Quintrex 420 Hornet Trophy Review
Looking back around a decade ago, it seems most small tinnies were little more than bare hulls, with only the odd few tricked up with some extra gadgets — shiny pressed silver aluminium with open ribbed flooring comes to mind. It’s certainly amazing how things have changed.
When it comes to the avid fishos, I’m seeing so much more going into small tinnies, from paint work and vinyl wraps to serious electronics (that often seem to be worth as much as the boat itself), with much more precision going into today’s internal layouts.
LOOK SHARP
Quintrex’s new 420 Hornet Trophy (420HT) is a small tinnie with a fierce fishing look and a load of other practical angling features.
The boat is set up with a good-sized cast deck up front with generous storage space, anchor hatch, twin pedestal seats, small hatch in the deck, rear platform with built-in livewell and a battery hatch.
It also has low gunwales with wide coamings for easy mounting of a sounder or rodholders, and the whole thing is finished off nicely with carpeted top surfaces.
I did notice the 420HT has no side pockets, but this is not a major problem on a boat this size because such pockets would take up of a portion of the deck and there is already adequate covered storage in the hatches.
I also found rod storage somewhat lacking. We all have our own ideas as to how rods should be stored, and here the designers have gone with holders rather than racks.
As the newest addition to the range the 420 sports a number of brand-spanking-new 2013 features, namely the Blade hull, 3mm bottom, and smooth plate-look sides, while it’s 300mm deeper than the original 400 Hornet Trophy.
WETTING A LINE
At 4.49m, this bad boy is particularly easy to operate on and off the trailer. Once on the water, the simple and spacious deck can be comfortably fished with two, or even or a small family with youngsters on-board. And although it’s ideally suited to lure fishing, the 420HT is also just as well set up for sitting back on anchor with bait out the back.
The 1.98m beam an imperative for this style of boat because the greater width adds to the stability at rest, which is a handy asset when casting lures. As it is, the 420HT is ideal for fishing in rivers, dams, estuaries and bays, but obviously in suitable conditions.
The only thing missing for me was a base or bracket on the bow for an electric motor, but these boats can be optioned up with one, as well as a number of other accessories.
TWO UP
When it comes to performance on small tinnies, you generally can’t expect to fly over the chop like the big guns. Nonetheless, the little 420HT is quite impressive when you wind it up.
Telwater’s Vortex brand of outboard is your good old (well, new) two-stroke, packing a healthy holeshot, a decent crackle of power throughout the rev range and, of course, some two-stroke fumes to bring back memories of yesteryear.
Just to go on a quick tangent, two-stroke motors are still a huge part of the industry and will likely remain so for many years to come.
Let’s face it, they’re still a lot cheaper than most new-tech motors on the market and I love the fact they are so simple to maintain and repair.
A 40hp Vortex tiller-steer is a good fit for this boat and makes the 420HT quite the little dynamo on the water. Like most two-strokes, the holeshot is perky and with revs quickly ticking over you get up to a solid 21.6kts (40kmh) within seconds.
That kind of speed is more than ample on this boat although, if you were so inclined, you could probably get a bit more on the top end with a different prop.
The 420HT’s ride is comfortable in the chop on the broadwater, with the new Blade hull doing a good job at slicing the water to create a better-than-usual ride for a tinnie of this size.
Spray is deflected away from the hull and off the outer chine around halfway back on the standard trim. I appreciate this because taking a bit of spray in the face is a depressingly normal feature in many smaller tinnies — no need for scuba gear when driving this one.
If anything, trim and tilt would have been quite good on this boat because, in addition to making life easier when it comes to lifting the motor, this also aids with fine tuning the ride to suit different conditions.
Trim-and-tilt motors are available as options, and are definitely worth considering.
THE WRAP
With flat decks and plenty of storage this is the ideal small-boat package for dedicated lure chuckers and bait fishers alike. It’s good for bass on the dams, bream in the shallows and even chasing some of the bigger species in the bays when conditions suit.
On top of that, the Quintrex 420 Hornet Trophy is a neat, manageably sized unit that can not only be towed with a small vehicle, but can also be easily garaged at home.
ON THE PLANE...
- Neat, open layout
- Plenty of extra features
- Good storage
- Decent ride for a small tinnie
DRAGGING THE CHAIN...
- Dedicated mount for electric motor as standard would be nice (it’s available as an option)
QUINTREX 420 HORNET TROPHY SPECIFICATIONS
HOW MUCH?
Price as tested: $19,380
Options fitted: Vinyl wrap; paint.
Priced from: $17,600
GENERAL
Type: Fishing tinnie
Material: Aluminium
Length: 4.49m
Beam: 1.98m
Weight: 250kg
CAPACITIES
People: 5
Berths: N/A
Rec. HP: 30
Max. HP: 50
Fuel: Tote tank
ENGINE
Make/model: Vortex 40hp
Type: Two-stroke long-shaft
Weight: 75.1kg
Displacement: 703cc
Gear ratio: 2.00
Propeller: 9 7/8 x 12p
MANUFACTURED AND SUPPLIED BY
Quintrex
Web: www.quintrex.com.au
PRICING SUPPLIED BY
Springwood Marine
3452 Pacific Highway
Springwood
Queensland 4127
Tel: 07 3297 8200
Web: www.springwoodmarine.com.au
Originally published in TrailerBoat #298, August/September 2013