Cruise Craft goes fully composite

Enduring Queensland boatbuilder Cruise Craft has announced that every new model in its fleet is now built using advanced all-composite construction methods that ensure its hulls are completely timber free.

With zero timber in the construction, the opportunity for timber rot has been completely eliminated, Cruise Craft says.

Cruise Craft built its reputation upon traditional timber boat building, but wood floors and transoms are now a thing of the past on its trailerboats.

In a conventional fibreglass hull, timber was principally used in the transom and sub-floor system. Following lengthy research and development, Cruise Craft now prefers 100 per cent composite construction.

The composite-build process focusses on two key areas of the hull: the transom and the sub floor system which, if you look around rebuild sites for popular and classic Australian trailerboats, are often the subject of rot and replacement in future years.

Cruise Craft has developed its new rot-free transom by laying up composite panels to create a thick sheet of material to suit each specific model.

In the sub-floor area, the Cruise Craft developed Matrix Grid Construction process is employed.

Formed from composite material to profile the cavity between the inside of the hull and underside of the fully moulded fibreglass floor liner, the sub-floor composite matrix provides rigidity and support for both the cockpit floor and the hull itself.

In addition to eliminating timber from the sub-floor area, the Matrix Grid Construction also produces a stronger hull.

Once the sub-floor Matrix Grid Construction is fitted, the void between the one-piece full-length fibreglass-moulded floor liner and the hull is filled with foam. The foam flotation has been a feature of Cruise Craft boats since 2005.

"At Cruise Craft we continually strive to deliver a high quality, world class product for our customers," said Nathan Nichols, Director of Cruise Craft.

"When we commenced this program, our primary objective was to completely eliminate timber from every Cruise Craft model. In addition, we needed to ensure that there was no compromise in strength and that the cost of manufacture needed to be comparable to the timber technique."

"We have achieved everything that we set out to accomplish with this technology."

Working with various suppliers and testing different materials, lamination techniques and thickness of mouldings, test hulls were built and evaluated to assess the performance and durability of the timber free hulls. Ultimately all the hard work paid dividends with timber now totally eliminated from all Cruise Craft hulls.

"Our all-new composite construction ensures enhanced hull integrity together with a more durable product. Together, this ensures that a family’s investment in a Cruise Craft boat is even better than before and provides even greater peace of mind," Nathan adds. More at www.cruisecraft.com.au.