My father built an aluminium racing yacht boat from 1984 to 1988. Full welds on every join, bulkhead, re-inforcement ect.

28 years later, not a single cracked weld, even after the boat washed over James Service reef many years ago.

Don't know why builders take short cuts.

 yup i hear ya wat i dont understand is wat part dont they understand you are playing with peoples LIVES when you send them to sea on your quality of work, builders need to take this sort of point more seriously (althou dont get me wrong there are some bloody good builders out there that i have nothing but praise for in there quaility of work)

 That welding is crap, no penetration for a start and not enough material. Suspect it was done by someone who had no idea of aluminium welding. One of the aluminuim crayboats I skippered was badly built, I spent the next  8 years or so in the bilge every off season watching blokes who knew what they were doing, gradually overcoming the original poor workmanship. Had to do it that way, the owner wasn't that keen on spending the money to do the whole job properly in one hit. 

 will not name but all i can say very well known name and people talk very highly of them (even i was suprised at this bird shit)

 look thick and strong and plenty of length in them  cheers Pete

 did you contact the builder? would make an interesting conversation

That is crap..For the safety of people at sea you should name them..We are talking peoples lives here. We pay good $ for our boats and this is what we get.

 Didn't want to really comment on the shitemanship. But that is very average to say the least, fillet size, not enough stitching , lack of fusion , and general lack of quality to say the least. Basically someone who don't give a F&^(k!

+1 to gillyL

As ya know good staff are very hard to come by, its possible the owner of the business is unaware his staff are doing this

 Even if its a big business, there should be a QA officer or supervisor to oversee the work and completed product.

 agree ashen big or small quality control should not change at one stage i had 9 builders on the go (not going there again) and until i gave the ok for them to go to the next stage or for delivery the job was not alloud to go i am putting my name on the product so unless i would be happy with it there is no way i would pass iot on to a client so sorry linoc disagree with you it is the owners responsibility to no what his staff is doing at all times and adjust accordingly, guess thats why i have been throu so many lol there is no exscuses for bad workmanship stand proud of your product and name. and by the way was not done by a small builder either if it was thats even worse not gonna last long in the trade if thats wat there standards are

and merry christmas to all have a safe one and look foward to seeing a few of you in the new year

Todd

 Todd, I know you specialise in new boats but with your expertise, maybe you should offer pre-purchase inspection services for fellow FW members! 

i already do ashen more than happy to help not everyone can afford to by new

 almost every defect that can be in a weld is present. well almost. Anyway, when it comes to quality and quantity these builders need to compete with the foreign market. Something like 10hrs per foot is what i have been told. The foreign builders that we all say have minimal standards are actually coming to the top of their game. I am not involved in boat building but work directly with a few reputable boat fabricators. 1 of them built a 24ft x 60ft ali cat in his backyard in mandurah, I have alot of time for him and his knowledge and his information is invaluable!

Sad to see a customer has to find this crap quality on what looks to be decent boat.

 In my experience with aluminium commercial fishing vessels built up this way, beginning early eighties, they were built like brick shithouses because the builders were a bit unsure of the material and didn't want it breaking up at sea, bad for business. They were heavy, but they never cracked anywhere significant. One name still in business were a good case in point. Their early twin screw (50ft?) hulls never gave any trouble. So they started pushing the boundaries, building lighter, and getting a faster and cheaper boat, then the troubles started arising. Their small boats were mostly OK, IIRC, and they drove Andy Ferreo broke, his 35ft glass boats which had been so popular couldn't compete for performance. The original "oil shock" didn't help, either, the price of the raw resin stock went through the roof. One fabricator split off from them, and started his own business.. His first one was serviceable, next one, which I ended up with with only 2000 hours from OP, had big issues which were recified over a lot of years. And his last one,  (next after mine?) was condemned from new by the surveyor. After extensive remediation, it went into service as a charter boat out of Shark Bay. And we shouldn't forget the original large aluminium fishing boat in WA, the Lady Of Fatima J. She was a freezer boat, built early seventies, displacement hull, never an issue.  Apart from tearing a hole in the bow when they hit the Black Rock, but that's another story. I thought the Portugese were meant to be great navigators?

All this is a long winded way of getting to the point that it is unforgiving as a boat building material, and it has to be done right. Cut corners with material thickness and welding standards, and it will not last. It may be fast for a while, but failure is inevitable.

 dame right ranmar cutting  corners - increase defects not a recommended process I say, many people have asked can we skip this leave that , make them lighter (generally to get cost down) but the problems you cause and the cost in the long run for repairs and alterations just dont add up. BUILD EM STRONG TO LAST I say especailly for those that treat them like they stole it