The perfect Passagemaker? II (building material)

I don't wish to digress, and sorry for the correction, but there were no ally ships in the Falklands war.
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/new-foam-core-material-32897-2.html#post367636

 

There was no digression, we are talking boatbuilding materials. The deeper, the better.

The "Sheffield" myth, being a Al ship seems to live long, as myths do.

 

Not the hulls but the superstructures. From memory Ardent and Antelope were both alloy superstructures, reports of the alloy burning were repeated several times and I thought it was the case for a long time. Still a lot of people think that those superstructures ignited in the fires.

And yes the Sheffield was all steel superstructure.

 

Quiet right, a distinction needs to be made beeen those with ally SS's.

Of the 9 ships sunk in the Falklands war only 3 had ally SS's. Those 3 had steel hulls, as you rightly point out. However, the official reports stated that the damaged inflicted suggested that the vessels would have sunk regardless of the SS's material. In no cases of those 3 vessel, did the ally burn, again, another myth.

EuroCode 9 part 1.2, i think, has been developed especially for the design of ally structures to accommodate fire damage.

 

Steel seems to be the winner here.

Strange, the best selling craft of this size, which one could call Passagemakers with some goodwill, are GRP boats, made in China.

 

There is a public (misconception) that steel rusts and fibreglass is maintenance free.

Simple statement, and is in fact based on some truths. The reality of course is often different to the preconcieved ideas....much like many other things in life in the real world.

I voted steel...we are talking of a specific vessel designed to do a specific voyage (s). The family is more important than the vessel, the safety of the family would be the primary concern, the vessel of course needs to reflect this concern, and steel is the material that can cost effectively provide good strength, collision protection and other outside (attack) forces fairly easily.

Using correct techiniques and modern materials, protective paints are certainly very good at doing their jobs. My choice for paint systems is Altex Devoe and their range of epoxy coatings. I have used them for decades and never had any failures...and also never not used them incorrectly....so am exceptionally happy with their service. I would suspect that almost any reputable paint manufacturer today could do the same,, but am reluctant to change brands after so many good results on both steel and alloy vessels.

Steel offers the family man a very real conception of security.

This vessel is going to be expensive, so is limited market to those that can afford them, they usually have also valued families, and a great desire to remain intact.

 

I also think that as this is likely to be a new custom build - I know this wasn't explicitly set out in the question, but would, to me at least seem to be implied - then material's for a one-off custom build are likely to be somewhat than for a 2nd hand purchase.
Ask people which they'd choose when buying a 10 or 20 year old vessel and the results migh be somewhat different....

 

All vessels steel and aluminum especially have to built to so maintenance is possible. Many vessels just simply are not designed to provide appropriate access to hull and tanks, and they will fail because there is no way to maintain them.

 

"Ask people which they'd choose when buying a 10 or 20 year old vessel and the results migh be somewhat different...."

....very true mate, very true......but we are talking about new build...

 

Are you asking which material I would rather hit an ice berg with? It would have to be steel and without rivets! Give me the highest and thickest bow that floats, with lots of HP. and sail...and a crew, thanks!

 

Please be so polite to read the threads (in this case there are three related) before you post your (valuable) input.

Sails and crew are not part of the game here!

Regards
Richard

 

If your buying new, realize that you will have to maintain it. Not all boats are built to be maintenance friendly and when they are not, people don't maintain certain parts. Those are the parts that fail and make boat old.

Ease of maintenance is one of the reasons I am building my boat. I don't like most boats designs from a functional point of view.

 

At this scale and for this kind of service, I'd consider it a toss-up between steel and aluminum. Either material, if used in a well engineered and well built hull, can give many decades of hard service without trouble.

Personally, I have a slight preference for aluminum- then again, I prefer boats that are on the light and fast side of their class. And, given the choice, I'd rather be puttering around the engine room fiddling with the electrics than climbing over scaffolding around the hull to de-rust and re-paint it periodically.

 

I would vote for steel or aluminium hull plus alumunium or FRP superstructure. This is if one day I build passagemaker for myself... for real voyage

 

Let me build it Albert. By then I have eliminated the flaws........