200hp FourStroke Verados boost a booming business

Matt Cini is proud to say he’s the busiest charter fishing operator in Melbourne.

Well business must be good, with Matt recently adding a third boat to his fleet at Reel Time Fishing.

Christened Reel Time #1, she’s an 8.5 metre aluminium centre cab built by Pelagic Boats to carry 10 in comfort and powered by twin 200XL 4 cylinder FourStroke Verados.

“She’s extremely custom built,” Matt said. “I sat down with a naval architect to design exactly what I wanted and it’s turned out beautifully.”

After three weeks on the water, Matt’s very happy he decided on Verado power.

“Absolutely fantastic. They’re reliable, the starting is excellent, and the gear changes are very smooth,” he said.

Loaded with passengers, water and fuel, Reel Time #1 weighs in at 4.2 tonnes but the Verados have her cruising easily at 35 km/h and 4,200 rpms, burning 42 litres of fuel an hour.

Acceleration from 0 to 30 km/h takes just five seconds, and top speed is 66 km/h at 6,200.

“Yeah, there’s lots of power there – she comes out of the hole well – but the Verados are very, very quiet,’ Matt said.

“At the end of charters we’ve had customers come off the boat and say ‘those engines are beautiful’.”

Matt designed Reel Time #1 for two specific jobs – to chase snapper out of Port Philip Bay from October to March, then fish for southern bluefin tuna from Portland for the rest of the year – and he’s very confident she’ll excel at both.

“We’re busy because we have good skippers, we have nice new boats, and we give our customers what they want – fish,” Matt said.

“This boat’s already shown it’ll definitely be a major boost for the business and I’m glad she’s got Verados on the back.”

For more information, please visit www.reeltimefishing.com.au