Stabicraft 2050 Supercab knock-off declared dangerous after sea trials

The result? As you’d expect, with a marine survey finding a number of electrical faults that create a safety hazard, as well as significant engineering flaws that compromise the knock-off’s handling.

The result is presented in a video produced by the New Zealand alloy boatmaker, and follows up on another video uploaded late last year firing an unapologetic broadside at the people producing the superficial Stabicraft copies.

“We've put together an update on our imitators. Since our last video in September we've bought one and been through it with a fine-tooth comb,” Stabicraft said in a statement accompanying the video.

“We can confirm our imitators do not have our CAD files. Their hulls are wildly different from anything we have produced. They trade solely on surface-level imitation,” Stabicraft founder Paul Adams said.

"What we found wasn't just poor quality, but fundamentally these boats are not safe."

Adams said the initial video was to educate buyers that Staboicraft copies did exist in the market.

“Since then, I’ve managed to buy one and we’ve gone through it with a fine-tooth comb,” he said.

“What we’ve found wasn’t just poor quality, but that fundamentally these boats are not safe.”

Adams said the biggest flaw with the imitation was “the one you can’t easily see – on-water performance”.

“It’s amazing how close they can imitate us on the surface,” Adams said. “But when you start putting the boat through standard testing, how differently they performed.”

The video shows the differences in stark detail, but for those not interested in sitting through the video the knock-off ran substantially flatter than the real deal at speed and with four people sheltering in the cabin, even with the engine trimmed.

“Essentially we couldn’t trim the nose up to control the boat’s performance,” he said.

Trimming up is important for maintaining stability in a following sea.

The Stabicraft 2050 Supercab imitation also cornered poorly, remaining “reasonably flat” in turns with an increased tendency to heel outwards instead of tucking into the turn.

Adams said this meant the imitation boat could potentially catch a wave and tip outwards.

“These are all widely-known aspects to get right in boat design that our imitators either don’t understand or do not care.”

The marine surveyor’s report on the imitation Stabicraft 2050 Supercab said the boat would be difficult to operate in a swell or sea conditions above 0.5 metres and may become dangerous in swell or sea conditions above 1.0 metres, “particularly when running with any swell or waves”.

“If you got caught in the rough offshore, you’re not going to have any control over this thing, full stop,” Adam said.

“The fact that families will end up offshore in something like this scares the hell out of me.”

Adams said the imitation Stabicraft 2050 Supercab was so dangerous that “it should not even be called a boat, let alone a Stabicraft copy”.