Started looking around for a new boat this week.  Hoping to talk the old man into trading the old girl in for a new one.  I was gonna chip in a bit so we could get something half decent.  Maybe around the $50,000 mark.  But I could be dreaming cause I have'nr spoken to him about it yet.

Anyway, I stumbled across this new brand of boats "Reef Hunter".  Went and spoke to the guys (at Dinghy World - Como) who are having them made and they said they bought the old Trailcraft press went they went broke.  Apparently they have started up again though.  The guys reckon there are a few differences between thier boats and Trailcrafts'.  They are using 4mm plate sides instead of 3mm and they can upgrade the bottom to 5 or 6mm if you wanna pay a bit more.  The ribs are fully welded instead of tacked either end.  And they fill under the floor with foam.  They haven't spaired any expenses in the fitout either apparently.

Unfortunately their first boat was having some finishing touches done and wasn't at their yard so I couldn't look but I will hopefully see it next week.  They said it wasn't ready cause they advertised it too early to try and beat the release of the new Trailcraft boats.  Sounds like these boats might be worth a look.  I'm looking forward to seeing one.  Being a smaller manufacturer, you might get a bit better service than other larger manufacturers too - in terms of customising and getting exactly what you want.

Here is an advert for it - Reef Hunter

Not sure how these will compare to other similar boats in price and specs cause I haven't started looking too seriously at other boats.  I will follow up and let you know what I think.