New Shed, Dry Rides & Big Plans: What’s Next for CNC Marine

If you’ve been following along on socials or the podcast, you’ll know we’ve finally moved. After years of squeezing boats, desks and people into a little office, CNC Marine now has a proper shed, a new office and a deck with a seriously good view.

This isn’t just a change of address. It’s a big step in how we design, test, film and support DIY builders and pro fabricators all over Australia.

In this post, we’ll walk you through:

• Why we moved into the new shed

• What we want to do with the space (courses, micro boat shows, prototyping + more)

• Pete’s breakdown on what actually makes a boat “dry riding” – and why it’s not one simple thing

Why We Moved: Outgrowing the Little Office

Put simply: we ran out of room.

The old setup worked for a while, but as the kit range grew and more builders jumped on board, we needed:

• More space for people – more designers, more brains on hulls, trailers and details

• More space for boats – we had boats stored at Marsh’s place, spilling into paddocks and annoying the neighbours

• A proper workshop – somewhere we could do more than just stare at CAD all day

The new shed lets us bring boats back under one roof instead of scattered across town, and gives the team a work space that actually matches what we do: design boats for real-world use, not sit in a flashy glass box.

We’re still 100% a design company – we’re not turning into full-time builders – but now we’ve got room to show and test more of what we design.

What the New Shed Lets Us Do

1. Boat Storage… But Actually Using Them More

Having the boats on-site isn’t just about parking them neatly. It means we can:

• Hook up and hit the water more often to test setups

• Rotate demo boats, film content and capture proper walkthroughs

• Keep them clean and ready instead of digging them out from behind someone’s house

You’ll see more real-world footage of CNC hulls on our channels because it’s now easier to get the boats in and out.

2. A Home Base for Courses

We’ve always believed the best workshop is the one in your own shed – but there’s a lot of value in seeing a properly set up space.

The new shed gives us a base we can use for:

• Pure Plate boat building courses a couple of times a year

• One-off workshops on setup, tools and work flow

• Showing how a workshop could be laid out for DIY builders and small fabrication shops

It’s never going to be a grubby, full-time fabrication shed – but it will be set up to teach, test and demo properly.

3. Micro Boat Shows & Community Weekends

Out the front, we’ve got a big car park. Across the road: breweries, cafés and an art gallery. So naturally the idea came up:

“Why don’t we run our own little micro boat shows?”

Think:

• A bunch of CNC boats from different builders lined up for a weekend

• Food trucks and beers in the afternoon

• Builders from around the country bringing their own boats to show off

• People who are thinking about a build getting to walk around, ask questions and see boats in the flesh

We love the idea of an event that’s less “expo hall” and more “shed meet-up” – fewer brochures, more real boats and real conversations.

4. Prototyping, Parts & “Micro Kits”

The extra floor space also opens the door for more tinkering and problem-solving. Some of the ideas on the whiteboard:

• Prototyping new parts and layouts – consoles, modules, small components

• “Micro kits” where thicker or awkward parts are cut, stored and sold from here, so you don’t need to ship full sheets

• Stocking key add-ons like foam, Perspex windows, maybe specific trailer gear so builders can order more as a bundle

We already work closely with cutters and suppliers across Australia, and we’re not trying to replace that. But having some key components on hand could make life easier for certain builds.

If there’s something you wish you could buy as a pre-cut bundle instead of figuring it out from scratch – tell us. If you want it, odds are someone else does too.

5. A Better Base for Filming & Content

We’ve got Josh and the team on the cameras more these days, and the shed is going to double as a filming studio:

• Boats can come in for a couple of weeks for proper filming

• We can set up better lighting and audio, not just quick phone vids at the ramp

• More walkarounds, Q&A videos and design explainers

One example already on the radar: the GM68 “Grazes Marine” recreational build, which is heading off on a huge Cape trip with Jamie Vogler. We’ll have it through the shed to film before it disappears north.

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So… What Actually Makes a Boat “Dry Riding”?

In this episode, Pete also tackled a big question we get all the time:

“I want a dry riding boat – what should I be looking for?”

