CrazyRussian
10-10-2002, 10:10 PM
Recently I become an owner of old wooden (plywood/epoxy) A-class catamaran – the light racing boat
Boat made of thin plywood covered with epoxy and has a strip of glass below waterline. It’s covered with paint. I sailed it extensively thoughout summer and fall. Inner sides of the hulls(I mean sides under trampoline) got a lot of cracks – compression loads from stays and sailing while flying a hull, my weight while righting a boat from capsize as well as age of the boat – all are contribution.
I’m not intending to use that boat for racing anymore – it’s not comparable to newer, lighter carbon fiber boats, but I want to convert it to very fast, light, wet camper cruiser. Well, and use it to race in Watertribe cruising Challenges www.watertribe.com. (http://www.watertribe.com.)
I don’t have any wooden/fiberglass boat building experience, but I do have a lot of boatbuilding skills in aluminum and PVC inflatable - here is a picture of my previous boat http://www.katamaran.ru/techno/rubber/photo/XWVD_023.JPG
After long lurking in that forum, as well as in many others I come up with a plan
1. Sand off all paint.
2. Cut storage hatches in the middle of the hulls (square ones)and access hatches in the bows for air bags
I have already two round hatches in the hulls next to crossbars for disassembling a boat
3. Soak hulls with penetrating epoxy.
4. Locate every single crack and reinforce it with a strip of a glass
5. Reinforce openings for hatches with a glass
6. Cover inner sides of the hulls with two lays of 2oz S-glass and outer sides of the hulls with one lay of 2 oz S-glass
7. Sand, fix all dents, repaint it with two part polyurethane marine paint
Do I miss something in this plan? Is 2 oz S-glass will be sufficient? I want to keep boat as light as possible and it doesn't have any glass on the sides now.
Do I really need two lays of fabric on the inner sides? Should I use 4 oz S-Glass? How much weight will I add? Hulls are 17 ft long and very skinny.
Any other ideas how to make a boat stronger?
Are where any rules of thumb for how much epoxy I need?
I really appreciate any input and I thank everyone in advance. I need a reassurance before I start buying materials. Hopefully you were able to understand me, English is my second language.
Vladimir
Boat made of thin plywood covered with epoxy and has a strip of glass below waterline. It’s covered with paint. I sailed it extensively thoughout summer and fall. Inner sides of the hulls(I mean sides under trampoline) got a lot of cracks – compression loads from stays and sailing while flying a hull, my weight while righting a boat from capsize as well as age of the boat – all are contribution.
I’m not intending to use that boat for racing anymore – it’s not comparable to newer, lighter carbon fiber boats, but I want to convert it to very fast, light, wet camper cruiser. Well, and use it to race in Watertribe cruising Challenges www.watertribe.com. (http://www.watertribe.com.)
I don’t have any wooden/fiberglass boat building experience, but I do have a lot of boatbuilding skills in aluminum and PVC inflatable - here is a picture of my previous boat http://www.katamaran.ru/techno/rubber/photo/XWVD_023.JPG
After long lurking in that forum, as well as in many others I come up with a plan
1. Sand off all paint.
2. Cut storage hatches in the middle of the hulls (square ones)and access hatches in the bows for air bags
I have already two round hatches in the hulls next to crossbars for disassembling a boat
3. Soak hulls with penetrating epoxy.
4. Locate every single crack and reinforce it with a strip of a glass
5. Reinforce openings for hatches with a glass
6. Cover inner sides of the hulls with two lays of 2oz S-glass and outer sides of the hulls with one lay of 2 oz S-glass
7. Sand, fix all dents, repaint it with two part polyurethane marine paint
Do I miss something in this plan? Is 2 oz S-glass will be sufficient? I want to keep boat as light as possible and it doesn't have any glass on the sides now.
Do I really need two lays of fabric on the inner sides? Should I use 4 oz S-Glass? How much weight will I add? Hulls are 17 ft long and very skinny.
Any other ideas how to make a boat stronger?
Are where any rules of thumb for how much epoxy I need?
I really appreciate any input and I thank everyone in advance. I need a reassurance before I start buying materials. Hopefully you were able to understand me, English is my second language.
Vladimir