opinion please on building boat from pl

[Captain Seaweed]

Hello Fellas,
If anyone has followed my posts, I am selling my Seafarer 6.2 Vag for a bigger platey. I would like a 7.4m boat possibly + a bit. I have recently come back from an overseas trip where I have made contacts with a local (Briz) ali welder who built big boats for a living and is keen to build my boat once I buy some plans off an existing builder when a design I like falls in my hands. I have a few questions,
1)Would you buy a boat made by someone other than the original boat builder? if it was welded and laser cut off plans? ie a razerline or seastorm or noble made off their plans or would that make you think twice?
2)What are your thoughts on this idea?


Cheers
Marty

[cbs]

The chances of buying plans and cutting files from an existing builder are next to nil. That would be similar to asking haines if you could "borrow" the moulds over the weekend.

your other option is to buy a kit or have a new design done for you should you not find what you are looking for.

[peterbo3]

Marty,
I am with cbs. However, there are plans available. Try "Boden" or use google. The only problem is that unless you can get a ride in a similar boat to see how it handles, you may end up with a well built "dog".

[Stuart]

CBS is spot on, what your asking for is their proprietary information, something they derive there living from, will never happen. It would be far more beneficial to pay a naval architect to design the boat you want/need and then have it router cut. If you don’t have the ability to build the boat yourself then pay a qualified welder and not some hack that thinks he can weld up a boat. I payed a naval architect to design the boat I wanted and needed for my style of fishing. It cost a few grand but in the end I got exactly what I needed and wanted in the design. The cutting files were then sent to a firm in Brisbane to be router cut and pen marked. It was flat packed and sent up on a truck. The alloy hull was way over engineered and even the naval architect said it was way overboard, that’s what I wanted to here. If you try to cut corners you will be the one holding the lemon.

Stu

[stevelcqld]

Hey

have a look at platealloy http://www.platealloy.com/boatkits.htm

Never used them and have no idea of quality..

cheers,

steve

[White Pointer]

G'day,

It's not that simple. Even with a hull cut pattern you have to build it on a squared jig that is sitting on a trully flat surface. You can't wing this part. You also need power, air and it has to be consistent for consistent quality.

That's why the reputable plate alloy boat builders are reputable. Lots of these boat builders allow owner's to contribute to the design - with limitations. There is no reason why you can't achieve what you want with them.

If you have a gun welder who you would like to build your boat, I suggest that you contact the plate boat builders and ask them if they will allow it. It is unlikely that they will not allow a design that is not their's into their shop. It is also unlikely that a design owner will allow their designs to go to another manufacturer.

It is also possible that your gun welder has a reputation that won't take him anywhere. So that really narrows your choices.

Regards,

White Pointer

[Chimo]

Hi Marty

Given where you are' instead of getting what is essentially home built and uninsurable hull have you considered using Viper's Marine Architect to design what you want and get Phil at Viper to build it for you with all the mod and extras that you decide on as it gets built.

That way you get an marine architect design to meet your needs and have it built locally so that its got a Viper id number and you can insure it and sell it, when you get to that stage; without calling it home built or custom neither of which seem to attract top dollar.

Personally theres no way I would feel happy getting a welder to build a boat instead of getting a boat builder to build what will work and not fall apart or have some out of true characteristics.

Cheers
Chimo

[Stuart]

That just doesn’t maker sense to me. You would rather trust a boat builder because they call themselves over a qualified welder? Many alloy boat builders don’t hold a welders ticket anyway, so you would rather have an unqualified person weld up your boat over that of a qualified person? If the boat company welding the hull up puts their name on the hull they also became liable for any future problems even though it’s not their design. I just can’t see any boat builder with half a brain willing to take on that responsibility. Who cares if a boat is home made, there must be thousands of boats out there that have been built at home. Quality of a home built boat is nearly always better than that of a production boat in nearly all cases I have seen. They don’t need to rush the job, they don’t have production dead lines or margines to consider on labour or overheads. You only need to read some of the posts on this forum to see the crap being turned out by some alloy boat builders. And because the boat is being built by the owner and for the owner a sense of pride is going to be the overriding factor. I built my own 7.5mtr centre console; I would happily put my boat up against any of the custom or production boats. Don’t underestimate what can be achieved by someone with the drive and passion for building there own boat.

Stu

[Chimo]

Hi Stu

If you read the post and give some more consideration to the point that what was suggested was that the marine architect used by Viper be used to design Marty's boat and that Viper then build it. Its actually what I understand happens at that facility now for the boat that are built there.

You also may have missed the post on here recently that reported that they were unable to get insurance because their boat was home made.

No one suggested that all home made boats are not wonderful and built with love and pride by some people who have all the skills needed. My point is that it appears you cannot get insurance for such craft.

If you or Marty don't want to insure then fine. I however am not in a position to self insure so would not entertain home made. Perhaps with your skills and experience you could assist Marty and build his if he doesn't want insurance either? What plan will you use?

Cheers
Chimo

[stew60]

I have just finished a 4.8mt kit from plate alloy aus and they were great to work with , the kit went togeather great and came with building jigs and a build cd with pictures for every step of the way, they were more than helpful on the phone if there was any problems . had no problem with insurance Nautilus were more than happy to help
Kev

[Chimo]

Thats good Kev, hopefully they can sell Marty what he needs too

Cheers
Chimo

[Stuart]

My boat is already built. Insurance isnt all that hard, club marine will insure your home built boat as long as you get a qulified marine mechanic to do a rather extensive run over the whole boat. You can print off a list of requirments that the mechanic ticks as he makes his checks. Its very similar to getting a road worthy on your car.

Stu

[Chimo]

mechanic? Could that be marine architect? What if there are defects, do they issue a notice and you have to make them good?

why not just get a marine architect design in the first place?

Cheers
Chimo

[Stuart]

The boat was deigned by a naval architect but club marine needs to see an inspection report to make ure everything is working by a marine mechanic. I dont make the rules mate.

Stu

[Chimo]

Ok, Thanks for clearing that up.

Cheers
Chimo