Hull Lay Up

i have some questions on my hull lay up

i have a small company- we make powerboats here and i am looking for a new way to lay up my boats. this is what i do so far. i am open to new ideas and any suggestions....

gelcoat
skin
1.5
1.5
coremat
1.5
balsa
1708


my goal is to make the boat lighter weight
is there any other way to lay up a boat? this is 100 year old technology....

 

Well, that's certainly more sophisticated than the jet ski hulls I've cut up, which were 1/2" of chop.

I used to build kit car bodies, and using 1/8" Parabeam with mat and light cloth on both sides gave me some ridiculously light but extremely rigid parts. Car bodies don't need to be as rugged as boat hulls, though.

I'm curious why you're using both Coremat and balsa.

 

the core mat is new to the process and the balsa is being faded out.... i would just like to have the core in there with no wood at all -

 

Now that makes more sense to me. I've used both, and I much prefer Coremat. If nothing else, it doesn't crush and it doesn't delaminate from the glass if it gets smacked.

 

have you looked into using a layer of Kevlar?,,,we did a 45' power and the guy was worried bout weight and going fast (45' downeaster,2 cats midship) not like its a fast boat to begin with,,,but after problems with his props,,hehe,,,the boat ended up way lighter,,,and about 10 knots faster,,,but all that said,,,just the hull itself cost him MULLA $ hehe

 

Kevlar isn't all that great for boat hulls, it tends to suck up water and cause problems. On high performance boats that don't stay in the water long and when it's engineered into the laminate schedule with other types of fibers, it can help.

Core mat adds some stiffness, but no strength, mat weighs a great deal and is a poor source of strength also. The Laminate should be equal on both sides of the core, this helps to keep it from warping and gives the most strength. Call The Compsites One rep in your area, he will be able to bring in a glass supplier and they will give you a couple options for a laminate schedule the will work for your hull.