COMFORT CRUISER
Quintrex, the largest volume boat manufacturer in Australia, has been producing first class bowrider runabouts for decades. I recall testing one of the first of these innovative, family-friendly craft back in the late 1990s. A revolutionary craft at the time, the early Quintrex bowrider was called the 500 Freedom Sport.
The 1999 model 500 Freedom Sport may not have been the very first Quintrex bowrider, but it was the first to be fitted with a variable deadrise, concave-shaped V-hull. Appropriately named the Millennium hull for its debut very late in 1999, this early Quintrex variable deadrise hull was acclaimed for its smooth, dry ride, coupled with excellent stability.
The 500 Freedom sport was also among the first of the locally made aluminium bowriders, giving customers an alternative to a traditional forward windscreen alloy runabout — and the many fibreglass bowrider boats on offer.
The 500 Freedom Sport was not as fast, glamorous, or as luxuriously appointed as most fibreglass bowrider boats, but it was cheaper to buy and bigger in volume. It was also more versatile — the Freedom Sport could double-up as a bay and harbour fishing boat. These attributes led to sales success in just a few months, along with the launch of subsequent Freedom Sport models in a range of
