Behind the scenes of growing boat building industry

Cape Town is recognised as the largest catamaran manufacturing city globally, according to the South African Boat Builders Export Council (SABBEX).

SABBEX said the South African boatbuilding industry, which is the second largest builder of leisure sailing catamarans in the world behind France and holds the title of the world’s leading manufacturer of large power catamarans, has seen tremendous growth, with a “remarkable” 22.3% increase a year over the past five years.

Robertson and Caine, one of the largest contributors to the country’s boat-building industry, showed the CapeTowner the work that goes into catamaran building in a behind-the-scenes tour of the shipyard in Woodstock.

The company is the largest boat builder manufacturing for export, the largest builder of catamarans in the southern hemisphere and the third-largest globally. They also manufacture the most power catamarans, globally. There are three factory locations in Cape Town - Woodstock, Paarden Eiland and Montague Gardens.

Technical specialist Graham Kirk, who led the tour, said boat-building was like Lego, where each piece of the boat was crafted in different stages of production before being put together.

He said the sizes of parts need to be followed precisely, and are examined during every step, which is signed off by the supervisors and inspectors.

While the catamaran build cycle is 11 days, sailboat building is a six-day process, said Mr Kirk, adding that after the boats are complete, they are moved for export to the harbour at night to limit disruption as they take up several road lanes.

At the warehouse, parts of the catamarans are crafted in different lines of production. The catamarans are built from fibreglass and resin.

During the first part of the tour, workers were seen preparing giant boat parts in an open mould and applying resin. Thereafter, vacuum pressure is used to set resin into a laminate using tubes.

In another part of the factory, workers de-mould the parts, which will then be assembled in a line production.

The rest of the construction is the finishing touches such as carpentry work for the boat’s interior, and electric work.

Boatbuilding is a very labour-intensive process, said Mr Kirk, adding that there are about 2400 staff in the manufacturing process, which include engineers, electricians, carpenters and those painting and fitting parts, operating machinery and testing the catamarans before they are transported to the Port of Cape Town, ready to be shipped globally.

Mr Kirk said the end product is tested in Cape Town, and put in the water for a trial once construction is completed before being shipped.

Over 200 boats are manufactured and exported by Robertson and Caine a year. They manufacture three types of sailing catamarans and three power catamarans for the world markets, ranging in size from 40 to 53 feet.

Robertson and Caine catamarans dominate the charter fleets of The Mooring and Sunsail, two of the largest charter companies in the world and have supplied the companies with over 2800 catamarans.