Life is a compromise, as many readers will already know, and buying boats is much the same. Many boat buyers have to balance their interest in fishing with that of the family and choose a craft that can mix the fishing with a practical days cruising about on the water with the family aboard.
A boat capable of easily switching between the needs of the angler and the comfort of the family is the Azura 650 Walkaround. The comprehensive Azura range are French built by Kelt based in Vannes, and designed to be true sea boats with a rapid turn of speed.
I’d heard before how good the 650 type was as a sea boat, but figured I’d keep that quiet from the lads at Imperial Leisure in Haverfordwest, where my test boat was based. I’d just trust to luck that I got a roughish sea to work her in. The test was out off Neyland Marina, and though the inner Haven is always pretty flat, push out past Thorn Island and you get the swells and currents from the open sea that give exactly the right kind of water required to put a boat through her paces.
ON THE PONTOON
The 650 was moored on the pontoon waiting for us. I took a few minutes out to fully check her over.
She’s 6.48-metres long with a beam of 2.50-metres and armed with a pokey Yamaha 150 High Pressure Direct Injection outboard. Her dry weight is around 1,230kgs indicating she’s a solidly built hull designed to take a pounding.
Up forward the bow has a full safety rail running from the rear of the cabin with a cutaway half section at the pulpit for ease of hauling anchor. This rail is high enough for working at the bow if you’re on your knees and is a good grab rail when moving about.
You have a large anchor locker with a left hand opening hatch with easy access for working from and for re stowing rope and anchor. The bow is also fitted with a stainless steel bow roller and two T cleats for tying off.
Just rear of the anchor locker and forward walkway and in front of the windscreen there is a large seating area that hides a locker underneath for additional storage. This forward area and seating is ideal for fishing two people from.
There is a wide easily accessible walkway down each side of the cabin with a built in step for transmission between bow and main deck.
The windscreen is a tinted green with an excellent stainless steel frame running around the inside which acts as a grab rail for holding when initially moving alongside the cabin on the walkway, and when seated facing towards the console. The screen also houses the duo nav light in the middle, plus you get a push in alloy tube mast type steaming light as standard. I also noticed the screen was securely fixed with quality heavy duty stainless steel screws.
Your helm seat is positioned on the starboard side with a passenger seat port side, both adjustable upholstered swivel type chairs. The wheel is a car type and stainless steel.
When viewing the console you have the throttle on the right. This is at a comfy height for both standing and when seated. Adjacent is a kill cord, with the switch panel directly below the wheel.
Between the wheel and upper console there is a very useful lift up screen with a shallow storage area ideal for holding folded charts etc. The compass is mounted rear of this screen directly in front of the helmsman, with the instruments mounted in a neat semi circular wood patterned console forward and just below eye level.
I was looking where I’d fit a sounder and a GPS, and there is room for these on the left side of the screen where there is a shelf easily wide enough to fit your screens at an angle to face the helmsman.
Access to the lower cabin is thorough a tinted hatch screen port side. The gangway is wide and pretty east to get through, but you obviously need to bend at the knees and back to gain access. This area is large enough to sleep two, and a lift out panel below the cushioning hides additional storage space. The interior is nicely upholstered with what looks like white nylon brush pile with blue cushioning.
Back on deck the gunnels are high and you feel secure working inside the boat. The gunnels tops amidships are fitted with flat plastic inserts with gaps in for tying off fenders etc, though you could also maybe have rods positioned in these as below these on the inner gunnels there is a narrow shelf area with outer wall that could support rods like uptiders. Just a thought!
Looking at the stern a fully cushioned seating area runs the full length. This hinges upwards to give access to the rear locker that hides the fuel tank, battery, and a water/fuel filter separator unit that is fitted as standard. The fuel tank has a generous 130-litre capacity.
On the starboard quarter the cushioned area is lowered slightly to give easier access to the splash well. Either side of large splash well you have flat working/standing areas. On the starboard side is a dive ladder for easy access to and from the water, with the port side having a locker accessed through a hatch with an internal bucket recess. The fuel filler is also housed in the middle of the splash well on the transom.
