History behind Osprey pontoon aluminum boats design, manufacture and safety
About Osprey
Not every boat manufacturing company talks about their history to potential purchasers. But, at Osprey, it's one of the first things we do. There are two reasons for this...
Firstly, we do have a history. And secondly, it's a history that we think lends itself to reassuring potential purchasers that they are about to make the right decision.
History
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It all began in the quintessential Kiwi way with one man, Lloyd Elliott. His early involvement, passion and expertise in design and manufacture within New Zealand's fishing industry led him to form a company, Alloyd Engineering Limited. Alloyd began manufacturing specialist aluminium boats almost twenty years ago and with early customers being professional mussel farmers, the product just had to be right. And it was. To such an extent it allowed the company to forge ahead with design and development, to the point where in 1996, the Osprey range of boats was unveiled. Immediately recognised for their excellence, the boats have been purchased by such diverse groups as conservation departments, harbour boards and adventure tourism companies. The boats have become increasingly popular in the recreational market. And as a New Zealander who just loves getting out on the water in the weekend, that's the thing Lloyd likes the best of all. |
The Team
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Design
Osprey Boats have been designed in-house to give the optimum ride and ensuring safety and ease of use and maintenance.
We continually innovate at a design level to further enhance the ride and usable space, improve safety, simplify manufacture, and maximise styling of Osprey Boats. These changes arise from a combination of ideas suggested by all our staff and from the feedback we encourage from our end users.
- Osprey Boats are designed with a very fine entry and deep vee to create a very soft and dry ride. All components are high quality marine grade alloy plate.
- The hull has several full length, floor to hull stringers which are cross gusseted at small intervals to create an extremely strong platform.
- The hull plates are married to alloy pontoons in such a way to create lift, and result in turning the water and spray down.
- The pontoons are shaped to give over 11kg of buoyancy per 100mm of length, This results in huge load carrying ability, i.e. the water taxi's in Abel Tasman National Park are registered to carry 18 passengers plus crew, in a 7.50M boat
- The pontoons are segmented (fully baffled) into several separate compartments meaning that if one should ever be holed, the boat will stay afloat and still be mobile.
- The pontoons, unlike many other brands, extend beyond the transom, acting like built-in trim tabs keeping the boat level and avoiding 'back flipping' when riding off wave tops.
- The transom pod is also extended, which increases leverage so the operator can trim the boat more easily than if the motor was attached directly to the transom. Having the motor mounted well back from the transom also means that it can be raised higher thus keeping the power head well above any stern waves or wash.
- Side rails protect the pontoons from damage along-side wharves and other vessels, and carry on round to the transom creating huge platforms either side of the motor bracket.
- The topsides have been refined, creating protection for the crew from the elements and vast amounts of storage in side pockets and seat bases.
