Whittley Boats have a long history of making boats that are family friendly. Well-appointed cruisers have made boating a pleasure for generations of Aussie boaters. Anglers, however, often don’t appreciate the refinement of a comfortable cruiser. We often don’t think twice about foregoing any level of comfort at all if it means that were working in a more ‘fishable’ space.

Fishing Monthly recently took a ride with Alan Whittley out of Sorrento, Victoria on a FF2100. ‘FF’ reflecting a ‘Fisherman Friendly’ layout and design. Alan was accommodating enough to give is all a rundown of the features of the FF2100 – you can watch the full interview by scanning the QR code hereby – it’ll take you to the Fishing Monthly YouTube channel.

Of course, being a Whittley, it doesn’t abandon all creature comforts. There’s a sink and stove under the driver and passenger seats and the front cabin is fitted with bunks that fill-out to a roomy bed area, but these cushions are vinyl covered for easy cleaning in a fishy environment. There’s plenty of storage under these for anything from tackle through to bedding.

The carpet looks great and covers the inside and duckboard, but it’s clip-in and covers a diamond non-skid deck – another concession to the anglers.

You can remove the rear seats and get right into the back corners of the boat, which would be the preferred fishing position, especially if it’s a little lumpy, but who doesn’t imagine dragging a double-digit snapper up and onto that duckboard?

The duckboard itself conceals the DuoProp leg and adds plenty of valuable deck space to this rig. Anyone with kids could easily imaging them living out on that thing – making it easy to swim and snorkel as well as fish out of the way of any uprights.

The U-bar on the back can hold a bait board (as tested) or just as easily a BBQ – making it very easy to transition your catch to the plate.

There is a little cockpit space lost to the inboard, but Whittley have added a fold-down table to the front of it and coupled with the seats to either side, it makes a great place for the adults to behave like adults while the kids behave like kids on the duckboard.

Performance wise, the 200HP Volvo and its DuoProp technology jump this rig easily up and onto the plane. Reaching just under 50MPH, it’s a quick rig and it does emit the characteristic inboard whine it the top end of its rev range. The large propeller surface area makes it grip the water incredibly well.

Alan boasts a 10% decrease in fuel with the DuoPro set-up, but as there were no comparative rigs available on the test day, we’ll just have to take his word on it.

For maintenance freaks, you’ll love the inbuilt, on board flushing system, which flushes out the saltwater from your motor at the flick of a switch. You just need to keep the solvent levels topped up in the engine’s reservoir. This is eminently accessible from both in- and outside the boat.

Supplied on a twin axle Mackay trailer, Alan says this rig is towable with a family Commodore or similar. The package tested also had deluxe tie-downs and a spare wheel – an absolute necessity for any trailer.

“We’re really enjoying connecting with families that love getting out on the water and the series of shopping centre boat shows we are doing has given us the ability to do just that in recent years,” Whittley said.

And with package prices starting at $XX,XXX, there’s no reason that this couldn’t be your first ‘real’ family boat.

Contact Whittley or one of their dealers for more information at www.whittleymarinegroup.com.au/ or follow them on Facebook for plenty of cool pics – both in and out of the water (Whittley Marine Group).

• Quoted performance figures have been supplied by the writer in good faith. Performance of individual boat/motor/trailer packages may differ due to variations in engine installations, propellers, hull configurations, options, hull loading and trailer specifications.

Review Details

Publication:

Fishing Monthly Magazine

Writer:

Steve Morgan

Article Link:

http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/19659-Whittleys-FF2100--FF--Fishing-Friendly