Originally Posted by
Short Fuse
Hi Chris. For an alternative, take a look at Aluminium Longboats Australia based at Tingalpa here in Brisbane. I am currently looking at one of these as the replacement of my Stessl Angler. They do a centre console longboat in either 6.8 metres or 7.1 metres length and are a really well made product. Grant (Moonlighter) and I did a visit to the factory late last year to take a look over the 6.8m he was building at the time.
The 7.1 runs with either a 115 or 130hp four stroke, 5mm bottom, transom and pod, 4mm sides and 3mm sealed deck. Has a 180 litre aluminium underfloor fuel tank and all sealed compartments underfloor have survey foam in them. It weighs around 900kg fully loaded. The 6.8m has a 140 litre poly underfloor fuel tank.
The only reason I have not ordered mine yet is that my local council is making life difficult trying to get approvals to do some modifications to existing structures to be able to get the boat into the back yard.
If you want to have a look at the 7.1 metre boat in action, take a look on Youtube at Yippykiyay m.f. Adventures. Jason is based in Mount Isa and does long range trips in the gulf from Karumba. Last year he did a Weipa to the tip trip in his boat. If you are looking at a rear centre console type boat, then this one is well worth taking a look at. Also, I think you will find it very well priced against many of the better known brands. I will also state that I have no affiliation with the builder, I'm just a potential customer.
Cheers
Jeff