Ally Craft 410 Scout

Keep it real and keep it affordable are the smartest things to do when it comes to boating and Ally Craft 410 Scout fits perfectly to this statement. It’s true that boating is getting more expensive these days or certainly it seems to be as you wander around boat shows these days. However, affordable boating is still there for those who prepared to look a little deeper and smaller than their dream boat. The Ally Craft 410 Scout, tested here, is a great example of what we are talking about. It’s a smart-looking little rig that can seat up to four people and needs only a 30hp or 40hp outboard to achieve quite a decent performance.

Affordable boats:

There are some brilliant little boats to get you on the water this summer for reasonable money. Especially for young families on a tight budget or retirees loath to spend the nest egg, there’s some great alloy boats around the 4-4.5 metres size range. Most of these are open, tiller-steered dinghies or punts. However, you can find a few runabout types with the added bonus of car-like steering, windscreen and folding canopy. These boats are like the smart-cars of the waterways - small enough to park at a home unit and very inexpensive to run. Years ago this was the size of boat most people used to wet a line. Later with the changing time most modern boat buyers prefer to go for a larger boat in the 5-6m range. However, I’d argue the small tinnie still has a lot of appeal, especially since we’ve seen improvements in hull design. Small motors that now come with electric tilt and trim which are small enough to garage in your home unit. It seems like a great rig if you’re looking to get on the water inexpensively.

Having a closer look on the Ally Craft 410 Scout

Ally Craft 410 Scout build a couple of compact models besides the Scout, including the 425 Navajo and 435 Family. However, the Ally Craft is the best bet if you want to retain comfort without spending a lot. This is a great little rig for enjoying cruising around enclosed coastal waterways, or even rivers because its shallow draft allows it slip over shallow water zones. And if you do hit the bottom it’s not too hard to push it back into deeper water. Especially with a 40hp four-stroke on the back, the Ally Craft uses 'bugger all' fuel as we found out when we had a potter about on a recent trip to the Gold Coast.

Having tested a couple of $60,000 boats it was refreshing to step into a boat that was actually affordable! The Ally Craft packages up from about $14,500 - $19,500 depending on the motor. This is about the same as a Hyundai Getz so the smart car analogy is quite apt.

Robust Design:

Based on the traditional estuary tinnie, the Ally Craft has a pointed bow and reasonably high freeboard. It has the traditional ‘clinker’ topsides look but is modernized by a more generous hull size and curved windscreen. At a length overall of 4.1m and beam of 1.9m the boat has room to carry four people. The big difference between this model and similar-sized Navajo is the lack of an outboard well at the stern. This means you’ve got a tad more cockpit space for fishing. And with a hull weight of approximately 235kg the Ally Craft 410 Scout is stable enough to walk about in. Though do this with care since it’s not an overly large boat and will be sensitive to weight movement. I’d suggest that should be two adults and two younger kids. Think of the grandkids and you’ll be about right on the money.

With a sharp bow entry the Ally Craft should be able to cut through wave chop. However, the hull sections are a much softer Vee in the back half of the boat. So that boat’s planes easy and provide pretty good stability at rest. Looked at in these terms the boat is a sensible solution for a boat operating in semi - exposed waters. Structurally, Ally Craft is also up to the job too with a welded pressed alloy hull of 2mm gauge bottom, 1.6mm topsides. This is reinforced by regular-spaced internal frames and added strength of welded side decks and external keel. Best of all, Ally Craft 410 Scout is easily towed by small cars like the Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus. With an all up trail weight of no more than 650kg, it doesn’t require trailer brakes and should be fairly easy to maneuver by hand on its trailer.

Ultimate Performance:

There was a bit of nasty wind chop the day we took the Ally Craft for a test run. Frankly, it wasn’t the day you’d pick if you were taking the spouse for a spin, however, still a good chance to test the little craft’s mettle. We were thumping into a pretty hard tide chop for a lot of the time, but pleased to see that the Ally Craft is handling this quite easily. Sure it was a bit bumpy, but the good news was that the boat was tracking well and showing itself to be well up to the job. I also liked the way the boat stayed on top of the chop and provided a pretty dry ride. It was a big asks pushing this one hard in these conditions. But on the positive side we covered ground quickly with an average speed of about 18-19 knots. Indeed, we covered the ground almost as quickly as the bigger boats we tested that day.

