Foam thickness

Hi
I have plans to build a sailboat 53´what thickness of foam should I use in the hull? I would be using divnicell/ariex or similar product and polyester/vinylester resin. How many layers of glass is required? Is there a length to layer ratio that can be used for all crusing vessels. Any good building book tip (preferable in swedish).

Thanks!

[terhohalme]

Principles of Yacht Design is made by swedish Larsson & Eliasson unfortunately in english...

There is all you need.

Terho

[ErikG]

But just to make sue that you understand. There are no simple answers to your question.
The foam thickness and the thickness of the reinforcement and what kind of reinforcment and what resin you choose to use, will all affect each other.

If you don't need a very light boat and don't mind the extra weight you could have a look at Dave Gerrs book "The elements of boat strength" or the scantlings published by Tom MacNaughton
Both of these scantling rules collections makes it possible to build a safe boat but it won't be as light and therfore as efficient as it could. And as weight equals money in boatbuilding, I'd personally go the lightweight route.

This requires the input of a knowledgeble designer and/or engineer.

Since someone will draw/design your boat anyway, you should be able to get all these kinds of information from the designer.

If you have any further questions or want to ask them in swedish I might be able to help you out.

Lycka till (Good luck in swedish)

ErikG

[turnershells]

I was pretty impressed by the ATC Core-cell design manual. There are a number of case studies of actual boats, and overall, I think, pretty informative. I ordered my copy online. Not sure if it cost anything, but an excellent place to start.

Matt Turner
Turner Racing Shells Ltd.