Revamp For The Tin Boat

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday May 27, 1988

By PETER FORBES

It's hard to imagine a genuine breakthrough these days in that long-established workhorse, the aluminium dinghy, but Queensland boatbuilder Alf Stessl says he has one.

Up until now, most "tin boat" makers have strengthened the bottoms of their dinghy runabouts with strakes, U-shaped ribbing or some other sort of reinforcing, but that's about as far they have gone.

Now Alf Stessl, who sold his last boat-building operation, Stessl International, a few years ago, is back in the market with a new company at Southport called Stessco, and a new range he is calling his lapstrake range.

Lapstraking is a term from the wooden boat craft, also known as"clinker-building". A clinker-built hull is one in which each outside skin plank is horizontally over-lapped on the one below it, to given a broken-line look to the hull, rather than the usual smooth (or carvel) finish, in which each timber is butted evenly against the next.

The aluminium boat-builders introduced pressed lapstrake sheeting into their hull topsides (the area above the waterline), but stuck to the other methods for the underwater surfaces.

Alf Stessl has now extended quite sharply edged lapstrake sheeting to the underwater sections as well. His lapstrake range extends from three-metre punts to other hulls up to five metres.

The advantage of the lapstraking below the waterline is that it gives not only lift as the boat moves through the water, but extra stability when the hull is at rest in the water - and even helps slow down side-drift induced by wind.

"As far as I am aware, it's the first time the lapstrake principle has been applied to aluminium boats anywhere in the world," Stessl said. (A check with Sydney boat dealers certainly suggests there has been no equivalent marketed in Sydney before.)

"The benefits of an improved ride, combined with a better fuel consumption, were obvious, due to the aerated-cushion effect generated by reducing the wetted surface.

"The on-water evaluations of the prototype surpassed all expectations. Our tooling up has now been completed and we are currently manufacturing more than 15 boats, all with lapstrake configurations."

Among these is the heavy-duty 4.6-metre dinghy shown in our picture and the 3.7-metre 15hp car-topper. They are retailing at $3,200 and $1,100 respectively, both competitive prices on the new-boat market.

There is currently one Sydney dealer, Go Boating, at Liverpool, while Terrace Boating is the Newcastle dealer. Other dealerships are being negotiated in NSW.

For those seeking more information, the manufacturer is inviting inquiries to: Stessco, Nerang Road, Southport, Qld, 4215. Phone (075) 32 2288.