17ft clinker layup

Hi,

I’m hoping someone can recommend a simple layup for a 17ft clinker open boat. I’ve attached a pic of the mould for reference.

thanks

 

Those are a hassle to layup due to the strakes.

The easiest way is to use a chopper gun for a skin, skim a light layer of putty into the strakes, then laminate over it with structural fabrics.

The laminate will depend on how light and or strong you want it to be.

The strakes will give even a thin laminate a good deal of stiffness, but it won't take much abuse.

 

Try something like about 6 ounces generally,an extra 2 ounces in the bottom and stem.Add some foam stringers at the turn of the bilge and as a thwart riser.Three or four foam floors too and 3-5 ounces of glass over the foam.If using an outboard is on the cards a good sized plywood pad on the transom with 6 ounces of glass over it might be enough and then you need some decent gunwhales to finish.Just my best guess and it looks as though the boat is not really suited to powerful outboards.

 

It might be an optical illusion, but I can only think a lightweight version of that would be plenty tippy, such is the shape of it.

 

That mold would be a ******* to layup, even with chop!
The only way I might be tempted to undertake that job would be by vacuum infusion, and very carefully at that.
The mold is also in pretty poor shape, and would require lots of hard work to bring it up to usable condition, unless that is a skin coat we’re looking at, which is an old trick for protecting molds during storage.

 

@hardguy007 you have received sound advice above.
Once you have a laminate schedule established for this mould, what is your intention?
Do you just want to build a 'one off' vessel for yourself, or do you want the mould for a commercial enterprise, to create a fleet of 17' fibreglass mock clinker boats?
If the latter, have you done your market research to determine that there is indeed a market for these boats if you were to start producing them?