Senator Boats RH770 – ‘Succession’, The Ultimate Marlborough Weekender
Meet Succession, our 2025 Senator RH770 demonstrator. Fitted out to a high standard to showcase what’s possible when performance, safety, and tech come together. Powered by a Yamaha F350 and packed with premium features, it's a serious platform built for real-world use. While this fit-up goes all in, every detail is there to help you see the options — so you can cherry-pick the features that suit your own build. It's our way of showing, not just telling, what these boats can really do.
The How & Why Of A Demo Boat
The story of Succession started well before it hit the build schedule at Senator Boats in Napier. It was dreamt up over Friday arvo beers, in chats with customers swapping fishing tales, and in the day-to-day banter across the workshop floor. From the start, we knew this boat had to be dialled in, not just to showcase the latest marine tech, but to give us a chance to learn, test, and show our customers what’s really possible.
So why go to the effort of building a demonstrator boat? Because showing beats telling, every time. Succession is kitted out with a stack of features, not to show off, but to help you see what’s out there and pick the bits that suit your own setup. It’s much easier to picture your dream build when you can climb aboard and see the gear in action.
“Succession is kitted out with a stack of features, not to show off, but to help you see what’s out there and pick the bits that suit your own setup.”
It also lets us do what we love: spend serious time on the water. Logging real hours means we get to figure out what works, what adds genuine value, and how it all performs when it matters. That way, when you're ready to spec your own boat, our advice comes from experience, not guesswork.
The Build Brief
These days, a boat that can do a bit of everything has become the norm, and Succession was no exception. It’s got a lot of ground (or maybe it’s water) to cover. We set it up with our own crew in mind, but truth is, our needs aren’t that different from that of our customers. Many of the Marine and Outdoors crew have young families, so we made sure it’s set up to keep even the littlest boaties happy and safe. But we also wanted it to handle proper overnight missions in the Marlborough Sounds and beyond, where the view’s five-star but the accommodations are whatever you pack. Then there’s the big stuff: chasing bucket list fish like bluefin tuna off the West Coast. The kind of trips that test your gear, your planning and even your stomach. So when we say this boat is built for multi-use, we’re not mucking around.
The Build Specs
So what does the build spec of a boat that keeps everyone on board happy, big or small, look like? Here are a few factory built highlights that have proven to be real game changers on the water.
Table and Club Seating
For those with small kids with small attention spans and big appetites, the table and club seating will be one of your favourite parts of a set up like this. A place for them to sit down and snack, creating colouring in masterpieces or catch an episode of Bluey in comfort. It will also please the big kids as a place to enjoying a freshly brewed cuppa, devour the days catch or perhaps some pre prepared snacks if the fishing just isn’t delivery that day.
Heater
Speccing a heater isn’t just about staying warm, it’s also about making trips safer. For your crew, it means a cosy place to retreat after a swim or when the wind picks up. When fishing it means the cabin can provide a welcome reprieve on early starts or when the weather turns, letting you stay out longer and enjoy the day no matter the conditions. A heater also helps keep your windscreen clear, giving you safe visibility on cold, misty mornings. Switch it on before you leave home and it’ll be working while you tow, so the cabin is de-misted and you’re ready to launch as soon as you hit the ramp. And if you’re overnighting on a mooring, you can warm and clear the cabin while you ease into the day and enjoy the comfort when it’s time to head out.
Cooking facilities
With a cooker, oven and fridge on board Succession, you can turn a fresh catch into a hot meal without heading back to shore. It’s perfect for keeping everyone happy with warm snacks, brewing a cuppa on a crisp morning, or serving up a proper feast after a big day on the water. If you think a hot pie on a cold day hits the spot on shore, imagine a piping hot steak and cheese after a day on the rod, out in the elements. Having everything you need right there means more convenience and the time you spend on the boat is more comfortable than ever.
Senator offers a range of cooking configurations, with setups that can be located in the cabin or out on the deck to suit your preferences.
The back end
The stern of Succession is a fisho’s paradise. And Senator’s new central bait station design is the star. It’s well laid out with practical features such as a saltwater fed kill tank for bleeding and cleaning your catch, a generous cutting board, a water-tight tackle drawer, four rod holders and knife slots, it’s ready for action. Twin walk-throughs and extended duckboards make it easy to move around the stern when the fish are on. Transom cages add security, while the live bait tank and additional rod holders keep the essentials within reach. Put it all together and you’ve got a platform that’s purpose-built for serious fishing.
“The stern of Succession is a fisho’s paradise. And Senator’s new central bait station design is the star.”
The Fit Up
The factory build gave us a solid foundation, now here’s how we’ve tailored Succession in our own workshop to make it truly ours.
Power You Can Trust on Every Trip
We’ve power-matched Succession with Yamaha’s F350, delivering the best of both worlds: serious grunt when you need it and the economy to stay out longer. Cruising comfortably at 30 knots, you’ll see around 1.2 km per litre, which means more time chasing fish and less time worrying about fuel. And when you do need to push the throttle (like crossing the Greymouth bar on the way out to find your bucket list tuna), the F350 responds instantly, giving you the confidence to go wider. What really sets Yamaha apart is their reliability. Built to handle the demands of commercial operators who push their engines every day, they’re more than up to the task for weekends chasing fish or family adventures. With the added perks of straightforward servicing and a track record you can trust, the F350 is built to get you home, no matter where the day takes you.
Tech That Just Makes Boating Easier
Succession comes loaded with a fully integrated suite of technology designed to make every trip smoother and more enjoyable. At the helm, a 16” Garmin screen with Fantom 24 radar and a GSD sonar module (paired with 1kW and 500W transducers) gives you unmatched awareness above and below the water. The Garmin Grid 20 remote makes navigating charts effortless, even in choppy conditions, while the Garmin Force Kraken trolling motor with 36V lithium power allows precise positioning and a chance to share the workload of Yamaha HelmMaster’s FishPoint. The FLIR M232 thermal camera enhances night and low-light visibility, helping you spot hazards, other boats or wildlife. For entertainment, the Fusion RA210 with four RGB speakers delivers high-quality sounds and lighting to set the mood. The big win with all this is how seamlessly everything integrates, keeping the helm uncluttered and easy to use.
More than just a collection of tech, this suite is designed to enhance your boating experience. By linking navigation, fishing, safety and entertainment systems together, it makes complex tasks feel effortless, reduces fatigue and gives you the confidence to focus on the adventure. Whether you’re fishing, exploring or simply enjoying a day on the water, this integrated technology ensures you spend more time enjoying the moment and less time worrying about the details.
Bright Ideas for Better Boating
Lighting on Succession has been carefully thought out to make every trip safer and more convenient. Inside, essential cabin lighting ensures you can move around comfortably in low-light conditions. Outside, deck floodlights and side-mounted scene lights provide excellent visibility for fishing, so you can see what you’re doing no matter the time of day or night. Practical touches like USB charging ports and a phone mount on the dash keep your devices powered and accessible, so you can use apps, stay connected or have a charged phone on hand for safety. It’s these small but important details that make a day and night on the water easier, safer and more enjoyable.
Succession has quickly shown it’s more than just a demo - it’s an all-round performer. From family days in the Sounds to overnight trips chasing fish out wide, the setup couldn’t be better suited to Marlborough’s mix of sheltered bays and open water. With thoughtful comforts like heating, cooking facilities and club seating, balanced by serious fishing capability at the stern and reliable Yamaha power, it delivers on every front. Add in the integrated tech and you’ve got a rig that’s as easy to use as it is enjoyable. In building Succession, we set out to show what’s possible and in the process, we really did create the ultimate weekender.
