Ground-breaking refit project takes top gong – Collaboration is key

A recent accolade is testament to the service ethic and collaborative approach of the marine professionals, contractors and suppliers at The Boat Works.

The team at The Boat Works accepted the 2022 Award for “Superyacht Industry Project / Design or Manufacturer of the Year” at this year’s Australian Marine Industry Awards held in May at Southport Yacht Club on behalf of the marine professionals who worked on the project.

The Award recognised the complexity and success of a ground-breaking stabiliser upgrade a 30-metre charter vessel undertaken by Ocean Degree Yacht Services, Stella Marine, ATL Composites, Marine Trade Supplies and Chandlery and The Boat Works team.

The project involved a major upgrade of a ‘Stabiliser at Rest or STAR System’ to the superyacht, which required complex reinforcing of the vessels hull through infusion, using the haul out, berthing and hardstand facilities of The Boat Works.

This kind of project had only been undertaken once before in Australia and by the same expert team.

Stella Marine, specialising in the design, engineering, supply and installation of marine equipment are the Australian agents for the ABT-Trac stabiliser and carried out the installation and commissioning.

Gary Cooper, Director at Stella, said the new system was around 50 percent larger than the existing system, which was only for underway stabilisation. “The larger system involved bigger fins at anchor and thus bigger forces through the hull. The STAR system is built for heavy-duty service. It eliminates the discomfort cause by the phenomenon of crowded waterways and choppy conditions.”

Winning the Award for this project was gratifying, Gary said. “The Award was fantastic! Every day we work with trades and other marine professional on significant superyachts projects and it’s rewarding to be recognised for the effort put in.”

Levi Duncan, Director at Ocean Degree Yacht Services said the four-week project took many weeks of preparation ahead of the actual work.

“We built massive, 5m x 5m custom-designed benches that could be wheeled under both sides of the hull so we could carry out the upside-down vacuum bagging and infusion – which was also an innovation in this type of process.”

Ocean Degree’s expertise spans project management, design, CAD, CNC fabrication, shipwright services, composites, solid surface installation and full cabinetry fitout.

“We appreciate the recognition of the talent within our team,” Levi said of the Award. “Demonstrating the ease of collaboration with the diversity of professionals on site puts us in good stead moving forward with other projects like this.”

ATL Composites, based at Molendinar on the Gold Coast, supplied the KINETIX R118 epoxy infusion resin and 1200g E-glass Quadraxial reinforcement for the project. Quadraxials provide excellent longitudinal, transverse and shear strength, and provide a good thickness build-up per layer.

KINETIX R118 Infusion resin and KINETIX H141 Infusion hardener at 4:1 by weight mix ratio provides extended pot life of 80 minutes, a low mixed viscosity for fast flow rates, and will cure without B-stage at ambient temperatures of 25-degrees C. To increase the strengthening process, they post-cured for 10 Hours at 80 degrees.

Rob was able to rely on the performance of R118/H141 to resin infuse in sectional increments with three shoots, 39 Layers – 13 at a time – of QK01200 which was 1200g E-glass Quadraxial (approximately 14mm thick laminate) without any concerns of exceeding exothermic reaction temperature.

After the successful installation, the popular charter vessel returned to the water and a full season of bookings. The vessel’s Captain and owners were ecstatic with the work completed to deadline and with brilliant results, making the on board experience extremely comfortable in all sea states.

Shane Subichin, General Manager at The Boat Works said Award was welcome recognition of the talent and expertise of on-site tenants and partners, and their relationships with suppliers and contractors.

“It was a massive team effort,” said Shane. “This complex project and its success are testament to our ethos of collaboration. The skilled marine professionals on-site and their positive approach and passion for this industry are characteristic of every project undertaken at The Boat Works to ensure the customer gets the best experience every time.”