The carbon fibre composite material on the dash that won the Stabicraft 1600 Carbon its award.

Stabicraft 1600 Carbon Series wins innovation award

Aluminium pontoon boat manufacturer Stabicraft has announced that its 1600 Carbon Series boats have won an award at the New Zealand Best Design Awards.

As part of The Designers’ Institute of New Zealand annual showcase, the Stabicraft 1600 Fisher Carbon Series won a 2015 Best Product Design award. The award recognises innovative design across four disciplines: Graphic, Interactive, Spatial and Product.

Stabicraft marketing manager Daniel Upperton said the Stabicraft 1600 Carbon Series was initially born from a need to reduce production times at the factory.

After tossing around the idea of a fibreglass bonnet, the Stabicraft boats designers hit upon a resin-infused carbon composite, which was eventually used to form the carbon fibre composite dash and topside panels.

“Not only does this meet our manufacturing requirements but we have challenged the marine industry through great aesthetic, ergonomic and cost effective design,” Upperton said.

“The new designs are almost 10 per cent faster through the factory than the previous all-alloy model, which has helped lead to one extra boat per week from the Stabicraft factory – a huge gain.”

But as The Designers’ Institute and others have noticed, the largest gains have been in the styling and functionality of the two Stabicraft 1600 Carbon series boats: the Fisher and Frontier.