Performance from the hefty Honda was good. The light weight of the boat makes up for the heavy weight of the four stroke motor.   Watertight lockers are found beneath the motorcycle type seats. Accessories can be attached to the robust fibreglass hull. A stainless steel arch provides a base for carrying safety equipment, radio antennas, radar etc. Scuba tank carriers can be installed easily in optional locations.

By Peter Vassilopoulos Go shore diving if you will, but diving off a boat provides convenient access to some of the best diving available. A small, trailerable boat also can be a lot of fun whether used for diving or any other forms of boating (waterskiing, fishing, exploring). There are many makes of inflatables on the market these days. When you are looking for a suitable boat to meet your diving needs one of the first items to consider is budget. Some buyers jump right in and buy a top of the line boat at top dollar. Others go to the other extreme. If your budget allows you to buy the best then go for it. But consider that sometimes what appears to be a lesser boat based on lower price is not necessarily so. Enter Tonado with its new to the market pricing structures. This British made craft is imported and distributed in Canada by Norse Marine of Victoria. I had the opportunity to test one in the waters of Sooke Basin near the BC capital city in late summer. Like all small boats there is a special thrill to the low level skimming over the surface. This test was conducted in calm water, although I have had many experiences running such boats in rough conditions, making them fly across the wave tops or zip along inside the troughs. However, I did want to see what the boat could do. It was equipped with the new Honda four stroke 130 hp outboard, a powerful 2.2 litre package that promised a fast ride. The 1200 lb weight of the engine, of course, is a factor in the performance curve and so top speed of 40 knots, although more than adequate, was not what you may get out of a lighter-weight two cycle outboard. Norse Marine's Adrian Small told me the Auxiliary Coast Guard had appraised the boat in a series of unofficial tests and taken it through its paces to a hair-raising extent, the likes of which he had not witnessed before and of which I was not interested in seeing for myself. I must be getting too old for that kind of stuff. I have had my share of bouncing at high speed across wavetops and pounding my joints in rough stuff. So I opted for some tight turns, wake jumping and slow tracking. The boat performed up to the expectations suggested by Adrian. The pick up was quick, the slow tracking was sure and the ride, especially with the Honda, was quiet and smooth. I wanted to see how much the craft would lean into a turn, but without emulating the hairy ride of the Coast Guard. So I pushed it through a series of tight curves and purposely slowed down quickly then gradually.

The boat leaned over in one curve to the point where Adrian commented that he had never seen it do that before. The high bow sheer provides a degree of confidence that makes the operator and passengers feel secure. Her leaning was to an extreme point in that curve and I stopped before I lost my confidence. Let's just say she can sure take a sharp curve, although I am not sure when that becomes necessary while boating. Perhaps such an extreme lean would pay off in a rough beam sea.The Tornado is built to ride well in rough or smooth conditions. While I tested it in smooth water, its performance over some of its own wash indicated good handling in the rough. The design is quite conventional but it has some features that are well thought out for general purpose usage as well as specific diving purposes. Motor-cycle type seats with stainless steel backrest and grabrails afford riding comfort and control. There are storage lockers and the battery box located in enclosed bins with water sealed doors under the seats. The 120 litre alloy fuel tank is located under the console beneath the helm. The operator's position at the helm and reach to the controls is good. Construction of the Tornado starts with the epoxy vinylester resin hull cured in an oven and built sturdily with the use of braces and heavy lamination of mat and roving. The orange five-chamber 1100 denier polyurethane tubes are of a material that is reportedly hard wearing, stain resistant and impervious to sunlight fading. The pontoons have a tube diameter of 48cm, the boat has an overall length of 6.5 meters and a beam of 2.45 m. Its capacity is 1800 kg or 10 people. This usually means ideally four to six divers with basic gear or some camera gear added when few divers are aboard. For convenience and comfort in cold water diving I would be quite happy to have a maximum of four divers in addition to the operator in a boat of this size. Unless the divers leave the shore all geared up, no additional gear, and ready to backroll overboard. Then, for a short distance, I would go to six and possibly eight. And the motor, with its size and torque, would have no trouble planing the entire mass. Empty, this rig does not get up on the step. It is on the step the moment you begging to move. The boat tested comes with a heavy duty stainless steel double frame navigation light arch, an open bow locker, underdeck trunk for cables and pipes, six pairs of rubber covered grab handles on the tubes, heavy duty rubbing strakes, fuel filter and water separator and installed battery. It has other features and options and can be modified to cater to individual diver requirements. Some items are optional, but there are a lot of standard goodies on this boat that provide useful additions for a serious diver's needs.