Regards fixtures and fittings, the rear gunnels by the splash well each carry a stainless steel T cleat for tying off, plus a push in rod holder on the gunnel top.
From a fishing viewpoint, the deck is self draining with large carrier holes meaning you can flush the decks clean with a hose easily. The deck finish is stippled for grip.
Overall the finish is excellent, and the design well thought out providing everything you need in the right place for comfort and easy use.
WAVE HOPPING
One of the Imperial leisure lads, Adam joined me for the test, and we cast off from the marina in a steady force 4 and the forecast for gusting 6 at times. The forecast also said mainly sunny, but the sun couldn’t really make its mind up and was often hidden by heavy cloud.
I took the helm out in The Haven and quickly felt at home with the boat. What was instantly obvious is that this hull needs minimal speed to get up in the water and start to plane. Acceleration from a stop is rapid. You get the impression of speed but with relatively little noise. This hull is quiet in the water, certainly more quiet than I envisaged.
Correcting the trim, I threw the boat sideways looking for hull slippage, but it grips fully without any sign of the stern trying to catch the bow up when taking a ridiculously tight corner. I also tried adding more throttle in mid turn, but again no slippage from the stern.
Taking a straight course and hitting pretty much full speed, then killing the throttle I wanted to see how quick the boat slows. Speed is killed quickly, but progressively with no sudden stop that could potentially throw passengers on the floor or worse should a hazard present itself.
We took the boat out through The Haven heading for the area where the open sea takes over by Thorn Island. Here the swells were bigger, deeper and the sea more confused. Feeling really at home with the boat now, Adam suggested I use the swells to fully test her. Blasting straight at the oncoming swells we were soon jumping the crests of the waves and leaving the sea several feet below us. Re entry to the water was smooth with no real hard smack felt in the deck. Look at the hull at the front and you’ll see this boat is a very deep V shape which really carves opens the waves and slices a neat hole through making for a comfy ride in all conditions. What’s equally important that even in these conditions at this speed I didn’t once see water splash up and reach us on deck.
I was scanning the readouts and saw us clock a cruising seed of 40mph at 4200 revs. Top speed was more like 50mph and she’s an absolute flier. Nobody could give me exact figures on fuel consumption, but I’d expect less than 30-litres per hour at sensible cruising speeds. Bearing in mind how far you’ve travelled in that hour, then she’s economical.
Swinging the boat around a touch I worked her quartering the waves, and again the ride is very smooth with no sudden lean and lift as you climb the peak of the wave at an angle.
Pulling the nose round and letting the stern take the swells full on the boat holds her exact course with minimal power and showed no tendency to swing with the wave as it rides under the hull. I put her in reverse but I’d already figured that little if any water would climb in to the splash well and access the deck, and so it was, bone dry.
With Adam at the helm, I moved about on deck looking at the stability of the hull. Solid as a rock! Ideal for fishing from, and if you’ve a family of four afloat, they can wander about to their hearts content without any fears of everything bob sleighing to one side. Neither does she alter course to any great degree if you suddenly shift all the weight from one side to the other when underway at low speeds.
CONCLUSION
If you need to buy a boat that can cover fishing and domestic situations, including skiing and diving trips, family runs, and be a serious fishing machine to boot, she has to be a major contender.
Fishing wise, she’s ideal for bassing, reef fishing and even tope. Having the easy walk round area is ideal has it creates more fishing room, and more room for playing big fish that might lead you a merry dance.
She’s also a superbly capable sea boat, well shaped to bring you home in horrible seas. It’s not something I’d say lightly given that she has no protective upper cabin, but she is an excellent sea boat for any inshore to mid offshore operational requirements in normal conditions and is extremely dry when operated in big waves.
STATISTICS
LENGTH: 6.48-metres
BEAM: 2.50-metres
DRY WEIGHT: 1,230kgs
MAXIMUM POWER: 150hp Outboard
EC CATEGORY: C
CONTACTS
Andy Townsend, Imperial Leisure, Portfield, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1DY. Tel: 01437 761810 Fax: 01437 761820.
