New Aluminum Wake Boat

[sandm]

Aluminum also corrodes, is louder than fiberglass when on the water (I spent a lot of time in an aluminum crew boat). It's more expensive than fiberglass to repair (by a factor of at least 5), it dents easily, heats up fast, cannot be bent into multiple compound curves, and the list goes on.

Unless someone thinks aluminum really is an innovation or really digs the looks, I doubt they sell many.

so a few thoughts..
more expensive to repair, corrodes, dents easily, heats up fast and cannot be bent into curves.
so why then is it the ONLY material used for boats that are thrashing up and down hells canyon river, loaded with massive boulders that one wrong move would send a boat made out of any other material to a watery grave? and btw, they have been making em that way for years? repairs are as simple as a welded patch panel. if they dented easily(were talking major dents, not a simple dime-sized dimple then why would they be bouncing off rocks in whitewater? don't understand the heats up fast comment other than the topdeck in the sun but that was not an issue on the 90deg day in sacramento the day I was on it, and based on the wake potential I saw, compound angles are a non-issue. amazing what a skilled welder can do.
I do agree with the noise issue as it was somewhat louder from an engine and hitting the wakes perspective.

at the end of the day, take the boat and the company for what it is. a VERY solid fishing/river boat company that has the founders son taking on some of the reigns and he's looking out of the box for some untapped market that they are not currently in. from a business perspective kudos and if they take 5% of the overall market in 3-5 years, I would consider that a success. the boat was very well built, top notch welds, all high end components and some unique features and storage that would be impossible to get out of any other 21ft boat today due to the fiberglas vs auminum hull build process..

don' t discount it until you've been in it and ridden it. is it perfect? no, but the kid took a notebook full of feedback away and if he does anything with it, version 2 at the polar bear this year will be a force.. and fwiw, it was hands down the most talked about boat at the surf event..