Trade-A-Boat 492 2017

MAIN John Crawford Marine

has this BMT for only A$7000

RIGHT Extra ridges and edges

are moulded into the design to

add rigidity

BELOW Wells either side of

the engine add storage and,

being polyethylene, are easy

to keep clean

of the plastic absorbs wave
pounding while the hollow
roto-moulding produces an
exceptionally quiet ride, even
reducing noise to ‘sneaking
up on unsuspecting fish in
sweetwater’ scenarios.

WHERE DID THEY
START?
My anity for plastic boats
may be because we were
both born in the great year of
1959 – the first roto-moulded
polyethylene boat can be
traced to that year.
As is often the case,
the rotational moulding
process was spawned in
military engineering. The
first artillery shells were
moulded in Britain in
1855, the advantage being

hollow forms with uniform

thickness and weight but

no seams. The process

was expanded into various

materials, including wax

and plaster of Paris, and the

invention of hollow chocolate

eggs in the early 1900s.

Rotationally moulded

plastics were developed in

the early 1950s; one of the

first products was dolls’

heads but later that decade

advances expanded its uses

into the creation of the first

plastic boats.

The tooling and set-up

for rotational moulding is

expensive and getting boat

design right is an exhaustive

process. However, once that’s

completed the product can

be produced consistently and

eciently. The moulds are

set up on rotating spindles

with heating mechanisms

of various forms, including

ovens and a cooling chamber.

Industry giant Nylex

Rotomould produced the first

Australian plastic boats in

my memory – the Pioneer

dingy range – and Polycraft’s

parent company, National

Poly Industries, produced

its first boat, the 3.00m Tuf

Tender, back in 2001.

THE

ENVIRONMENT?

Polycraft declares it boats

use “a zero-emissions

manufacturing process and

also just happen to be 100 per

cent recyclable”. The process

is far less contaminating

than fibreglass manufacture

and longevity is assured with

modern advances in ultra-

violet stabilisation. They

can be easily repaired with

plastic welding.

THE RANGE

Polycraft produces a range

of tenders and trailerable

packages from the 3m

Tuf Tender right through

to the 5.99 Frontier, with

configurations including

cuddy cabin, runabouts,

centre and side consoles,

and open tiller boats. My

fishing partner, Gordon, has

owned a superb 4.3-metre

tiller-steer version for many

years and we enjoy this

little sportsfishing machine

immensely.

The boat you want is easier to find tradeboats.com.au^71