It was pretty chilly the morning we launched the Quintrex 510 Legend into the glass-like waters of the bay for our test. Winter might not be the season you associate with center consolers, but if you’re a keen fisho you’ll put up with the ‘air-conditioned’ interior for the great fishing space.
In cold weather we had our jackets tightly zipped, but also had a real sense of exhilaration as we sped the 510 Sea Legend over the calm waters of Pittwater. From the central helm position we had a pretty good view of the surrounding waters for any signs of fishing action.
Yep, centre consoles are all about fishing and one of the best brands is Quintrex, which build a wide range of these craft. Its Legend series is specifically geared to coastal and offshore fishing and provides plenty of internal depth for angler safety.
The 510 Legend is by no means the biggest of the Legend series, however, it’s a good choice for average income earners looking to do a bit of ‘offshore fishing’ without spending a lot of money. The package starts at a reasonable $27,995 so it’s obtainable for many working anglers.
This Quinnie will be just the ticket if you’re doing a mix of estuary and occasional offshore reef fishing. It’s spacious enough to accommodate two or three anglers and gives you a pretty good day bottom bouncing and lure casting around reefs and RADs.
The test rig was supplied by Sydney Powerboat Centre, the newest Sydney Quintrex dealer conveniently located at Mona Vale, not far from the local boat ramp. It included a number of options such as a four-stroke motor upgrade and two-tone colour topsides.
Design: Like all ‘offshore’ Quintrex models the 510 Legend features the unique fared bow and Millennium hull that deflects spray and makes for a nicer, more level ride. It features a fairly shallow vee hull, however relies on the hollowed bow entry to improve ride in choppy water.
A full pod transom ensures the Legend has pretty good at-rest stability as well as the capacity to comfortably support a heavier four-stroke motor.
The hull measures 5.26m overall, or 5.1m from bow to stern not counting the anchor roller spit. This is matched to a reasonably wide 2.3m beam, though it’s not the widest boat in its class. Meanwhile, the hull depth of 123cm ensures you have enough freeboard inside the boat to do stand up casts in reasonably safety.
With its clinker pattern topsides and smart two-tone colour scheme the 510 Legend certainly looks an appealing rig on the trailer. Quintrex produces a pretty slick product these days with stylish seat upholstery and moulded plastic cockpit sides all standard.
The latter is part of the Quintrex level-flotation system that ensures these boats float level if swamped. It’s a major selling point for Quintrex as buyers are looking for added safety features like these, particularly if they do go offshore.
The same self-draining cockpit also makes the Legend easy to wash out after a day’s fishing. All water automatically drained out the stern via one-way scuppers.
Stepping aboard the Legend is also made easy by a folding ladder and landing deck at the transom. There’s no walk-through but it’s still pretty easy to get aboard.
No questions either about the structural soundness of these tinnies. With 3mm bottom and 2mm topside and strong welded framing this is a fairly sturdy boat. The bottom is left unpainted and is protected by an external keelson.
With a total trail weight of approximately 1070kg our test boat was well within the tow capacity of most medium size cars and smaller four-wheel drives like the Honda Accord and Subaru Forester. It would be a good match for the Subaru’s 1400kg tow capacity.
Once at home you’ll find the Legend fairly easy to park especially with hinged top console that reduce its overall height for garaging.
Performance: Despite the cool air we enjoyed the driving experience of the 510 Legend as we sped across the Broken Bay estuary.
Provided you have the right clothing there’s no reason you couldn’t use this boat to fish on winter days in the latitude of Sydney. In summer, it would be brilliant for fishing coastal waters and offshore reefs.
Underway, the Millennium hull ran quite smoothly and in a fairly level fashion. Meanwhile, the hydraulic steering that comes standard made light work of the helm.
Console boats naturally suit driving from the standing position and I really found it a lot of fun driving the boat this way. The Millennium hull not only tracks pretty nicely, but also banks through turns pretty easily.
This is all for the better when you are exploring new fishing spots along the shore and need at times to move quickly.
The central helm also makes it easy for the skipper to reach the trolling lines if they suddenly go off. Indeed, everything is within easy walking distance including the anchor at the bow and any of the rod trolling positions.
Our test showed the 510 Legend to be quite stable with two guys on one side. However, with a hull weight just under 500kg you’ll still have to exercise some caution about having all crew to one side – especially offshore.
And still on the subject of handling, the rounded corners of the pod allow the Legend to back up reasonably quickly without fuss.
Power: Quintrex sells these boats with a Mercury 75hp motor as standard and for a lot of the time this would be a pretty good match.
We had the optional upgrade of Mercury 90hp four-stroke and this did produce better top end speed than the standard two-stroke motor package. The GPS speed results were as follows:
- 3500rpm 21 knots
- 4500rpm 28 knots
- 5500rpm 35 knots
Even assuming a slight drop in speed with more passengers and gear aboard the 90hp obviously is more than adequate speed. Then again, if you want to cover a lot of ground in the course of your fishing adventures you’ll want a 90hp motor and be prepared to pay the extra dollars.
Quite apart from horsepower, a four-stroke would also makes sense when you only have 95-litres in-floor to draw from.
Deck Layout: Working from the ‘sharp end’ the Legend provides a pretty comprehensive deck package including a mini bowsprit, bow roller and low, split bowrail to automatically feed the anchor line into the roller.
You also get a foredeck anchor well with roto-moulded plastic liner to stop anchor rattle. Behind this the cockpit floor is semi-raised to give a better casting position. Besides this the raised deck provides a large floor locker and a separate roto-moulded plastic live bait tank.
You also get a foredeck anchor well with roto-moulded plastic liner to stop anchor rattle. Behind this the cockpit floor is semi-raised to give a better casting position. Besides this the raised deck provides a large floor locker and a separate roto-moulded plastic live bait tank.
Moving back aft we find a fixed alloy console unit with Perspex windscreen with side passenger grab rails, compass and smart moulded dash panel.
The dash panel incorporates motor speed and RPM gauge as well as triple-ganger switch panel and 27MHz radio as standard. Other good stuff around the dash included motor trim gauge and two fold out drink holders. Our test boat also had a Navman sounder mounted on the top of the dash – however, there’s room here for a combo sounder/chartplotter if you wished.
The helm seat is a padded icebox that easily seats two people. The icebox will serve as a kill box on the return trip and sits in a specially moulded tabernacle.
What I also like about this cooler seat is that it makes a pretty good fishing seat when you’re facing aft.
Other features of the cockpit include moulded side panels that have small stowage pockets, rod holders, drink holders and even cockpit lights! While the pockets are pretty small it’s great to have all these other features and such a nicely finished interior.
Right back aft you find an optional folding lounge so the Legend can be used as a family cruiser when required. In fact, the lounge makes quite a nice leg pad if you are fishing so it’s a pretty good accessory.
Our test boat was fitted with optional extended side rails, but the bimini is standard and would be appreciated in hot sunny weather.
Summary: Quintrex really has delivered an impressive rig here for the serious fishing enthusiast. It’s a well-balanced rig that gives you plenty of fishing space and well-matched accessories for the price range. This is a rig that could be used for day cruising as well as fishing and as such it has a life beyond just piscatorial activities. The Quintrex brochure shows people using the boat for scuba diving among other activities and I reckon it would be good for that too. In short, a great boat for holiday camping.
Whether tricked up with extras like the test boat or in stock standard, the Legend is ready to make history in your own lifetime. If it tweaks your fancy then you had better head on down to the Quintrex dealer now.
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