Chinese made boats

[billfisher]

Personal i'd be looking at a slightly older used model thats a bit more of a known quantity.

That's a bit ironic with all the poorly built Australian boats we have had to put up with.

PS: I would consider a Chinese outboard as well, especially if I was re powering an old boat and didn't want to over capitalise it.

[airlock]

That's a bit ironic with all the poorly built Australian boats we have had to put up with.

PS: I would consider a Chinese outboard as well, especially if I was re powering an old boat and didn't want to over capitalise it.

O theres no shortage of local made crap, but a hull thats been about for a few years has a lot of user reviews. Newer stuff often has only been reviewed by the media, which is in most cases worthless marketing.

[DaveR]

I’ll chime in here seeing as I own a 2015 Savage 585C so I can give some first hand impressions. Hopefully this post might help anybody looking at the new Savage fibreglass models.

Telwater has the hulls built in China and finishes the boats in their QLD factory. They’re a Kiwi-designed hull which used to be manufactured in NZ (since 2007ish I think), so they’re not an untested hull. It was only recently that they shipped the moulds to China and they’re now built in what they claim is a state of the art, climate controlled facility in China with Kiwi QC staff. The hulls are sold globally under license to a couple of different brands. Savage/Telwater offer them with a 10 year warranty which (I believe) is tied with Haines Signature as the best in the industry.

Prior to purchase, every report I read about the hulls praised the quality of finish and construction (full fibreglass construction, no wooden stringers etc). I went and inspected one late last year and was pretty impressed. I was comparing it to my 4 year old Sea Ray which I’d owned since new. Obviously with Sea Rays being renowned as high quality boats, I wasn’t expecting the Savage to blow my socks off but I did walk away impressed enough to eventually order one.

Having had the boat for 5 months now, the irony is that the only issues I’ve had with it have come from the Australian side of the build. Telwater mounted the engine too low and the trailer (identical tandem axle model you get with a 6m Quintrex/Stacer) had a bunch of roller brackets come loose.

The boat itself is very impressive for its price. The criticisms I found with the launch models (2012-13) were that the side pockets were difficult to access and the fuel tank was too small. They launched a series two (esque) update of the boat in 2014 with new interior mouldings, a tweaked helm design, new flip up bolster style seats, new windscreen and they doubled the size of the fuel tank to 140L. In 2015 (which is when mine was built) they changed to a new style of gunwale rubber as well. So despite being built overseas, it seems Telwater still has plenty of flexibility in tweaking the product.

As far as my personal impressions, I’ve found it to be a really great rig- which is a relief because I was biting my nails hoping I hadn’t made a mistake. I narrowed it down to this boat or a smaller Haines Signature for roughly the same price. I love the Signatures but rolled the dice with this boat and I guess I’m glad I did. There’s also some nice details that you don’t find in more expensive boats of a similar size, like a fully lined cabin and side pockets, high quality soft touch interior surfaces, flip up bolster seats, pop-up cleats etc. Also something logical that I found missing in a number of competitors- driver and passenger footrests. It might seem insignificant, but try driving a cabin boat (ie high seats) without somewhere to support your feet- you'll go crazy (at least I have in the past). One thing I do miss from the Sea Ray is the gas-assist struts for the under-floor storage. I’ve had the boat out in some very sloppy conditions and the reviews are accurate- it’s a very soft riding hull and extremely dry. Can’t praise it enough for dryness. It’s not set up to be a fishing rig alone and that kind of appealed to me, because I do quite a bit of cruising too, not just fishing. I think the Signature would have been better suited to hardcore fishing. You won't find a livewell on this boat, nor side-pocket rod holders.

TrailerBoat had a 585C in the final of their 2015 AGB challenge and they also noted how good the ride is, plus how well finished the hull is. Most reviews seem almost like ads to me but they had quite a few judges at AGB and their findings were spot on. I'm not sure about other Chinese-built hulls and in all honesty I’d be cautious. In the case of the new Savage range I think Telwater have proven that it can be done properly. Would I trust a smaller company bringing in boats from China? Probably not. So a large Australian company like Telwater throwing their weight behind these boats was a big factor in the purchase decision.

A few pics of the boat-

[Watto79]

Nice looking rig!

[Sleepydragon]

Hi Guys,

I have seen few Chinese build boats. An good example is the Smartliner and Morning Star brands . Smartliner makes ali and glass. Morning makes a good ali hull. They are very affordable to me for the price. I can tell the finish is far better some OZ make boats here. It is a wake up call for OZ boat makers.

Cheers