Cruising_World_2016-06-07

june/july 2016

cruisingworld.com

75

say, ‘Oh, that’s dangerous,’” Tim said. “Well,

actually it’s not dangerous, because we’ve got

three safety systems built into the boat.” Those

systems include an inclinometer to measure the

boat’s angle of heel; a pressure sensor on the

hydraulic sail controls; and load cells in the rig.

“We can tune the safety system to anywhere

from 100 percent down,” Tim adds. When you

hit the limit, the system releases the main and

jib sheets and traveler. The boats are all-epoxy,

resin-infused and post-cured. XR versions are

all-carbon and feature a larger rig; GT versions

blend E-glass and carbon. Forty-eight employ-

ees work at the yard; next year, Tim plans to open

a larger yard in Port Elizabeth to build boats

between 72 and 90 feet. Originally a domestic

and commercial architect from Johannesburg,

he ran crewed charter boats — a Mayotte 47,

Privilège 51 and Lagoon 67 — from 1997 to 2004.

Since 2007, Tag Yachts has built three Tag 60s,

and was working on a fourth when I visited. The

yard is also at work on three Tag 50s.

Two Oceans Marine Manufacturing, Cape Town

2oceans.co.za

Rod Delaney started Two Oceans Marine Manu-

facturing in 1989. His son, Mark Delaney, studied

boatbuilding in Florida before joining and then

taking over the company 14 years ago. For most

of its life, Two Oceans was a service yard that

also built power cats between 23 and 32 feet for

fi shing. Beginning a decade ago, Mark started

taking on larger, custom projects at a rate of one

boat per year. Designers include Alex Simonis,

John Shuttleworth and Anton du Toit. Lately

this business has grown. In December the yard

had four boats in progress, of between 60 and

80 feet, including one all-carbon cruising boat.

Two Oceans employs 130 people.

BOATBUILDER

PROFILES

square foot, that works out to a ton

of pressure. Core materials, whether

foam or wood, start as fl at panels that

are scored on one side, allowing them

to take on the complex shapes of a

sailboat hull. Vacuum-bagging ensures

that resin evenly covers the core’s sur-

face and fi lls the spaces, called “kerfs,”

that open up when core panels are

bent. This is the method employed by

Knysna Yachts, Matrix Yachts, Mav-

erick Yachts, Nexus Yachts, Robert-

son and Caine, and Two Oceans.

Resin infusion is initially more

involved and arguably riskier for

the builder. How does it diff er from

vacuum- bagging? Resin infusion

means laying up the fi ber reinforce-

ments and core, sealing the dry lami-

nate under plastic, then drawing resin

through the bagged laminate under

vacuum pressure. Infusion is cleaner

for the workers and better for the

environment. Classifi ed as a “closed-

mold” technology, infusion signifi -

cantly reduces styrene emissions

during construction. Many builders

in Europe and North America have

adopted this method in order to meet

government-imposed air-quality stan-

dards. For boat owners seeking high

performance and low weight, infusion

can off er the ideal fi ber-to-resin ratio.

Phoenix Marine, St. Francis Marine

and Tag Yachts employ resin infusion

in their hulls and decks. Other South

African builders are beginning to

infuse smaller parts.

Among resins, polyester has been

the base line for 70 years. Vinylester is

newer, more expensive and more re-

sistant to osmosis. Epoxy’s properties

are best, but it costs about four times

as much as polyester and can be tricky

to work with. Matrix Yachts builds its

760 model in polyester, then applies

an epoxy barrier coat below the wa-

terline. Knysna Yachts uses vinylester

in the hull’s outer skin; St. Francis us-

es vinylester throughout the layup.

Nexus, Tag and Two Oceans build

their boats entirely of epoxy. To en-

sure that the epoxy cures fully, some

builders post-cure the entire laminate

after layup. “We put it in a tent and

heat it up to 80 degrees Celsius,” said

Mark Delaney of Two Oceans. “Then

you ramp the temperature up slowly.”

“Exotic fi bers” are those with bet-

ter properties than E-glass. Of these,

carbon off ers exemplary stiff ness

per weight, though it’s several times

more expensive than E-glass. Matrix,

Tag and Two Oceans each off er all-

carbon boats. They and Nexus also

build boats with E-glass and carbon

reinforce ment for high-load areas.

Such deliberate use of materi-

als and techniques delivers lighter,

stronger boats (see “South African

Cats at a Glance” p. 72). If high per-

formance and low weight are what

you’re after, the boats with the lower

displacement- to-length ratios tend

to be the ones employing the more

advanced materials and techniques.

The dollars-per-displacement column

gives an idea of the premium placed

on lighter weight.

THE ARTISAN EXPERIENCE

South Africa’s blend of boatbuild-

ing skills, maritime culture and labor

rates distinguishes it from every

other boatbuilding region. At the

heart of that distinction lie the dif-

ferences between high-production

and artisan approaches. A 45-foot

cruising cat from a high-volume yard

might be built in around 5,000 man-

hours, on assembly lines that employ

advanced organizational techniques

to reduce labor hours. Each boat

designed for this high-volume busi-

ness model must appeal to a broad

demographic of sailors, which might

include charterers.

By contrast, one South African

builder told me his company invested

20,000 man-hours in a 40- footer;

another estimated between 25,000

and 30,000 man-hours for a

performance- oriented 50-footer.

Neither business model is clearly

better or worse than the other.

Rather, it’s a fundamental qualita-

tive choice. There are advantages to

owning a boat from a well- capitalized

company whose practices over doz-

ens or hundreds of units have been

standardized. More labor hours ar en’t

obviously an advantage until you go

aboard the boat and assess for your-

self how well those hours were spent.

From one artisan-style yard to the

next, the answer will not be the same.

Building on a small scale means that

the personality and the choices of

the builder will be more indelibly

stamped into the boat, for better or

worse. But what’s indisputably a good

thing across the spectrum of builders

is that there’s such a range of choice.

When you look at them all, you may

just fi nd the boat — and the builder

— that you want to spend a good long

stretch of your life with.

Tim Murphy is a CW editor at large and

a longtime Boat of the Year judge.

Tag 60 XR

Two Oceans 750

COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS