which hull material

Glass Reinforced Plastic and is a typically British or European way of saying fiberglass. FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) is another common acronym, more often seen over here.

 

WOW Paul,

thanks..........................






BTW
Glassfibre Reinforced Plastic is what we use most.

Regards
Richard

 

People here talk about "glassfibre boats", but it's more plastic than fibre in most of them..

 

I guess that's when the formula (glass + resin = problem) applies:idea:

 

FRC is an option . . . (Fiber Reinforced Concrete), particularly in submarines.

 

ferro origami

 

Styrofoam. No need to worry about leaks. Use a lot 'cause it tends to wear down..

-jim lee

 

Yes, yes, ferro origami submarines!

 

any type of typical hull material can be made to work, when you optimize the design around the material properties you end up with very similar costs and performance. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, it just depends on your design objectives. Wood has been used since before recorded history, more maintenance to keep nice looking, but usually less costly to build than other materials. Metal and Fiberglass (or GRP) usually has less maintenance, and there are much more costly light weight materials, though they tend to be more fragile and not usually used on a cruising boat.

So it depends on your design objectives.

 

Where did you come up with a statement like this? Have you any idea of the percentage of 40' GRP cruising hulls in the world, compared to other materials? Apparently not . . . Try over 90% are GPR!

 

In Petros defense, I interpret the above statement to mean the materials not usually used on a cruising boat are the more costly light weight materials, not GRP.

 

Okay, maybe I misunderstood, in which case I apologize. Though in argument, I disagree because most cruising boats are production built, which doesn't use especially costly materials, unless you consider cast aluminum, PVC and cast iron as exotic materials. Yes, some of the materials used in production craft is expensive, but it's percentage of the whole is fairly small, unless you remove the engine and hull from the equation.

 

<mod note: I've removed a couple posts which appear to only serve to attack another member. If something informational can be added to the thread, great. Correcting a post based on facts is fine. But if the only intent is to enter the discussion with a first post aimed at attacking another member, that is inappropriate and against the forum rules.>

 

Of course you've left Post #25 that was nothing but an attack on another poster.

 

Yes, I was trying to be brief, sorry about the confusion. Fiberglass is used on most production boats hulls, it is durable and low maintenance, but not very light. The more costly light weight materials like Kevlar and graphite are not used much on cruising boats AFAIK, no reason to really. These materials are much more costly and fragile and I think not suitable for a cruising boat.

I think for a cruising boat material you have fiberglass, wood, steel, aluminum. What else? Concrete? Not used much anymore I think. You could build a boat hull from almost anything: bronze, bamboo and ceramic tile, but why?

I thought it might be interesting experiment to save all the my plastic bottles I get from consumables at supermarket and see if I can melt down them to use in a boat hull, with some kind of fiber reinforcement (fiberglass, wood fiber, metal bars perhaps?). The whole hull made from waste plastic.

Once perfected I could sell the boats at jacked up prices to the environmentalists so they can relive their guilty feelings for being born. They think buying a boat made from recycled trash (rather than putting in a land fill) will help save the planet. I should be able to sell a lot of them.