As any experienced boat enthusiast knows most boats are made from fibre glass or GRP glass reinforced plastic or even wood if it is an older vessel. After owning many boats myself, I have settled on the opinion that for a variety of reasons aluminium boats are my preference. For some time now I have owned an aluminium sailing boat and have experienced the advantages aluminium alloy brings to boating.
Firstly aluminium alloy gives better strength for its weight than the typical boat construction materials leading to lighter stronger boats that deliver more economical cruising and higher top and cruising speeds. Aluminium is also easy to work with and can be formed easily into complicated shapes, the styling of aluminium boats is improving year by year as manufacturers improve their alloy specific designs. The extra strength offered by alloy boats means that a motor boat transom can handle a heavier outboard when compared with its GRP or wood counterparts. The alloy sailing yacht can handle the loads associated with a larger more powerful rig.
Lifespan, alloy boats are low maintenance generally and particularly when painted in a durable marine paint in a heat cured painting booth. GRP boats can suffer from osmosis which is water penetrating the hull material eventually leading to blistering which is remedied with an expensive peel and epoxy treatment process. Alloy boats do not suffer from osmosis and when the correct grade of aluminium alloy is used in construction the boats are virtually corrosion free.
Impact damage, accidents happen, alloy is cheap and relatively easy to repair and can be robustly patched before more permanent repairs can be done. Aluminium welding equipment can be carried on board a larger yacht or for smaller craft the advantage is that the technology required is common place. Also aluminium alloy has a greater tendency to dent or crumple in an impact, rather than crack or splinter in the case of GRP or wood, a significant advantage for a sea going vessel.
Another advantage of alloy is that it is virtually impervious to the effects of UV degradation when exposed to thousands of hours of sunlight over a period of many years. This can really deteriorate the condition of wood or GRP vessels, comparatively alloy boats are unaffected. Aluminium can also be painted to offer a glorious colour scheme on your boat or simply polished and lacquered which allows the stunning look of a metallic alloy boat to be achieved.
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