Aluminium Boats vs Fibreglass

[Propwash]

Hi Guys

Don't know if this have been discussed before. On a recent trip to Australia I made a point at looking at the boats the guys use there for fishing.

I found that a lot of guys that side use cat hulls as well. Most of these boats look a lot like the Mallards CobraCat 700,800 and 900 series, as well as the Leecat Expressa 800/900, same size as well, and then 22 to 26 foot cat hull CCs, like Buttcats.

Only thing is, these boats are almost all aluminium. fact is, almost 70% of boats I saw there are ally.

Speeking to the guys there, they seem very pleased with the ally boats. Weight are the same or less than fibreglass boats the same size, and the guys recon that ally will only dent when taking a big knock that will usually crack fibreglass.

Why is it that ally boats have not yet taken off here in SA?

 

 

 

[Ruff_Ryder]

Cost.

Any idiot can laminate a fibreglass product.

Who do you think lays all the fibreglass in boatyards?.

unskilled labourers.

You'll have to hire a coded welder to weld the aluminium.

ally boats are cool IMO.

 

[fishfinger1]

I am a boat manufacturer,African skiff looked at designing and building ally boats first,but it is much more involved and very expensive,but most of all aluminium boats are generaly ugly,they are noisy and clang around a lot,they have terrible shapes and are very hard on the eye,yes they dent and dont crack(except on the seams i have seen on a bad weld) Fiberglass is much more versatile and you can get a much better asthetic look from fiberglass.you get a better running hull with GRP as you can shape your plug to anything you want,so all in all which is the better material? Well they all have there place,me i prefer a boat that looks as good as it preforms,if your boat cracks,it's because the lay up is incorrect or the internal structure is 'cheap' Ruff_ryder,i invite you any day to my factory to see if any idiot can in fact laminate a fiberglass product......

 

[Propwash]

I get what you are saying, but if you compare the lifespan of the ally boat to that of fibreglass, will that not make up for the extra cost?
I also think these ally boats are nice. If you look at the deck layouts of these boats compared to our local fibreglass boats - man they are nice.
Don't get me wrong, I will take a Cobracat or LeeCat any day.
I was just pleasantly surprised to see the size and layout of the boats the guys are building with ally.
I always used to think about the little ally boats used in the Okavango for tiger fishing when hearing guys talk about ally boats - not anymore - I have seen what can be done and I like..........

 

[Redhawk]

If we had proper Aluminium boat builders in South Africa, who could do a proper finish, they would sell alot better. They look, welll...."unrefined"

Compare any of the SA Aluminium boats with that in Oz and you will see that there is no comparison. There is alot more to buidling boats than welding.

See Al boat of a friend below, he is in Queensland, if that stuff was available here I would buy it.

 

 

[Propwash]

Some of these boats in Australia are so well build that you only realize they are ally if you walk up to them and knock on the hull. I agree, they are extremely well finished off.
Pity that we do not have ally boats like them here in SA.

 

[Cam Mundy]

Ruff_Ryder wrote:

Cost.

Any idiot can laminate a fibreglass product.

Who do you think lays all the fibreglass in boatyards?.

unskilled labourers.

You'll have to hire a coded welder to weld the aluminium.

ally boats are cool IMO.

Dude thats a bit a sweeping statement any idiot could spray paint a car as well however doing it properly takes a professional 

 

[Dingleberry]

fishfinger1 wrote:

...but most of all aluminium boats are generaly ugly,they are noisy and clang around a lot,they have terrible shapes and are very hard on the eye......

Not quite. Have a look at the Quintrex website - among others - there are some truly beautiful ally boats out there.

 

[CRUSTY]

Hi guys,

Interesting topic!

On the practical side:

What materials are the decks made out of an an ally boat?

What flotation do these boats use?

If the deck is ally(?) and the flotation foam(?) how would you replace the foam after it has past its usable lifespan? I'm sure its possible, but seems like a lot of work(expensive?). How do you knock a ding out, if its filled with foam, for that matter?

Great looking boats and i'm sure they do the job well, but how easily will they fit into our safety regs?

 

 

[dugongboy]

I see there is a small story about tinnys vs fiberglass boats in the latest Ski Boat mag.

