Has any one ever?

[Clinton B Chase]

I was sailing tonight in my fiberglass sloop and was loving her in many ways except that she was not wood...my boat lacks the sould of a wooden boat. i wondered if any body had ever taken the lines off a fiberglass hull (directly or from plans) and made the essentially same boat in wood?

Cheers,
Clint

[Paul Pless]

Yes, its been done.

What kind of glass boat you got?

[Thad Van Gilder]

There is a company in Trenton,NJ, Cherubini, that makes a line of glass schooners that made a wood one of the lines of their glass ones.

-Thad

[mmd]

Depends on the shape of the boat and the wood construction method - e.g., an IOR racer would be danged difficult to clinker-plank. If your plastic one is somewhat of a 'classic' form, you should be able to carvel or strip build a reasonable facsimile. Points to watch out for are:

* weight gain - wood will most likely be heavier than the plastic hull. Compensate with lighter interior, re-engineered structure, or possibly ballast reduction (be careful here - the issues are a bit complex)

* weight distribution - the 'glass boat most likely has lighter ends, so your wooden version might be a bit wetter in a seaway.

* reduced interior volume - plank thickness, frame thickness, stringers, etc. will eat up a few inches all-round of interior volume, so watch that your comfy 28" wide berth doesn't become a cramped 24" wide.

[Rick Tyler]

Originally posted by mmd:
* weight gain - wood will most likely be heavier than the plastic hull. Compensate with lighter interior, re-engineered structure, or possibly ballast reduction (be careful here - the issues are a bit complex)

This is the exact opposite of what I would expect. A well-crafted wooden hull should be lighter than a production fiberglass hull. Glass is a lot denser than wood, and has to be laid up thick (or with a core) to avoid excess flexing. I think "low maintenance" and "cheaper to build in a factory" when I think of a glass/polyester boat, but I don't think "light weight." Did I miss something?