MANY a plan is conceived over a cup of coffee, and in this case we could say quite a few cups of java. It had become customary that when I sat down with Greg Bennett of Yamaha at his offices in Pinetown, he would fondly relate his memories of the aluminium boats that had carved a rather large niche in the market down-under. His ultimate dream was to bring them to home soil and offer them as an alternative to the fibreglass or kevlar culture in South Africa.

Well done, Mr. Bennett, your perseverance has paid off! Towards the end of 2004 I received an excited call from Greg asking me to meet him at the slipway in Durban Harbour. The reason? To put the 420 Dory through her paces — and see the benefits of aluminium for myself.

Before I relate the same to you, let me fill you in on the pedigree of boatbuilders Quintrex, themselves.

Quintrex pride themselves on building the best aluminium boats on the market. This is a bold statement from the Queensland-based Aussie manufacturer, considering the competitive market they are in. They are indeed market leaders and pride themselves on dominating market share in Australia.

Placing myself in the shoes of a prospective buyer of the Dory, I would be looking for a craft that would allow me to access larger waters such as estuaries, protected harbours or really big dams. The craft would have to be safe, and be easy for one or two people to launch and retrieve.

Greg and I managed to launch the Dory, sporting a Yamaha 30hp tiller arm, off the slipway without even breaking a sweat. Once we had exited the “no-wake zone” Greg opened up the Yamaha 30hp and the Dory was on the plane almost instantly. I also found that no matter where I sat on the boat during our run across the half-metre chop on the harbour, I remained dry. This is always a big plus.