 

[Propwash]

Boats below 9m in Aus usually do not have as rigid boyancy requirements as we do here in SA.Most of the boats require only boayny in the very front of the hull.
The decks are welded on with big hatched to get to the hulls.
To get most of the dents out,the usually use the hot and cold method - if this doesn't do it, the will drill a small hole in the dent and pull it out with a someting that looks like a selftapping screw on the front of a sliding hammer.The will then weld the hole close, finish of the body work and repaint - sounds easy but it all depens on the size of damage.
The boats will be easy to fill out with boayancy bottles for our requirements.

 

[CRUSTY]

I suppose there are a number of dent removal methods that may
"work". The problem is that as soon as the aluminium has stretched or you have to resort the slide hammer method and start poking holes (youre not going to pull a dent with just one hole) in the metal you're in for a time consuming repair!

Not to mention the fact that the artisans with the necesary skills to effect such a repair are few and far between, think you'll have to search the cemetaries cause most of the men who can do it are there, everyone is spoilt with all the fillers on the market

What i'm getting at is it can be done but factor the amount labour and the scarcity of the skill and you get a massive bill!

 

[fannie]

I'm with Fishfinger1 on this. GRP is less noisy, warmer and imo overall tougher as well and doesn't dent. GRP boats live forever. There are better materials for boats, but what you get from GRP is bloody hard to beat. Also keep in mind that today's GRP's are a lot better than some years ago.

Don't take the SA boat builders vlak, our guys here build some of the best boats in the world. That is if samsa isn't going to screw the whole industry up.

Eh Ruffie

Any idiot can laminate a fibreglass product.

I've only built 5 so far. How's your's coming along.
What do you call those that hasn't done laminations yet ?

Moron was originally a scientific term, coined by psychologist Henry Goddard from a Greek word meaning "foolish" and used to describe a person with a genetically determined mental age between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It was also once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70 and was a step up from "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50) and two steps up from "idiot" (IQ of 0-25).

 

[miles]

One of the BIGGEST downside to allum. boats is the fact that scrap allum. prices are pretty good!!

Crime isn't a major concern in many countries, but unfortunately in SA, your ALLUMINUIM boat will attract unwanted attention rather quickly!!

Only in South Africa................

 

[surfbrett]

Hi all . I have been living in New Zealand for the last 10 years and as a dive instructor spent plenty of time on aluminium boats over here. last year i bought my own alu boat after having a duck. I don't think i would go alu again . problems i have encountered are weld cracks ,alu sheet cracks , the boat is so noisy( water slap and anchor chain on side). not much of a problem for you in natal , but on cold mornings the metal is cold ,freezing in fact

they are really light in comparison to fiberglass and so ride is rougher ( some have tried to resolve this by adding a flooding keel for ballast

another contributer to the rough ride is you will never get the same curves in ALU that can be molded by glass

another problem often encountered is electrolysis and bad electrical wiring will literately dissolve your boat in one outing

on the positive side they don't chip

check these websites

www.surtees.co.nz
www.extremeboats.co.nz
www.stabicraft.com
www.senatorboats.com

 

[tauruck]

miles wrote:

One of the BIGGEST downside to allum. boats is the fact that scrap allum. prices are pretty good!!

Crime isn't a major concern in many countries, but unfortunately in SA, your ALLUMINUIM boat will attract unwanted attention rather quickly!!

Only in South Africa................

Thank God the okes haven't found a way to "recycle" fibreglass yet.

 

[CRUSTY]

UNTIL THEY FIGURE OUT THAT AN UPTURNED HULL OF A 20+ FOOTER WILL MAKE A LOVELY WATERPROOF DWELLING!

 

[barryfish]

Some info on FRP glass hulls check the link below;

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Fiberglass_Boats.htm

barry

 

[CRUSTY]

Barry, all i can say is...

FRIGGIN SCARRY STUFF!!!!!

I'm at a loss... all i can say is thank heavens we don't have hurricanes here!

Going to double check my insurance cover on my boat!

 

 

 

 

[MagicFish]

From what I have heard an Aluminum boat requires more " technical " workers so to speak