Fusion assembly process

[tuskie]

For a very relaxing experience in boatbuilding try the You tube clip for "assembling a Fusion 40"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAj-OTe5h6E

Here, to the stains of muted classical guitar you will see the process of a Fusion 40 kit assembly. All components are lowered by remote control overhead gantry to perfectly fit.

Just as in the movies, all references to sanding, trial fitting, trimming and cutting of wrongly shaped components, refitting, dust and sweat have been deleted. How the components became correctly shaped, preped and suspended in the gantry is a miracle of modern movie making.

The music score is serene enough. Perhaps the clip should include the well used movie trailer: "All stunts are performed by professionals. Do not attempt at home"?

[dmmbruce]

Tuskie, you are perhaps being a little harsh.

It is not a full warts-and-all instructional film. It is just a short promotional video and as such I thought it was quite good. Thank-you.

Just IMO of course. Mike

[tuskie]

You're probably right, Mike. I admit that slick advertising has an adverse effect on me.
For a more down to earth view of a Fusion assembly, Aussie farm style, check out the website of "Bosa Nova Fusion":
http://bossanovafusion.com.au/bossa-nova/

Good onya boys! Keep that great site coming.

[lancelots]

Just as in the movies

I've got to laugh at that one selective editing indeed. Perhaps the average assembly time doesn't include the average trimming and sanding and finishing time.

I must say though that gantry sure looks sweet and would knock a lot of time of the trim trial fit, trim trial fit, trim trial fit, o.k. now glue fit, swear trim quickly fit patch routine.

[suggo]

We have just been through this wonderful process, with the guidance of Fusion Australia (JG) we were encouraged to build our boat with 2 other non suspecting suckers from Australia with Fusion Catamarans builders and agents in Thailand as advertised on the Fusion La Passion Website which has now conveniently disappeared. Two men by the name of Peter Plant and Michael Grover a company called Yachting Siam. There Reputation in Thailand is well documented and they are well known. What a pity Fusion Australia did not find all this out before we 3 got tangled in their web. 1 boat got finished but not to a good standard and it cost him more than he originally signed the contract and paid in full for. They refused to release the boat without further money. We got out and are slowly finishing the boat off on the water now. The 3rd boat is stuck over there unfinished with Yachting Siam gone missing, not paid rent or wages for months. We have video and photos of work supposedly completed so that we would make our progress payments to them and when we arrived on site to check this out the work was not on our boat and had not been completed. We involved solicitors and were told the pay up or F****ck off. In Thailand they can get away with this the Thais love nothing more than 2 whities fighting over something. The contract that we signed with Yachting Siam was not worth the paper it was written on. 20 months into a 6 month build contract and $60k over contract we pulled the boat out and sacked them.

DO NOT USE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

As for Fusion Australia and PS of Fusion world wide you cannot trust them and you cannot accept their word on anything. They dumped us in it big time and did nothing to help when the SH***t hit the fan. Tried contacting P S in October 2009 and we are still waiting on a reply. As for Fusion Australia. firstly they did not believe us when we told the of what was happening, then they offered to help but when we told them we needed people to go to Thailand and finish the boat he just laughed and denied all knowledge of leading us down this merry path. If you do deal with them keep all correspondence, do not do anything verbally and keep copies. JG is well known in the boating world for being a second hand used car sales man.

We have been living in thailand now for 12 months, having had to get the boat out of the Yachting Siam yard and sailing it unfitted with jury rig and electrics 1200 nautical miles from Samui to Phuket. It has cost us dearly in both money, time and stress levels. The boat is finally getting finished to a standard that we are happy with, we have had to redo most works that were done by Yachting Siam to the point my husband has nick named the boat B2SQ1 (back to square 1). It was not the thai workers that were the problem but the australian foremen and the pommie owners and the total lack of regard to anything.

If you would like to know more let us know. And don't believe the website when it tells you you can be on the water in 6 months it is impossible unless you have 20 workers full time and they wont all fit.

