Malibu on the move

Australian boat builder proves it can be done

There’s a buzz in the NSW/Victoria border town of Albury. Back from the brink, Malibu Australia is busy building boats again. This is a result of rising demand, as reflected by the brand’s Top 10 ranking in “searches by make” at boatpoint.com.au and boatsales.com.au.

But when the global economy collapsed in 2009, Malibu Australia was down to making just three boats per week. To its credit, no full-time staff members were laid off. But there was a nine-day fortnight and, as Managing Director Xavier West tells us, he was worried.

Contrast that with the situation when we recently visited Malibu Australia. Production was running at an impressive six boats per week, there was a spring in the step of the 60 staff, and you could see their pride of workmanship reflected in the gleaming gelcoat and abundant stainless-steel deck fittings lighting up the Albury factory.

Australian-owned and staffed, Malibu Australia is defying the odds and, in so doing, proving there is a future for manufacturing in this country. But Xavier doesn’t take the credit, it’s very much a people- not person-led recovery. And a welcome good news story, we should add.

CUSTOMER FOCUS

- Made to order

These days, each Malibu is built to order. The order sheets are dotted about the factory at the various production zones. They notify the craftsmen and women about everything from gelcoat and upholstery colours to the number of ballast tanks, stereo, tower options and so on.

The soon-to-be-owner’s name sits proudly atop the order sheet as a reminder that the boat in build is for someone real. More than likely he and/or she will have used the iSpec online software to find their preferred sports-boat combination. Virtual boat building is all the rage these days.

In respect of models, Malibu Australia has something for every water-sports enthusiast. It caters to all levels of wakeboarders and boat surfers with its popular Wakesetter range. It also makes some great crossover boats like the Sunscapes and Wakesetter’s with the Diamond hull option, while the hardcore waterskiers gravitate towards the Response series, which are acclaimed tournament ski craft.

The common thread linking all Malibu’s 14 boats is quality. From the Response Series starting at $46,800 to the $90,000-plus fully loaded Wakesetter 22 MXZ, every Malibu is built by the same crack Australian team.

Cue to our recent factory tour, something Malibu Australia proudly offers prospective owners.

SKILLED CRAFTSMEN

- Deft hands from spray painters to sewers

Dressed like a surgeon -- with commensurate dexterity -- a spray painter in a sealed booth is coating the waxed mould with the first (vinylester) gelcoat layer. The sprayer is a special pneumatic/hydraulic model.

Climate controlled and clean enough to eat off the floor, the adjoining mould room forms the foundation of Malibu’s slick finish. Keeping the moulds out of the weather improves equality control and greatly reduces post-production rectification.

While Australians sit on the R&D board and, we’re told, influence design to some degree, the moulds are made in America and owned by the corporation. As with most big-boat builders, everything is now CAD designed and the major components are CNC cut.

David Thorpe, National Marketing and Dealer Development Manager, and an avid rider of just about anything that floats, directs us through the next door where a team of strapping local youths implement a hull’s strict lay-up schedule.

A tie-layer is put down, then bi-axial rovings are rolled into place, alternating with different weight matting, composite coring of various types, especially in high-load areas, even a patented sound-deadening material is applied. Necessarily, these guys move fast.

But hand building each hull is also an involved process quite unlike your average solid-glass low-tech boat. Everything is weighed out to ensure, among other things, performance. The hulls are strengthened some more after being fitted with an internal fibreglass "chassis".

Cured, the hull moves on. We watch the experts extricate a deck from its mould. It’s for a sister ship, an Axis wakeboat, a second-tier more affordable line also built by Malibu. It takes quite some effort but finally the deck pops free. Once joined to the hull, the boat moves to fit-up.

AUSTRALIAN BUILT

?- Local Malibu owners get the best

Malibu Australia builds its boats for local conditions, including the burgeoning bluewater sports-boat market, not just the freshwater lakes and rivers. For example, it uses a specific process to treat all the billeted aluminium tower pieces before custom-coloured powder coating takes place. There are plenty of other details they’ll gladly point out during your factory tour.

There are also optional closed cooling systems on most of the marinised 330-550hp engines. At any one time, Malibu Australia has 80-100 of these Indmar GM engines stacked on its shelves. An impressive sight.

Just as impressively, the plug-and-play wiring looms are held in place with a network of grommets so there’s no risk of chafe. Then there are the latest MaliView multi-function electronic displays offering preset rider profiles so everyone from Little Johnny to Peter the Pro can be towed. At some point about now, the boat is put its gunwale and the fit-out team goes about installing the bronze running gear.

Everything in a Malibu is inorganic. When not using a moulded floor, Malibu cuts one from a special composite board using its CNC machine. The seats are backed with a kind of king board, the foam is dual- and tri-density to keep its shape, while a skilled female artisan sews the vinyl upholstery like she’s done it for years. Which she has.

CHECKLIST AND WATER TEST

- Every boat given a thorough send off

After about four weeks from start to finish, a new Malibu is born. It’s then treated to a 65-point checklist overseen by long-time staffer Simon Hill, whose product knowledge goes back to the early days when this writer first tested Malibu boats.

Finally, every Malibu is given a thorough water test on the local Lake Hume. That’s where we continued our encounter, driving the latest Wakesetter 22 MXZ while the snowy peaks near Falls Creek looked on.

Shrink wrapped, the boat is then loaded onto Malibu Australia’s own semi and driven interstate.

Flat strap, the sprawling Albury factory can build 10 boats a week as it did from 2005-2007. It’s heading back to that level today. Not bad for a boat builder that started in a small brick building in Albury in 1989, then began building Malibu boats, one per fortnight, in 1995 with few staff.

But at the end of the day, we think it’s what you don’t see that sets Malibu Australia apart. Prospective buyers would do well to join a factory tour to see behind the scenes and that sparkling gelcoat. But be warned: it’s terribly convincing. Chances are you will leave as a new Malibu owner.

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Malibu on the move

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