First Southern Formula 19 almost ready to take shape

Haines Hunter research and development manager Jason Tonna – Southern Formula taps into its sister brand’s more than six decades of boat-making experience – told boatsales.com.au that the mould that would help Derrimut-based company build the 19-foot fishing weapon was now complete after months of preparation.

The mould was formed from a plug – a full-scale replica of the Southern Formula 19 made from timber, fibreglass, gelcoat and foam. It comprises separate templates for the hull and the top deck, which will be joined together to shape the complete boat.

Once the plug was complete, it was used to form the mould. Tonna said the top deck mould took about three weeks to complete.

“When we made the top deck mould, that took about two weeks,” he said. “And then it took about another week for polishing it, and putting the sealer on and all the other stuff.”

Once the top deck was complete, Tonna could then swing his focus to the hull. The plug was flipped upside down, and – just like the top deck – its surface sanded smooth and all the blemishes removed in one final check.

Why did it take so long? “It’s got to be 100 percent right otherwise you go to all that effort and spend all that money, and you go to pull the first boat out and it doesn’t look right,” Tonna said. “Yeah, it’s a hell of a lot of man-hours.”

Making the mould for the Southern Formula 19 was the same as making a boat, but in reverse. “It [forming a mould] is a lot like panelbeating a car,” Tonna said. “You do the repair first, then you’ll sand and everything, and then you’ll spray last. It’s the same with boats.”

>> FIRST LOOK: 2019 Southern Formula 19 takes shape

The mould process starts with covering the plug with what is called the “tooling” gelcoat, a harder wearing version of the gelcoat that will cover the finished product. It has a strong red colour that will eventually disappear as the layers of fibreglass that will form the shape of the 19 are laid down.

“You put down there tooling gelcoat first, and then we can start the fibreglass laying up, which is about a two-week process,” Tonna said. “You cannot lay it up fast because otherwise it gets too hot – you heat up the mould and and heat up the plug too much, and that just causes shrinkage.”

The mould will need to support its own weight, and that of the boat that will take shape inside it, the wall thickness needs to be greater than it does for a boat. Along with the layers of fibreglass, the mould also uses a fabric known as Coremat that helps to add strength to the layers. It is also used in the boats that Southern Formula builds.

“In some areas the mould’s walls will roughly be 25 to 30 millimetres thick,” Tonna said. “And because we spray it on, I’d say about 12 layers at least, give or take a little bit.”

While Tonna was building the mould for the top deck and hull, he was also focusing on crafting the moulds that Southern Formula will use for the console, windbreaker, and what will form the backbone of the boat, the stringers.

“When I was waiting for something to dry I would go away and work on the stringers while it was drying,” Tonna said. “It’s a solid glass stringer system that will be glassed in, and then fully foam-filled to help with flotation.”

Tonna said the Southern Formula 19’s stringers were similar to the ones developed for its bigger 21- and 24-foot siblings. Because of this, it is expected that the 19 will carry over the same 200-litre under-floor fuel capacity as the bigger boats, giving the smaller version some serious reach when hooked up to the right choice of outboard engine.

The transom-mounted bait tanks, too, have carried across from the bigger boats without losing any volume, and because the console has moved forward to keep the 19’s proportions in line with the other two boats in the range, the fishing space is as big as on the larger Southern Formulas.

Tonna, a former panel beater with experience in a number of other highly skilled trades, said the Southern Formula 19 had become a labour of love since he started work on it in late August last year.

“The funny thing with me is my love was always boats, but I could never find a job I really loved,” he said.

“I knew I loved panelbeating, fixing cars and that, but I was never 100 percent content. I went into woodworking to try it, and I learnt that, but I was never happy.

“But all those skills over those years started to fall in place and I finally worked out this is where I should be today. All those skills have helped me get here. And I’ve finally found something that I love.

“I love creating something from nothing.”