While forward steer position of the Ally Craft 410 Scout is a little harder on a crew than a tiller-steer arrangement it does mean you have the protection of a windscreen. In fact, the steering position is quite comfy once you slip behind the wheel. The low pedestal seats of Ally Craft are well-padded and the curved windscreen gives surprisingly good protection from spray. However, take a tip and pick a better day if you want to convince your partner this is a good idea.

At-rest stability was sufficient for stand-up fishing, but why bother when you can do it very comfortably from the pedestal seats provided. The superbly devised Ally Craft allows you to just turn the seats around and you have a great fishing position. You can even fish out through the front of the boat by just opening the centre windscreen panel. That’s the great thing about a smaller boat like Ally Craft – everything, including fishing is all within easy reach of the helm.

Awesome Power:
The power options are pretty straight forward with the Ally Craft Scout. The choice is either a 30hp or 40hp motor in either two or four-stroke configuration. I would assume the Ally Craft goes well in either motor size but the 40hp size does mean some extra grunt and top end speed. Our Suzuki 40hp four-stroke test motor certainly got us onto the plane quite quickly and better than I would have expected of a four-stroke.

The speeds were as follows:

• 3500 rpm          15 knots
• 4500 rpm          19 knots
• 5500 rpm          24 knots

This is about the right speed range for the Ally Craft and should deliver very thrifty fuel results, especially when cruising around the 4000-4500rpm rev range. These new Suzuki motors are very impressive with multipoint electronic fuel. Once inject delivering incredibly smooth running and a clean, smoke-free environment. It can’t be stressed enough the difference these clean tech motors make to the boating experience with the Ally Craft. Once you’ve sampled these motors it's darn hard to go back to the dark age of old-fashioned two-strokes. However, these motors do mean you’re paying around $4,500 which will be hard to justify on fuel-savings alone. Then again, these motors are not just about dollars and cents so much as delivering a more pleasurable day afloat. The fact you fuel up less and travel further is just the icing on the cake. In keeping with boats like Ally Craft there are no under-floor fuel tanks. However, a single or pair of 25-litre plastic tanks will easily cater for the Scout’s daily fuel needs.

Pleasing Deck Layout:

The Ally Craft comes well set up for coastal waterway cruising or fishing. Up front there’s a proper bow roller for the anchor and split bow rail, which automatically feeds the line into the roller. A self-draining anchor well and plastic anchor cleat are all within easy reached of the centre opening windscreen. In fact, the molded fiber-glass dash of the Ally Craft behind the windscreen is cut-away so you get a very comfy spot to either handle the anchor or caste a line. Other great features of the Ally Craft 410 Scout include the curved Perspex windscreen that really helps to lift this little rig up to the big-boat league.

The molded dash of the Ally Craft also gives you a passenger glove-box and neat helm console with room to mount a small LCD sounder. Or you can find a combo GPS chart plotter on it as well. I like the way the carpeted floor steps down in front of the pedestal seats. This gives you greater legroom and there’s a stowage shelf up under the bows for the PFDs. And talking of places to stow things you also get raised side pockets in the cockpit to take gear like your fishing hand lines. Right after that there are upholstered seat boxes in the Ally Craft 410 Scout. However, the brochure shows a single, large seat box, which may be better since you could then fishing into the stern quarters. I’m sure fishing enthusiasts will prefer the latter.

Other features of the Ally Craft that will please the piscatorial-minded include rod holders on each stern quarter. In addition to that, there is a transom step and stern rail that helps you get aboard from the beach. A lot of the accessories on a boat this size are fitted at dealer level. And in the case of this boat the test rig had a VHF two-way radio plus wiring for navigation lights. Frankly, you want these features if you are cruising or fishing in coastal waters regardless of the boat’s size.

Conclusion

On the face of it the Ally Craft 410 Scout seems like a pretty good bet for the retiree boater. This one is perfect for someone who is after a craft that’s easy to handle and very inexpensive to run. However, it would be unfair to stereotype the boat as a Grey Nomads special. A few weeks after testing the Ally Craft we came across a young couple barely in their 20s fishing near the Seaway in a similar sized tinnie. Wearing no more than swimmers and a smile they were a great advertisement for the ‘smart car’ boat approach. So I guess the moral of the story is that, affordable boating is there for the taking and right now it’s looking like a boat called Ally Craft 410 Scout.