There isn’t one magic number or shape. Conditions, speed, hull form and even how you load the boat all play a part. But here are some of the big factors.

1. Clean Water Flow Off the Hull

The drier the ride, the cleaner the water is being pushed away from the hull.

• If the hull throws up a big, messy, broken spray, that spray is easier for the wind to grab and throw back at you.

• If the water exits the hull in a cleaner sheet, it’s more likely to stay down and out to the side.

This is where things like chine design and where the water meets the chine really matter.

2. Chines, Height & Where They Start Working

It’s not just about a “sharp bow”. Pete explained that what really matters is how and where the water meets the chine:

• If the chine is interacting with the water very far forward, it can throw water out early – sometimes straight into wind.

• On many CNC Marine designs, the chine is brought higher at the bow, allowing water to run up the entry and only meet the chine further aft.

• That tends to flick the spray out later and lower, giving it more chance to stay away from you rather than blow back in.

You’ll feel the difference most on centre consoles, where there’s nothing between you and the spray.

3. Freeboard & Side Height

A boat can have nice waterlines and still be wet if you’re practically sitting at water level.

Most CNC Marine models are designed with:

• Higher than average sides compared to many mass-produced pressed boats

• Decks above the waterline on the vast majority of hulls

That extra freeboard gives you more margin before any spray or chop finds its way back to you – especially in side winds.

4. Speed, Conditions & Wind Angle

Even the best “dry” hull can get you wet in the wrong conditions.

Things that can turn a dry boat into a wet one:

• Quartering wind blowing spray back in

• Pushing too hard into steep, short chop

• Running a boat in conditions it wasn’t really intended for (e.g. a car topper in open swell)

It’s less about a boat being always dry and more about how often it’s dry in the conditions it was built for.

5. Trade-Offs in Design (You Can’t Have Everything in One Hull)

Every design is a compromise.

A few examples from the podcast:

• Car toppers / river tinnies with flatter, wide front decks feel very stable underfoot and great for calm-water exploring – but that flat front gives spray nowhere to go in rougher, wind-blown chop.

• A slow-speed cruising cat with narrow waterlines can be incredibly dry and smooth – but shrink that into a small, fast aluminium plate boat and you might lose stability and lift.

If we could put every “best” feature into one hull, we’d just have one design in 20 sizes and call it a day. Instead, we’ve got well over 170 designs because fishing styles, locations, towing limits and conditions all differ.

6. Weight Distribution: The Silent Killer

You can start with a well-designed hull and still end up with a wet, cranky boat if the weight is all wrong.

• Too much weight forward? You’re ploughing, throwing more water up the bow and along the sides.

• Too light in the back or overloaded one side? You’re changing how the hull meets the water at speed.

Smaller boats are especially sensitive to weight. That’s why we spend so much time on setup notes, fuel placement, battery position and engine choice – and why it’s always worth asking if you’re unsure.

So Which CNC Marine Boats Are “Dry”?

We talk about specifics in the podcast, but the short answer is:

• Many of our offshore and coastal hulls are designed to be as dry as practical in their intended conditions, with high sides, fine entries and carefully placed chines.

• Some models – like car toppers and purpose-built river boats – are optimised for stability, shallow draft and ease of use, not punching into big swell at 25 knots. Used outside their design intent, they’ll get wetter.

If you tell us how you actually use your boat – where you launch, how many people, what speeds, what your weather “cut off” is – we can point you towards the right hull or tweak a design.

And if we don’t have the perfect match yet, we’re not shy about designing a new one.

Got Ideas for the Shed… or Questions About Dry Rides?

The move into the new shed is just the beginning. We’ve got a tonne of ideas, but we’d love your input:

• What would you like to see us stock or prototype here?

• Keen on micro boat shows or open shed days?

• Want to bring your CNC build to show off or to be filmed?

And if you’re chasing a boat that’s as dry as practical for your conditions, hit us up:

👉 Email Dom and the sales team: sales@cncmarine.com.au
Tell us where you fish, how you run your boat and what you care about most (ride, dryness, stability, weight, tow size, etc.) and we’ll help narrow it down.