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By Jim Gard We are so fortunate in Australia to have such a wonderful choice of multihulls, designed by some of the best designers in the world. Not only are these vessels available as production craft, but our designers have made them available to all who dare to dream. The home handyman can choose designs from basic ply construction through strip planking, and pre-routered kits up to the latest in Infusion moulded, gelcoat finished fibreglass kits such as the Fusion 40, built by Fusion Catamarans in Airlie Beach, Whitsunday's. This particular Kit is produced for those builders who do not want to have the hassle of sawdust, fairing and painting, and have the added benefit of owning a modern production craft with its added asset value. The Fusion 40 Kit is also very appealing to the shipwright/boatbuilder looking to develop a business around a production design. Without all of the setup, planking, glassing, fairing, sanding, painting etc. it enables him to invest his time in the creative fitout stage, rather than hull construction, allowing him to double his annual through-put. The moulds for the kits were produced on a 5 axis router, showing incredible accuracy (2mm in 12 metres), with 50mm overlapping joggles the kit components are easily aligned without the necessity for costly jigs. Shipping has always been a problem when
it comes to catamarans, to overcome this Fusion manufacture the
40s in sections up to 165kg in weight and of a size that will
fit into 40ft containers. The Factory has produced 10 motoraway Fusions in its 1st 10 months and has orders for a further 17 as well as its Kit orders (1 owner has already ordered his second), 2 charter Fusions will be available for hire in the Whitsundays after July this year. Following the success of the Fusion 40s sailing down south, it can definitely be called a true performance cruising cat, and allows another alternative to the already large choice of multihulls. |
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By Bob Norson.. And Fusion is a great answer as is demonstrated by their recent sales. The “Motoraway” version has been the most popular so far. With the installation of a good rig and not much else you have a hell of a race boat. The one ordered with the 60 foot stick, dual helm and boards I hear is very fast indeed, bested only by the likes of flat chat and similar ilk. It might be smart thinking for someone wanting to go racing to campaign a stripped down Fusion then when time to sell, fitout for top resale dollar with everything fresh?? Anyway, there is opportunity with the Fusion to come in semi-cheap and add value by assembly and fitout and get the project done in a hurry. Buying the motor-away version should realistically save over a year of build time as opposed to going from scratch. Adding about $100K for rig and fitout (a moderate figure) should bring the value to over $500K without doubt on the current market. An increase in fitout expense would raise value on any of the boats being discussed here but when you get into figures like $700K+, I think the market gets thinner. A bonus is the outstanding finish and what I suspect will be a desirable name for resale. The big thing in boat sales though was revealed in a candid moment by Jim Gard. “It looks f------g great!” he remembers a customer saying as he signed up. A quote I remember from a famous designer was something to the effect that “if it looked beautiful it was probably right.” |
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