Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

[frenchy912]

I would like to know what is considered a solid hull construction and what is considered standard? For a 43 foot sail boat. Is a 1/2 inch thick fiberglass hull considered strong? Or is 1/8 fiberglass 3/8 balsawood and 1/8 fiberglass considered strong. What are boats built out of today compared to 25 years ago? I'm shopping for a Blue water boat. I found one that has 1/2 inch of fiberglass. Is that good? And I found a nother boat that is 47 feet and is made of composit?? It is made of mohogoni planks with epoxy. How strong is stron? You get the point. Please help. Thank you

 

[tommays]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses

What builders are you looking at

The goods one are certifed buy the ABS or other international standards


which is why you will see such a price differance



Tommays

 

[frenchy912]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses

well, the first boat that is 1/2 inch thick hull is a Cheoy Lee by bob Perry

and

the other boat that has mohogony planks composit hull is built by Brown and Elder designed by Bob Finch.

But that's not what I want to know. I'm interested in what is considered strong anough for a Blue water boat.

Is 1/16 gel
1/8 fiber glass
3/8 Balsa wood
1/8 fiber glass

is that better. Or

is 1/16 gel
1/2 inch fiber glass

Better

Or is composit better

Mohogony Planks in 3 layers held together with fiberglass or epoxy witha gel coat on the other side.

There are a lot of different construction methods. Which is better than another one?

 

[tommays]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

It is more about how it is put together THAN what is used


Which goes to the long term reputation of the builder and what kind of standards they adhere to

If the boat was not build to any standards it is WAG as to how well it was done

Hunter and Catlina are NOT gonna fall apart ASAP BUT there really NOT well built compared Freedom which is good unless you compare it to Swan or Hinkley


http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/menunew.tpl?fno=21&uid=73295159317

they fight this out over here all the time

Tommays

 

[frenchy912]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

I appreciate the sales pitch on catalinas and hunters or beneteau, or the 1/2 a million dollar boats. But my interest is in finding a good solidly built live aboard/ blue water boat here in the North West. (that I can afford) And I just want a better understanding on what is better when comparing a,b,c and so on. I would think that a hull built out of 1/2 fiberglass, is going to be stronger than 1/4 inch of fiberglass with a little balsa in between. But then again I would probably prefer mohogony over baslsa. I would like someone to give me some feed back that know about boat building. I thank you for your input.

 

[tommays]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

Well NOW here is a [SIZE=-1]Lloyds approved[/SIZE] core from MY J-Boat

Outer layup then [SIZE=-1]End Grain Balsa then TWO more inner layers pretty beefy for 24'

It is so strong that during race crashes it will only damage the impact area rather than spread into a huge crack like a solid glass hull will

Tommays
[/SIZE]

 

[frenchy912]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

Thank you that is a very nice response. But why is it that when you start to do research on blue water boats. Every body says to get a very solid thick hull. Remember I'm not looking for a light race boat here. I'm looking for a good heavy built long lasting indestructable boat. that I can run aground or hit a reef with. Again the selection for my budget is slim here in the North west. And I need a 43 to 50 foot boat. with 3 cabins and two heads. thank you again.

yann

 

[tommays]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

You will get a better answers over at sailboatowners.com

BUT some people only think a FULL keel canoe stern is the way to go and rant about all the new open sterns



It is not in my budget BUT if it was i would look up [SIZE=-1]Ralph Naranjo as he is a world authority on blue water saftey and go from there


i have not spoken to him in a long time as the friend that i meant him through passed away 10 years ago





TOMMAYS
[/SIZE]

 

[frenchy912]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

Thank you I will check into to that. I have found 3 boats that I like and bolieve it or not it's the hull that's probably going to make the decision. Thank you for your time and knowledge.

yann

 

[flashback]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

depends on what you want, the composite hull is very strong until it is penetrated, in which water enters the core and everything goes to s**** in a short period of time.. on the other hand,, a hull that is a half inch thick glass is also strong, and much easier to fix on the fly, so if I'm reading you correctly I would steer you to the solid glass boat ................IMHO

 

[frenchy912]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

Thank you flashback. I have looked at the surveys of the boats I'm looking at. And I have definitely crossed of the 47 footer that is build with mohogony planks. It has leaks everywere. And the deck has soft spots. I'm going to go for now with the Choey Lee that I have found. It is 43 feet long has 3 bedrooms and 2 heads. The Hull is built out of 1/16 gel coat and 1/2 inch fiberglass hull. And the survey has great reviews. But I welcome any feed back from anybody.

frenchy

 

[pgdignan]

Re: Boat Hull construction thicknesses ? Please Help

The Cheoy Lee's have a solid reputation for cruising. As for thickness of hull, besides the coring material, the lay up schedule is just as important. You can have a fairly thick hull that may be fairly weak depending on what was used to actually construct the hull, e.g. a hull constructed from blown in chopped fiberglass as opposed to one that was laid up by hand using woven roving for bulk.