which hull material

[jbehr]

what is the best hull material for a sailboat of around 40 ft for a coastal/ocean going vessel in which it would be traversed through many latitudes

[Raggi_Thor]

Steel

depends

[jbehr]

hello again richard how are you today?
might i ask what it depends on?

[Raggi_Thor]

Ice? ?

Originally Posted by jbehr

hello again richard how are you today?
might i ask what it depends on?

Fine, thanks.

Thats much like "how long is a string?"

You should narrow down your SOR and not confuse yourself and others by chasing deatails you don´t need or understand.

Here would be a good start:

The Design Spiral, or where to start building a boat.

[PAR]

Jbehr, the choice of hull material has a lot to do with several factors, one of which is it's expected sea going environment.

At 40' steel is starting to become a competitive material, compared to 'glass and wood, in regard to price of construction per pound. Smaller craft in steel would tend to be heavier then necessary. 'Glass and wood at getting toward the end of their competitive range, but technique and building method can address this to some degree. This is just the cost per pound angle.

Hull material also has a lot to do with who's building it. What's available locally, owner's preferences and a few other factors.

Richard's "Design Spiral" thread is an informational start, but meaningless without a designer keeping you focused. Download the WestLawn text and have a look at what you'll be addressing, then continue your search for a yacht designer.

[BATAAN]

Absolutely depends on the design. What kind of boat did you have in mind? Remember, long and lean works really well if you have a long way (across the Pacific) to go. But long means fifty feet for high sustained speed and lean means light displacement for good performance. Are you going to maintain it yourself or will you pay pros? Steel is great for a one-off. Being a shipwright I prefer wood myself. A fifty foot 1 1/8" thick hull can be cold-molded much faster than any other method, it's easy to fasten things to it, it's climate-resistant if properly sealed and sheathed, and design-flexible. I once watched two older NZ shipwrights(!) loft and plank a 40 foot ocean racer with eight laminations (all at 45degrees to the keel) and turn the hull over in 8 working days. I am not making this up. They used Weldwood, not epoxy for the lams, but sheathed it with Dynel and epoxy and sealed the inside with epoxy resin thinned with alcohol. I can't think of how to do that in any other material and come out with a fair round hull in about a week that has built in insulation, terrific strength-to-weight ratio etc.

[rugludallur]

Dudley Dix has a good article on material selection, recommend you read through it.

http://www.dixdesign.com/material.htm

[peter radclyffe]

steel

Steel?

[peter radclyffe]

yes, as you know steel will bounce off reefs

Ahh, then,

steel.

[Raggi_Thor]

Or wood
Or alu
Or grp

Originally Posted by Raggi_Thor

Or wood
Or alu
Or grp

Wood and Alu I understand, but whats grp?

glass + resin = problem?