In comparison to fiberglass, a welded aluminum hull will yield a more durable and longer lived boat. Additionaly when customized to customer requirements, it can easily be retrofitted should operating requirements change. It can also be easily and quickly repaired if need should arise.

Aluminum is the first choice of government agencies for boats in the 20 to 65 foot range. Aluminum is used for most small to medium sized commercial fishing boats in the northwestern US, and it is used in most crew boats in the Gulf of Mexico. Aluminum has long been accepted as the premier material for fine yachts, both sail and power, and has been the choice for most America's Cup sailboats since 1974.

Approximately half of all boats built in the U.S. are built of aluminum alloys. Small thin hulled boats, are fastened with rivets, with welding processes being used on thicker sections. Aluminum boats plated with 1/8 inch or thicker material, such as that proposed, are "fastened" using the metal inert gas (MIG) welding process. Aluminum has a higher strength to weight ratio than most other boat building materials. Aluminum has exceptional dent resistance and aluminum boats typically weigh 30% to 40% less than their fiberglass counterparts and 45% to 55% less than their steel counterparts. A reduction in weight provides a number of performance enhancements. For any given sized vessel, lighter weight can yeild greater speed with the same horsepower, reduced fuel consumption, and or a greater payload capacity. Light weight vessels also provide reduced draft for a given payload.

Aluminum has excellent durability. It will withstand impacts that neither steel nor fiberglass can take. Like steel, aluminum has considerable ductility; i.e. the ability to withstand permanent deformation without rupture. It has one third the modulus elasticity of steel, thus it will have more absorbtion of energy in an impact, over a greater distance. Stress levels therefore are considerably less than would be the case in steel impact. Fiberglass, on the other hand, is extremely brittle and is thus subject to cracking and fracture during impact.

Aluminum boats are much easier to repair than fiberglass boats, particularly fiberglass boats with foam liners. Dents can often be pounded out with a hammer, but if necessary, sections of a plate can be cut out with a saw and replaced.

Aluminum doesn't burn. Fiberglass boats contain petroleum based resins which burn energetically. Fire retardant resin makes them harder to "light", but the burning is energetic once started.

Since aluminum boats are not built from molds as fiberglass boats are. Therefore changes in design, modifications in the location of bulkheads, size of cabins, etc. are all accomplished more readily than with fiberglass. The ease with which equipment can be relocated by cutting and welding or drilling and bolting is also advantageous. With the advent of Computer Aided Design, custom hull shapes and arrangements can be provided at prices which are competitive with low volume production runs.

The salt water corrosion resistance of 5000 series Aluminum is excellent. This has been demonstrated by the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in a thirty year test from the mid 1930's to the mid 1960's. At that time a section of an aluminum hull was retired from its test site in Narragansett Bay because so little had happening to it. Problems with aluminum boats can be traced to either the use of improper alloys, galvanic or electrolytic corrosion. These problems are eliminated by proper zinc protection, material selection, proper wiring, bonding and isolation procedures.