Three New Aluminum Boats

Discussing about the constructing of a aluminum powerboats

In the Design Brief in Professional BoatBuilder No. 131, Albert Nazarov of Albatross Marine Design in Thailand discusses the concepts that went into designing and constructing a pair of relatively fast aluminum powerboats for the European market.

One of the boats is the XP980, which Nazarov describes as a utilitarian “pickup-type” powerboat. It measures 34.1′ (10m) with a beam of 10.2′ (3.1m) and a displacement of 13,448 lbs (6,100 kg). Power is a single Volvo Penta D6-350 Duoprop rated at 350 hp (261 kw) that pushes the boat to a top speed of 34 knots.

The XP980’s bottom is a conventional semi-V with chine flats. To keep spray at bay, above the waterline a chine step is formed by extending the deck plates. The sharp bow breaks through waves cleanly and helps give the boat a smooth ride when the waves pick up. Nazarov explained that the design had to have enough flare at the bow and a sharp enough deadrise one-third of the way aft to perform well in the rough conditions the owner expected to encounter.

The boat was designed for the owner to run for transportation and pleasure in Sweden’s Stockholm Archipelago. Nazarov said the boat met Albatross Marine Design’s philosophy of building elegant boats for real-world use. “These were to be sturdy, good-handling, practical-looking boats with high long-term resale value,” wrote Nazarov. The client actually asked that the boat be “ugly.” But Nazarov kept the boat attractive by working with the window design and architecture of the forward-swept pilothouse, which contains the helm station, a U-shaped settee, and the galley. Forward is a small head compartment with commode and sink.

In the cabin, bent aluminum plate increased the structure’s stiffness and avoided the flat appearance of many metal boats. Additionally, Albatross Marine employed fillets and rounds formed out of aluminum pipe to cleanly finish edges in the cockpit and cabin.

Finally, in the cockpit, the focus was on safety with lots of handholds and nonslip decking, almost like the bed of a pickup truck.An outgrowth of the XP980 was a new boat from Albatross Marine called the XP1030. This boat was recently launched, and you can see how it handles in the video below. When the boat was tested, it had not been painted yet, so, no, it’s not going so fast that it blew the paint off.

Also discussed in the design brief is the O1000, another aluminum model of similar size and performance parameters. The major difference is this model dispenses with the walk-around cockpit of the XP980 in favor of more accommodation space under a full foredeck. This boat, seen in the video below, was built at the Oxta Shipyard in Shlisselburg, Russia.