South Island boatbuilder Rae Line has hit a sweet spot with its new 206, a versatile family-friendly trailer boat that ticks a lot of boxes for Kiwi boaters.
The Ancient Greeks were never short of a good idea. They gave us mathematics, philosophy, science, medicine and even the alarm clock. They also had the most innovative mythological creatures, and lots of them. These were hybrid creatures that combined the best attributes of both parents. One of the most memorable was the centaur with a horse’s body down below for speed and strength and the smarts and opposable thumbs of a human up top. The Greeks understood many things, but perhaps the power of the hybrid form is the most relevant to this boat reviewer who is up against a deadline.
While these human-animal hybrids were everywhere in Greek mythology, they are very rare in 6.5m powerboats. That is until Rae Line rolled out its newest offering in the form of the Rae Line 206. With the hull of a muscley sports boat below and the layout, lounge-around-all-day comfort and security of a classic Kiwi cabin cruiser above, she easily deals with the sometimes-contradictory demands of a family cruiser and whatever the weather gods might have in store for her.
Construction
I have said it before with Rae Line, but good design often involves finding something that works and building from it. The sister ship of the 206 is the 205 bowrider, which had an impressive reputation for being stable, fast and soft riding. Rae Line has taken its high-hipped reverse sheer into the deck line of the 206 and applied some clever design to seamlessly incorporate the cabin into the layout of the new boat.
The new 206, a versatile family-friendly trailer boat that ticks a lot of boxes for Kiwi boaters.
The structure of the boat is contained inside a fully foam-filled floor liner with stringers and a bow bulkhead. The result is a dry, strong hull with plenty of curves to catch the eye. The 206 utilises this great platform and converts the American-style, bow rider format into a more traditional Kiwi family cabin boat with the contained cockpit and comfortable cabin combination that has always been the mainstay of New Zealand power boat design.
Layout
Like the hull, the layout of the 206 Rae Line has benefitted from some clever thinking. Starting at the bow, there’s a full anchor locker, with a bow roller and optional windlass. The cabin sides are pulled out to the gunwales, which offers loads of interior room and storage. Bunk infills make up a large double berth for overnighting if required and there’s mountains of storage to accommodate all the clutter that goes with a family day out on the water. The sliding cabin hatch has steps moulded into it to facilitate climbing up onto the foredeck through the windscreen’s hinged centre section. Further aft a large underfloor locker can swallow skis, fishing rods and other large or long items.
The helm console to starboard is well laid out with great access to the dash electronics, equipment switches and controls and good vision through the curved glass windscreen. The helm and co-pilot chairs offer the comfort of a bucket-style pedestal that’s adaptable to stand-up or sit-down helming styles. Beneath the moulded pedestal base of the helm seat is a clever chilly bin storage recess while on the other side of the boat an equally well thought out folding backrest table on the port-side queen makes cockpit dining a breeze.
Above it all is an optional sturdy open hardtop with LED downlights, a centre grab-rail and additional speakers. It does a great job of keeping off the summer sun and provides handholds for security underway, while below the floor a 180-litre fuel tank gives you the range to keep going all day.
With a reverse sheer deck line in the aft sections of the boat, the cockpit has a high-sided, deep feel that is family friendly. The floors are elegantly trimmed in Ultralon U-Dek, offset nicely by the engineering of the pull-out seating system that folds out from the aft end of the cockpit to turn the space into a well-appointed lounge. Or push it back into the transom for a functional open cockpit as the need requires.
To cap off a well-designed and luxurious fit-out is a walk-through transom door with access to the swim platform and boarding ladder, and the silky-smooth V6 Mercury 200hp, spinning a 14x19P stainless steel propeller.
On the water
With a Wednesday morning to ourselves, we had plenty of room on the boat ramp to get a look at the new Rae Line. The first impressions upon walking around the 206 is of solidity and size. She is most definitely a much larger boat than her 21-foot (6.45m) length would suggest with some clever engineering and design hidden behind her striking lines. Every conceivable space has been used to enhance the experience onboard – from the helm station to the boat’s generous storage, the detail is immaculate.
The Rae Line 206 rides on a tandem-axle, galvanised Rae Line multi-roller trailer, with alloy wheels and hydraulic override brakes on one axle. Towing weight is around 1800kg.
Some boats are good to look at from the outside and some are good to be onboard. Like her sister the 205, the Rae Line 206 is that rare collision of both. The first few minutes aboard are always worth noting in a boat review as they are the impressions that stick. As we made a beeline for our photo shoot near Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour, the 206 had a reassuringly solid feel on the water. Her wake and trim made little fuss on the smooth water, while her Mercury 200hp V6 purred quietly away, concealing the power it could unleash when the throttle was opened wide.
With the photos and drone footage being handled by the excellent Roger Mills, Rae Line Managing Director Rhys Williamson and myself were given free rein to take advantage of some flat water blasting around Quail Island. Behind the wheel, she was all pleasure as the Rae Line 206 just sprung onto the plane. Her deep-vee, full bow sections, and the well-positioned chines offered two-stage dampening to any wake jumping that threatened to cause a slam with the vee of the bow breaking the initial force of the wave and the chines offering an additional cushioning effect over this broken water.
The chines also came in handy for some tight manoeuvring and their full length and placement in relationship to the boat’s near-vertical sides seemed to give a noticeable bite to the hull in the corners. There was a reassuring sensation that the hull would not let go, which was backed up by the grip of the big Mercury. The propeller showed no indication of cavitation or ventilation, a sure sign of a well set-up motor and hull package.
On a morning that would be classed as waterskiing weather, the 206 skated around in style chased by Roger’s drone and creating minimal wake. A short sprint towards Lyttelton gave us some harbour slop to contend with, however the vessel’s weight and her generous freeboard ensured a dry ride while the hull, which responded well to trim, soaked up all the bumps.
The windscreen was at a comfortable height to divert much of the slipstream’s blast while affording excellent visibility and great ergonomics. Around 26 knots at 3800rpm with fuel consumption of 40 litres per hour was a comfortable cruise speed. Top speed is around 40 knots for those with a heavy hand on the throttle.
For most of us, owning a family boat is imperative to keep the boating bug alive. We may have spent our youth on sports boats going fast and getting soaked, but the logistics of a family requires something that offers more of the practicality of a station wagon. By combining the comfort and practical styling of a Kiwi family cabin boat above the waterline with the performance and squirt of a sports boat below, Rae Line has created a uniquely capable hybrid vessel.