[Myrodd]

I have lived in Thailand on and off for the last 4 years and it has been my dream to have a Fusion 40 made there. The reason being that it should be far more affordable compared to having the yacht made in Australia. But after reading of the experience that another couple had trying to do the same has really thrown a spanner in the works. I'm now thinking of buying a secondhand Fusion. I'm kicking myself that I wasn't ready to buy when the Fusion Kangaroo came on the market.
Build quality is always a big question with a secondhand yacht, and my thinking is that any yacht that has sailed around the world must have been made to a reasonable standard.

[ColdFusion]

Build quality is always a big question with a secondhand yacht, and my thinking is that any yacht that has sailed around the world must have been made to a reasonable standard.

Build quality (and maintenance) of a secondhand yacht can be assessed objectively at the survey stage. I'd be more concerned about the build quality of a new yacht that had not yet been subjected to the normal stresses of sailing.

[suggo]

Hi Myrodd, our fusion is going up for sale when we go back to thailand, she is in Phuket and has been surveyed so we know the build is correct and she has done about 2000 nm since her launch with no problems what so ever. If you are interested in having a look at her when we get back in early august we would welcome you on board. She is set up for live aboard cruising as ready to go. If you want to know anything about her just let us know.

[bossanovaboy]

As a builder of a fusion 40 kit (about half way) I would love to contribute to the debate. I chose this system to build a cat because I did not want to spend years on the process or lose interest along the way and it is a quick process - at least as far as hull and deck is concerned. My hull and deck were together in about three weeks, although there was still a mountain of work to do taping and fairing the seams. No- one talks about the amount of preping /grinding involved, and the interior would have been bare if I had not opted to buy 80% of the furniture in moulded form at great expense. The same logic applies- you save heaps of time and get a great gelcoat finish but that all comes at a price. In general, the more labour is saved in a kit the more you pay. Any cat still needs two motors, a rig, sails and so on and I don't believe it's possible to finish my project well with all new parts for less than $400,000 australian. However, I should be finished in a total of roughly 18 months and that is about all the time I want to spend on it. You can follow my process on my blog : bossanovafusion.com.au if you have any interest and ask anything you like via eitherr this forum or my blog. Cheers, Neville

[ColdFusion]

Neville

Welcome to the forums.

Only had time to take a quick glance at your website so far but will read it all later. Looks like you're making great progress.

Keith

[bossanovaboy]

Hi Keith, great to get instant response. I guess I'm trying to say building from scratch isn't for everybody, even though it must be very satisfying. I still work 3-4 days a week running a business so I like to see some progress for the time I do have. The kit system has suited me though there is still a long way to go.

[dmmbruce]

Hello Neville, good to see you here. Also thanks to you and your wife for getting the blog moving again.

Cheers

Mike

[tuskie]

Hi Neville,
Thanks for going to the trouble of making a great website for other potential Fusion builders. Your's seems to be going along like a house on fire. The Fusion Mackay moulded interiors certainly make things happen quickly, if you can afford them, and they suit your plan. As you say, they push up the total build cost, but they also go a long way towards a more professional interior finish than many amateurs can achieve.

I've noticed that you haven't sprayed gelcoat onto the outside joins yet. This is a tricky bit of the Fusion assembly. I've seen a couple where the joins don't seemlessly merge, in fact they stand out like dog's gonads. You're not having any issues with supplied kit gelcoat matching the gelcoat on the moulded parts, by any chance?

Happy building.

[bossanovaboy]

Hi Tuskie,
Yes what you say is all true. The seams are certainly the tricky bit. We have done the nose cones and most of the join at the start of the bridgedeck. We now have a good match but there was a muck up where they told us we had the wrong colour - we do have wrong colour on keel and rudders but these obviously don't matter. We are getting some help with the fairing because as you suggest it is critical to the overall job. There is also interior fairing so the 'to do' list goes on and on .....