that should younger buyers especially. You can also have other colour choices including bright red and dark blue.

Once aboard you find a carpeted cockpit floor that extends from transom to bow. You also get pedestal seats for the driver/passenger and total seating for up to seven, including the bow area.

The 485 Blue Fin Bowrider Sports meets basic flotation under the ABP standard with all the foam flotation located under the floor. This means there’s room for large-sized pockets in the cockpit sides.

Construction of the Blue Fin 485 is fairly robust and provides 3mm topsides and 3mm bottom panels. You also have the option of a 4mm bottom upgrade, but frankly most buyers won’t need this unless they’re trailing their boat on rugged outback roads.

This tinnie certainly feels strong enough thanks to the added rigidity of welded side decks and a boxed-in transom. The hull comes in at a weight of 450kg so trail weight is about 996kg including a full tank of fuel. That’s nicely within the tow range of popular cars like the Toyota Camry (4 cylinder) and the newest Mitsubishi Outlander SUV.

Bowriders this size are naturally car-port friendly but I’d still buy an overall travel cover so the interior upholstery look its best over time.

PERFORMANCE

There was a touch of summer as we took this smart bowrider for a spin on Gold Coast waters. Our rig was brand spanking new and literally gleaming in the sun as we slipped her into salt water.

With a smooth-running Yamaha 70hp four-stroke we idled quietly out from the marina enjoying the view of palm trees and luxury villas.  There’s something about the Gold Coast that always make you feel you’re on holidays even when you’re working. That said this craft would work in many holiday areas and be a perfect accompaniment for the lake-side summer camp. It’s a boat that will suit all your playtime needs from cruising to fishing and water skiing in between.

Kids will love the bowrider design too because it provides a place to ride up front using backrest cushions.

Under way the Blue Fin 485 feels quite tight and comfortable with the Yamaha 70 four-stroke pushing her onto the plane quite easily. The Blue Fin comes through fast turns in a controlled manner and virtually no propeller slip.

The ride is also pretty good for a tinnie and provided quite a dry ride provided you keep the bows trimmed up a touch.

We took the boat offshore to see how she handled and found the Blue Fin handled the swell condition quite well. There’s no question the boat could be used to fish around headlands and near-reefs. Just pick your days and don’t go out in extreme sea or wind conditions.

Running back into the calmer waters of the Broadwater we were able to buzz along at top speed of around 30 knots enjoying the passing parade and sunshine. However, in summer I’d be adding the optional bimini sun canopy so you and the kids aren’t coping too much sun and getting dehydrated.

I like the skipper position especially since there’s good vision through the curved windscreen. Seat slides on the pedestal seats also let you adjust the position to suit your leg length.

The helm dash has a fairly simple but practical layout with moulded plastic instrument panel matching the glovebox panel on the other side. Here you have room for motor gauges and perhaps a VHF radio. Meanwhile, a LCD sounder can be fitted on the high side of the dash for fishing purposes.

I found the non-feedback mechanical steering more than adequate for the 70hp motor however you might consider the optional hydraulic steering for the bigger 90hp motor.

POWER

The Blue Fin 485 is rated for single outboards 60 – 80hp, and up to 900 for the boat with 4mm bottom. These can be either two or four-stroke motors since the pod transom will take the extra weight of these motors. Having clean tech motors, of course delivers better fuel consumption and clean-tech performance.

We found the 70hp Yamaha quite a nice match for the boat, albeit not overly fast at top speed. So if you were carrying a big passenger load regularly (or towing skiers) you might go for the 80hp or 90hp motor.

Our GPS speed results were as follows:

3500 rpm         13 knots

4500 rpm         20 knots

5500 rpm         24 knots

6000 rpm         30 knots

These are acceptable speeds for pottering around inshore and especially if most of the time you run two-up and not a big load. However, I think the 60hp size motor would be a bit under-powered and I’d certainly pay the extra dollars for the 70hp motor.

And talking of motors, it’s good to see this boat comes with a generous 110-litre fuel tank. This comes standard with a sender kit, fuel gauge and deck filler cap. Our test also was fitted with a fuel-line water filter and isolation master switch.

DECK LAYOUT

The ‘business end’ of the boat features a good set up for coastal fishing. You get a low, split bowrail, bow roller and self-draining anchor well.

The low bow rail gives extra security for passengers up front plus makes a pretty good pusher-rail for getting the boat on and off the beach.

Up front you find a U-shaped lounge that seat two adults comfortable, or alternatively three kids. It comes with a comfortable backrest and surprisingly good stowage underneath.

Navigation lights are also mounted back alongside the windscreen towards the curved windscreen and fitted at the factory. There’s a centre-opening windscreen providing walkway to the main cockpit and this makes it easy to move about the boat.

The two pedestal seats are comfortable padded and can be rotated to create aft-facing fishing seats. On the passenger side of the dash you have glovebox and the skipper side gets the option of a carbon fibre instrument panel.

Back aft is a comfortable lounge with backrest that can seat three people. This actually has a large stowage bin underneath and can be removed if you want more fishing space.

Hereabouts you also see 2 rod holders as standard, rear quarter cleats and wide side decks suitable for additional rod holders.

One of the options available here too is a raised bait board, as is a bimini canopy with envelops cover.

From a fishing point of view you’ve got a choice of front and rear fishing areas, with the bow having a drop-in casting deck. The latter would be the place to flick to a mangrove jacks, or flatheads over the sand flats.

It wouldn’t be hard to add more fishing features to this boat, however I doubt anyone is going to turn a bowrider into a hard-core rig – not at least till the family grows up.

VERDICT

It’s good to see independent Aussie brands like Blue Fin surviving and thriving in these tough times. They’ll continue to do well if they stick to well-targeted and affordable tinnies like this 485 Bowrider Sports model. This is a boat that will suit a lot of young family couples moving into their first boat.

The Blue Fin 485 is a nicely balanced rig that’s not going to be too expensive rig to operate or register every year. It’s nicely finished and about the only things missing was some drink holders up around the dash area. I think a decent music sound system should be squeezed into the package as well, especially when cashing a younger type of buyer.

In short, this bowrider should deliver some good summer fun for family buyers and even a few older empty-nesters like your writer. Best of all, it probably will suit the vehicle you and the family are driving now.