Buccaneer 24 Builders Forum

I have bought fiberglass and hardware from Boatbuilder Central in Vero Beach, Florida. They also sell marine plywood and I will probably use them on my next project. Depending on where you are, the shipping could get interesting. Follow this link:

http://www.boatbuildercentral.com/

I have never bought from Homestead Hardwoods in Vickery, Ohio, but their selection is excellent, and they ship all over:

http://www.marine-plywood.us/

If you are near northwest Florida, check out Triton Lumber:

http://www.tritonlumber.com/

In most cases quantity discounts are offered.

 

Fl

Northwest FL is next door. Thanks.

 

If you build it with the wood/epoxy system it will be just fine.
A coat of LIGHT glasscloth will be a protection against scrapes and scuffing, but will not protect from structural damage.

 

Well it will certainly "Look" modern. Whether it "Sails" better is an unknown.
I commend your taking the lead in actually going ahead with those theoretical changes, which have been apothesised by others,--- including myself.
Look forward to seeing the results.

Richard Woods had something to say about vertical stems in small boats---but I can't remember what it was. (Seniors Moment )

 

Well thanks OS at least we agree it will look modern.......as for it sailing any better, yes it is unknown, however all the new designs coming off the drawing boards over the last 10 years surely can't be wrong.......there is a old saying "if it looks right" it usally is

 

I Found It.
http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/
Go to FAQs
Scroll to Vertical Bows.
Covers the subject thoroughly.

 

plywood

I would also add worldpanel.com, they have a couple of locations and are used to shipping "boat" sized shipments. They also have a very informative web site. I have just finished a model float re-design- I will post pics & details soon. It is about 23'6' with a more vertical but not plumb bow. B

 

Got that site OS, also interesting info about daggerboards.......

 

Interesting to read Richard on the VB thing. He is right to point out it is a mater of where one draws the line as to whether one is dealing with a lopped off bow, or an extended waterline, though I suppose these thoughts only occur to those facing blank sheet of paper with their eyes fixed on the past. I think the same is true with the thin front end parts, it is possible to simply have heavier sections lower coming forward, or to have blunter bow to accommodate flair. I think he is dead right about the wet. The bow can be actually seen pumping a wave of water up itself, in certain conditions, though whether a little "egg tooth" would stop that might be worth investigating. On smaller boats the egg tooth can be the eye for trailering.

I went through all the stages of loss when flair and overhang were declared old fashioned, but have since come around. I redrew an older Kurt Hughes 24 footer to accommodate plumb bows, and there were no ill effects, I only wish I had gone further.

The Ram Bows are not to my liking they take all the trends backwards, and look only to be useful where rules or extreme weight reductions are in play. They make all bad habits worse. I had not even thought of the anchor rode dilemna, thanks for that.

Plywood boats do have a couple of wrinkles one does not find with others. One is that aesthetically to deny a plywood boat a VB is to try to tear it away from its birthright. It so needs to be square. That said, in certain hull forms one has to be careful about how the needs of the panels will be expressed in a new bow. One can end up with a version that looks like the old design with a new stem that looks rather as though the bow was only extended to in two dimension. The panels converge on the bow in such a way that the bow has a new profile, but virtually no additional displacement. Hard chines can require a bit more of a redraw.

 

Call me old fashioned, but there is more flotsam and jetsam in the water every year and it is less time and epoxy consuming to sail over rather than into things on the water. F boats with sacrificial foam underbows etc......How about marketing overhangs as extended hull bow sprits to make them the wave of the future? A bow shortened to plumb seems less efficient than going for the extra waterline length if you do like the looks.

 

Crash wise there are options with foam bows and such. In my case I would prefer not to run over something because I have a daggerboard, but I wouldn't want to plow into it either. No good choices. Maybe with the ram bow one could go under it... My bow isn't perfectly plumb, and most of the forefoot is rounded enough to ride up over most anything. Maybe that is the reason some boats use less plumb ama bows since they could be pretty buried, and their forefoot radius is less than on similar main hull bows.

The nice thing about tortured hulls like mine, or the Tornado, is that one has to first cut the material away, to get the overhang, adjusting the bow angle is easily done and really is a mater of making best use of materials

 

Nice bows

Thank you for the pic Thom, now I know about how my floats will look if I build them. They look just fine to me. B

 

Thom - I think you have done a pretty good summary, at the end of the day its horses for courses, the discussions will always go on about the pro's and con's of this boat or that boat including alterations or modifications, it just goe's to show how different we all are and how passionate we are about sailing and our boats.
It looks like you have done a pretty good job on your boat, do you have a liberary pic to show us what it looked like before your mods.

 

I have inflatable lower bows on my list of wacky ideas. For small bumps it has a lot to recommend it. If it ever did the pop goes the weasel routine on a big impact the noise might be traumatic but the impact would still be softer than foam. Your boat does look great and up to date.

 

ThomD.
What is that white boat in the picture. ?
Looks very familiar.
There are pictures of a yellow one like that somewhere in ths forum.