Mercury's Veer boats are extremely light and float in just over 6" of water, making them a great choice for flats and stream fishing. (Mercury Marine)

Fiberglass boats have dominated the recreational market for more than 60 years, but there are hints that at least for the low end of the market it may not be the preferred hull material in the future.

Several companies, including Brunswick/Mercury, are now building “roto-molded” plastic boats. Heat up plastic pellets until they melt, force them into a rotating mold that distributes the material evenly and presto, out pops a boat that is ready to go as soon as a few fittings are added.

The process is far faster than producing a fiberglass boat, uses less costly materials and requires far less skilled labor. 

E-Motion Electric Outboards, which hold the world electric outboard speed record of 116 mph, are built by Vision Marine, the same company now producing Phantom rotomolded plastic boats. (Vision Marine)

The result is the boats can be sold for a much lower price.

The Mercury Veer, a 13 footer that weighs just xxx and has a draft of only xxxx, is available for about xxxx. And in terms of ability to get up on the flats, it’s comparable to some technical skiffs that cost $50 grand.

Vision Marine, which has been an innovator in producing electric outboards, has just announced a partnership with xxxx that will also produce rotomolded plastic boats, the first being the Phantom. It’s a 16’6” side console model that weighs about 800 pounds and is rated for power up to 50-hp. There are no seat cushions or much of anything else, but the company says it will haul up to 10 people. It’s about $15,000, which ain’t that cheap, however, compared to some similar barebones fiberglass models. Add an electric motor and batteries to give a 10-hour operating range and the price jumps to about $30,000, which is not that competitive. Genmar built a Logic line of rotomolded designs, 12’ to 21’, in the early 2000’s but the brand is now defunct.

The first models of the Phantom won't win any beauty contests but the company says they are practical, durable and completely recyclable. (Vision Marine)

Environmental Advantages

Rotomolded plastics are recyclable, which fiberglass boats are not so far. Grind up a plastic boat and put the pellets into the hopper and you can produce another boat without more petro-chemicals. Given the attitude of many towards oil—even though it has created much of our civilization—and the fact that there’s a finite supply, this could be a small step in the right direction of a more sustainable industry.

Thus far the process has been limited to smaller boats because building larger roto-molds becomes prohibitively expensive. It also does not help that most of these boats have been cosmetically less than appealing—they look like large pool toys.