Insomnia Pays Off
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday January 27, 1996
Meat pies, kangaroos...Quintrex boats. Australia's largest aluminium boatbuilde sees export potential in a radical new alloy dinghy, writes DAVID LOCKWOOD.
BOAT designers never sleep. Their constant search for hydrodynamic efficiency is pursued with all the fervour of Indiana Jones and his quest for the Holy Grail. Somewhere, down some dark corridor of the mind, they believe, exists a boat shape that will revolutionise the way we take to the water, that will breathe new life into the age-old tradition.
Employed by the boatbuilder Quintrex Australia for about 20 years, Terry Allan is your typical insomnious designer. But unlike others, he has found a cure. On one of those hot, steamy, restless nights, Allan's mental journey was rewarded with what is proving a real "hot-cake" in the history of small aluminiumdinghy design.
At 3 am, story has it, Allan bolted upright in his bunk and raced into the Quintrex boatbuilding plant on the Gold Coast. He reckoned he'd discovered a way to take his employer's flared-bow aluminium boat technology further, to tighten its stranglehold on the "tinnie" market.
After numerous scratchings, a dinghy with an unconventional underwater shape and a big rolled flare in the bow and running surfaces graced the drawing board. It was dubbed the Hornet.
A cathedral hull of sorts, the big challenge for Quintrex was to turn Allan's draft into an aluminium production boat. Previously, such radical bending and stretching of the metal had ruined its integrity, but powerful presses and a new highly malleable alloy from Australia's Capral (formerly Alcan) paved the way.
After several months of fine-tuning, Quintrex's managing director, Paul Phelan, believes he has "a major breakthrough in aluminium-boat design" on his hands. "The ride is better than any fibreglass boat of the same size," he claims.
Considering aluminium boats are comparatively lightweight and synonymous with giving a bum-numbing ride in rough water, Phelan's was a big call.
Thorough independent testing, however, has proved the radical Hornet to be an improvement on many traditional deep-vee and punt-style hulls, a fact acknowledged by its 1995 Boat of the Year award.
The Hornet's skinny forefoot slices the swell, while the big flared tunnels in the bow provide great lift. Testing in choppy bay conditions with a 30hp Mercury outboard produced a top speed of 23.1 knots. That's not fast, but the ride was surprisingly soft for a small boat.
Unusually, the forward seat of the dinghy - normally reserved for one's "mother-in-law" - is comfortable when running through rough water.
Phelan explained that this was because the Hornet rides on an air cushion. And for that reason, load doesn't adversely affect the hull's efficiency.
"No matter if you have two or four people aboard, you get much the same speed and performance out of the hull," said Phelan.
This suggests the Hornet would make a great tender or recreational fishing rig, since operators in both areas often overload their boats. The Hornet was released last year, and already there are plans to step up production of the dinghy from an initial 20 to 100 boats a month.
Phelan has built a new 1,500 sq metre factory on the Gold Coast to accommodate the increasing demand.
The big news, however, is that Quintrex plans to export its flared-bow technology to the United States.
"Hopefully, we'll end up building over there as we have a partner interested in doing business," Phelan said.
"In the field of aluminium boats, the Americans are at least five years behind. With this new innovation, they're 15 years in arrears."
The Hornet is available in 3.9 and 4.2 metre models. Quintrex is convinced that it will become an even bigger seller on world markets. By 1997, the hull will run the gamut of sizes right up to 5.6 m offshore rigs.
In the meantime, the Hornet remains a short-priced favourite in the aluminium dinghy stakes.
The price is about $3,500 for the basic 4.2 m Hornet with just two cross-thwart seats. More money accesses factory-fitted options such as carpeted flat floor, twin pedestal seats, underfloor fish box, live bait tank, dedicated battery storage well and side console for mounting electronics.
Optional full-length gunwale rails are advisable on all Hornets fitted with flat floors since freeboard is compromised to a degree.
You can check out a Hornet at the Sydney dealer, Hunt's Marine, 629 Princes Highway, Blakehurst, 546 1324.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald
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