Behind the Glass – S2E01 – Looking Back on Season One

Welcome back to Behind the Glass. We've worked hard on season two, and the release date is right around the corner. You're going to see some new things, some things that are going to look familiar and some stuff that we've been keeping quiet, we are now ready to show you. Before we get to that, though, we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to give you a quick recap on what we looked at in the previous season.

Last season we kicked things off with hull construction and took it through the build process. We learned that the hull is the bottom of the boat. It dictates the sheer line, length, ride quality, and much more. The hull is built from the outside in multiple layers. The first layer is the gelcoat layer. After that, we apply the skin coat layer, followed by some Advanced Composites and wrapping everything up with the bulk layer. Certain areas, like the transom, receive special materials for strength and rigidity. The next step was to build the stringer system. The stringer is the backbone of the boat and is placed between the deck and hull; it gives the necessary support and houses important components like fuel tanks, Seakeeper pods, and much more. What makes our stringers so special is that each is designed for a specific model and is built to be a whole structural part.

We then touched on the differences between our traditional stringers and the full grid stringers found on our larger models. Next, we focused on the deck of the boat. This is the area you will be walking around and enjoying while on the water. It also gives the boat its layout and will be a significant deciding factor in choosing the right boat for you. Like the hull and stringer, the deck starts with a white gelcoat layer followed by a fiberglass skin layer and more advanced coring materials that give the deck a sturdy structure. Special Composite Materials are utilized around cleats and hinges for additional strength and rigidity. The decks are not quite complete until it has all of its small parts installed, so we focused on our small parts department for the next installment. These parts, like fish boxes, live wells, and consoles may get overlooked. These again go through the same lamination process as all the other fiberglass parts. Some of our larger consoles require two parts to be bonded to create a finished interior space inside the console. These essential components take advantage of every available space between the deck and the stringer.

Once the parts have been installed on the deck, it moves to our assembly area, where we say it becomes a boat. The capping section of the assembly line is where we completely rigged the hull and deck, installing all of the essential components, like bilge pumps, transducers, plumbing, and wiring. Once complete, the hull and deck are bonded together using a bonding putty. The boat is shaping up nicely at this point, so we moved on to a different section of the plant, the upholstery department. Remember, at Sportsman, we build all our cushions in-house with a combination of CNC machines and highly skilled seamstresses that manufacture the hundreds of cushions required to complete our weekly production. Watching them work, you can see what we mean when we say our boats are handmade. These ladies are hands-on and spend a great deal of time crafting every cushion. Inside, another major sub-assembly in the manufacturing process is the console department. Each console is designed to be ergonomically correct and provide you with confidence behind the wheel. We followed step-by-step as the clean glass helms featured on every Sportsman boat come together. This is undoubtedly one of the most intricate parts of the boat and where you'll spend the most time while operating the boat.

Our goal is to ensure the console delivers excellent visibility, functionality, and comfort. At this time, we visited one of the more unique departments here at Sportsman, and that is our metal fabrication shop. During the episode, we covered how we built all the metal parts throughout our boat, from leaning posts to hard-top frames. We also saw some of the more advanced engineering and machinery that goes into bending the strong d-tubing. Our processes allow us to have a single piece of aluminum for the ultimate strength on every top. No boat is complete without having every inch of it scrutinized by our Quality Control Department. From design to the production floor, our boats meet the highest standards set by the ABYC and are backed by an NMMA certification. Our quality tracking ties into our customer service warranty department and continuous improvement programs. We believe in quality by design, and this goes all the way back to the designing and prototyping phase of each model. Heading into season two, we continue to dive deep into the processes and techniques that we use during the boat fabrication, and we'll go inside the biggest and most impressive machine here at Sportsman. We'll have a change of pace as we take our show on the road and visit some of our strategic partners, taking you behind their doors to show you how their products are made. Stay tuned for season two as we continue our journey Behind the Glass.

Thank you for spending some time with us today taking a look at what it takes to build our consoles. This is part of our SportTech® Advanced Fabrication Process. This process is part of our SportTech® Advanced Fabrication Process. This proprietary combination of processes and materials yields the best result each step of the way and has been thoroughly tested for durability, longevity, and finish. All Sportsman Boats features a 100% composite construction with zero wood. Join us in our next episode for another installment of Behind the Glass .