Are Burgers Aluminum Hatts?

[richardoren]

Looking at bigger Hatts they are all over the place in price and layouts. Many many are on the market, and what most have in common are Hargrave's heritage, even on the more recent units which have triple queens but still pay hommage to the classic design of a true Hatteras.

What I am wondering, as prices get rather lofty with bigger more recent units, is whether some of the Burgers weren't designed by Hargrave too? This one made me see similarities with Hatt cockpit motor yachts:



Even the pilot house and some other fittings don't seem that far off from those of a Hatteras. What I am wondering is whether their build out of aluminum presents corrosion problems you'd never find in a Hatt? I recently read of a 1956 Feadship which had to have all of its steel ribs and iits entire hull replaced entirely (presumably due to rust).

Do earlier aluminum boats have ageing issues, either corrosion or metal fatigue? I know aluminum airplanes get hairline cracks that cause failures and crashes. Ultrasounds must be used to test them, sometimes to no avail in preventing tearing when it is old. DC3s come to mind, as well as older seaplanes and WWII Mustangs which collectors like to fly.

I know that Hatts with their solid fiberglass hull. at least under the waterline, are pretty much foolproof. So far there have been no failures to my knowledge due to failure of hulls close to half a century old.

Steel yachts usually develop problems unless special alloys are used, then galvanized and sealed in epoxy, something only done on recent exhorbitant big units. Older ones need restoration work which rivals reframing and planking old wooden ships in terms of labor and costs.

What I'm wondering is if investing in a Hargrave designed aluminum boat is as safe a bet as a failsafe Hatteras?

Thanks for sharing your experience with Aluminum hulls.

Cheers,

Rich

[Genesis]

Aluminum is a good material BUT it has special considerations, especially if any other (more noble) metal is in contact with it and water....

There are all sorts of special things used to deal with some of this - tri-metal strips between the hull and deckhouse in some cases, etc. You must be very careful with through-hulls, as an example, and most aluminum hulls have active corrosion control systems that need to be maintained (if they fail you're in BIG trouble.)

Aluminum is a very viable building material but like all it has its ups and downs......

[MikeP]

Hargrave is famous for his Burger designs as well as his Hatt designs. A Burger in the 80-90 foot range would be my ultimate boat if I could ever afford such a thing. Yeah, and I'll plunk down cash for a new Bentley Continental GT!

Oh well, the odds of that happening are about the same as the odds of getting attacked by a shark........while sitting here at my computer.

[67hat34c]

I would say the Hargrave Bergers are aluminum Hats, classic yacht design

[jim rosenthal]

I have owned an aluminum boat (a Striker). I swore I would never do it again. Then I saw a friend's 57' aluminum Chris-Craft Roamer, Bella Nave, which is one of the most beautiful yachts I've ever seen. It made me want one, but I sat down and took a deep breath and said no to myself. I have a perfectly good boat already, which is about to get even better. They ARE worrisome about corrosion, it's a whole different thing versus a FRP yacht. With a choice between aluminum and steel, I would definitely prefer aluminum, but FRP is better. There are no FRP Burgers AFAIK.

Several were designed by Hargrave, and look it. They are lovely boats, but they are one-off custom designs and there is no Sam's Marine for Burgers!!! You would be biting off a huge chunk of maintenance etc etc and I am not sure at all that your boating pleasure would be any greater than with a good Hatteras MY. This is something I would think long and hard about- and then buy a Hatteras.

[WishFull Thinking]

As a commercial fisherman, watching and waiting for my chance at a Hatteras one day, I would definately go for a glass boat.

I have seen some huge damage inflicted on fishing boats and the fiberglass ones seem to able the most damage without drama. A hard grounding resulting in a huge gash in the bow of an aluminum boat will sink it, where as a glass boat seems to go back to it's orignal shape, closing up the gash. We pulled one boat off the rocks on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, where it had been grounded in a heavy swell for hours and found that it's own pumps could keep up no problem with the myriad of leaks coming in from its pulverized stern. When we got it up on the marine railway, we could see that where it had been smashing against the rocks, the glass had become smashed and pulverized until it was quite flexible and soft. BUT the glass kept the majority of the water out, and the result was a kind of strainer effect, water oozing in all over the lazerette, but the pumps could handle it. I'm sure that the dozens of large holes that would have resulted in an aluminum vessel would have sunk the boat.

I can carry all the materials/tools/supplies I need to patch up a glass boat in one 2' by 3' box, and I don't need access to electricity to do it.

[SeaEric]

From a general maintenance and paint finish standpoint, an aluminum boat is almost as much upkeep as a wood boat.

[yachtsmanbill]

No way Jose !! Its just a different approach than FRP, BUT WOOD ???? C'MON !! My Roamer has a 20 year old awlgrip paint job and is still damn near perfect That, and I am my own SAMS plus there are tons of old Cris Craft stuff that is like G.M. --standardized for production, AND IMHO superior in quality to a LOT of Hatteras stuff--Fuller Brush comes to mind ws

[SKYCHENEY]

Aluminum in freshwater and aluminum in salt water is two different things.

[yachtsmanbill]

I dunno---Breaux Bros. seem to have good luck on the industrial scale, then Broward and Burgers and Strikers etc. I guess ya gotta be dilligent about your neighbors shore cord in the water. ws