This West Australian legend imported the ultimate adventure vessel

Western Australia is home to almost 13,000 kilometres of the world’s most pristine coastline - crystal blue waters, powder white beaches, and plenty of good fishing. 

Anthony is a Perth local who loves exploring up and down the coast, and until this year, he’d always run a fibreglass stern drive vessel. That is until we built him something special - a beautiful Protector 310 Targa, perfect for his West Coast adventures. 

First time on an RIB

When Anthony started searching for his next vessel he had a few boxes to tick. It needed to be low maintenance and reliable because his stern drive engines had given him some niggle in the past. Fitting on a trailer was also important and he wanted something that could handle big seas and rough weather so he could go fishing out deep:

“We drive 1,000 km north up the coast at night so we need something easy to tow, but still capable in the water. My last boat was 6.5 tonne, it needed a huge tow vehicle and a trailer with air brakes. We had constant problems with the brakes so we wanted something simple.”

“Hard top RIBs sounded like the best solution, but there weren’t many around. From my research Protector was the best option - possibly the only one.”

The problem was, Anthony had never been on an RIB in his life.

Over the ditch for a test drive

Solving Anthony’s problem was easy. He contacted us to enquire about the Protector and we showed him around remotely:

“I mainly talked to Matt, via Whatsapp, he did video calls showing us around and we told him what we wanted. We liked the Protector straight away because it had everything we needed and nothing we didn’t.”

“It has a great helm, great motor. It may not be the typical fishing boat, but it’s easy to go anywhere and chuck a line off the side and that’s what I wanted.”

Video calls are great, but there’s no replacement for experiencing a vessel in person, so Anthony booked a flight and was standing in Rayglass HQ popping on a life jacket before we knew it. His sea trial went well and according to him, it was this experience that sealed the deal:

“It was fantastic, lots of fun. I was looked after really well, Rayglass were so friendly and welcoming. Heaps of professionalism, and I just got a really good feeling from everyone - salespeople, the people in the office and the workshop.”

"I love it and I’d never go back.”

After a day out on the water, and a tour of Rayglass HQ, Anthony was sold. As he was flying back to Aussie we were getting his vessel ready to follow him home - and not long after he was on the water in his brand new Protector. 

When we spoke to him he was extremely impressed with the boat’s performance:

“The way it performs in the ocean - we go a long way offshore, sometimes in rough weather. It’s comfortable and it handles the sea amazingly. This thing can move too. My last boat did 33 knots downhill, this will easily do 50+, but I usually don’t want to go that quick with the price of gas!”

As well as great performance Anthony was stoked with how easy the vessel was to tow, wash down and maintain. In his view the simplicity is a big advantage:

“Plenty RIBs you can’t deflate the tubes, but you can with the Protector. That means it's under 2.5m so we can tow it legally with a normal vehicle. There’s no headaches, no permits, just a regular trailer - way more flexibility.”

“It’s easy to wash down too, there aren't heaps of nooks and crannies and stainless - I love the simplicity. I’d never been on a RIB before the test drive, but now I love it and I’d never go back.”

Next boating season is looking good

Now that he’s got the right gear for the job, Anthony is planning a massive boating season along Australia’s West Coast, and we can’t help but feel a little jealous:

“I’ve got three kids under 13 so they’re all coming. We’re planning on doing some overnighters on Rottnest Island, just exploring the West Australian coastline. I’m not scared of driving into places and exploring up rivers. There’ll be plenty of skiing, and biscuiting too.” 

“After 20 years owning boats, these guys clearly excelled in everything, from build quality, to service. I highly recommend Protector and Rayglass, they’re awesome and I’m hoping to see them all again at a boat show in Aussie soon.”

Like the look of the Rayglass 2700? It’s now available for sea trials - get in touch with Matthew Flannagan or Sam Bennett to enquire.