An impressive Alloy boat

[Keith 66]

My wife & i have just been inspecting a boat that has arrived at the yacht club, She is owned by a Dutch company & a crew of employees are entering the Great River Race in September, we are doing our bit for international relations by hosting them for the summer while they train for the race.
Boat is a rowing sloop approx 8.6m long used for competition & pulls eight oars with four rowers each side.
Construction is 4mm sea water resistant aluminium plate, she is planked clinker style using CNC cut keel frames & planks. All welded construction.
Now i have been into rowing boats for years & been building boats in wood & GRP for years. But this boat is something else, really beautifully built, no distortion, just perfectly fair. The builders are Jachtwerf de zeeg & I am seriously impressed. Just absolutely stunning workmanship in alloy.

y.

 

[BrokenBiker]

thats a nice looking boat...only pictures i ever get of boats are repo's or have been sunk...or both in the case of last weeks one

 

[addjunkie]

Ive sailed on a few tin boats, some a bit rough without loads of filler and paint. That looks really nice!

 

[Misterg]

That looks nice.

(Don't forget to stick a copper penny in the bilge for 'luck')

 

[zzr1200]

Looks nice, hope the pikeys are away on holiday......

 

[waddycall]

Do you know how the planks are sealed to each other? Curious as it looks like the planks are stitch welded and they’re not going to swell when they get wet!

 

[frank horton]

so smart...typical Dutch engineering.....almost money no object.....
I was born in the wrong country I think...

 

[Keith 66]

Do you know how the planks are sealed to each other? Curious as it looks like the planks are stitch welded and they’re not going to swell when they get wet!

They are stitch welded along the top inside, continuously welded on outside lower edge, i couldnt see how much overlap there was but dont think it was much more than the thickness of the metal. My only worry would be dirt & water laying in the inside exposed gaps. Outside of boat is coated with 5 coats of Hempels epoxy, inside left bare.
Price of this 8 oared version 21,950 euros or just under 19 grand. Good value if you are in the market for such a beast.

 

[Migmac]

Is it planks or have the sides been formed to look like planks and then stitch welded on the inside for rigidity ? Looks very nice though

 

[Keith 66]

Definately planks, continously welded on lower edge, stitched on inside, only downside i can see is ice in winter if outside or dirt & corrosion?.

 

[minimutly]

Spent yesterday working on my brother's home made aluminum boat. I persuaded him to pump the fuel out to replace it. We were filling it from a Jerry can and I told him "I don't like the noise I'm hearing" - like two different running petrol noise. "No it will be fine" he said, "nowhere else for the fuel to go, it must be going into the tank". Well some of it was, at least half of it was running into the hull - the vent pipe had detached itself from the filler neck...
So we had to strip back part of the rear deck to sort it, lift the front to drain the bilge, then buy new battery terminals and fit, the whole day went...