Replacing Wood Stringers With Composite

[quickredracer8]

i have a speed boat that i am remaking. it has some really burnt out rotted wood in it. i would like to replace the wood with some kind of composite material. i know some productions companies make their entire oats with not an oz of wood.

are there any materials or tips that i can use?

[Fanie]

Hi quickredracer8, I think it's a good thing parients give their kids names eh !!

If I'm not mistaken the subject has been up quite a few times. Do a search would you ? If you then are still not happy I'm sure we could have a look. It also helps to know how big such a boat is etc.

[quickredracer8]

its a 28 foot power boat
100 inch wide

[Fanie]

Personally I dislike wood in boats also. If it was my boat I would make stringers with a closed cell foam core and glass them in place.

You have to make these stringers as strong or stronger than the original ones. This (in my opinion) is very important. I won't just resin and glass the stringers in place, there is always the danger of the new glass once cured to delaminate from the old glass.

Beside making the old glass as course as possible to create a bond as good as possible I would glass the stringers in such a way that the construction will not allow a delaminate.

This is sometimes difficult to do in an existing boat. If the glassing isn't done correctly and the hull flexes the stringers will come undone and you will be in trouble with a boat that will feel and behave like jelly. The forces on a hull is bigger than what you think, especially when the water is not smooth. Do not underestimate.

I would recommend you see someone skilled in working with this so you can get some experience and help if needed. I've seen too many first timers attemp something like this because it's 'cheap' just to cost too much in the end. Get help and from someone in the know. It is also much more work than you think.

[rotfix]

i'm trying to remember the name of a product i looked at, it's been named if you search.

i've asked around here and other boards and the cost seems to be prohibitive....try compsys, there's a ship shape episode on youtube too.

[Meanz Beanz]

I think you have to take into consideration the type of construction. Wood moves with moisture content so doing something like putting composite frames/stringers in an old carvel or clinker hull might produce some issues when the frame/stringer ceases to move with the skin. If on the other hand you where to treat the whole hull in Everdure (penetrating epoxy) or a similar treatment and epoxy spline the seams then maybe you see a better/different result. Anyway yes it should be entirely doable but you might have to consider the pros and cons given the way the boat was built in the first place. Replacing timber with timber might turn out to be the best option.

Anyway all I am saying is think carefully first

Give more detail or a picture and I'm sure the crew here will have plenty of ideas.

[GG]

Originally Posted by quickredracer8

its a 28 foot power boat
100 inch wide

what kind of powerboat and make G.G.