Opinions about Cored Hulls ...

[Bash]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

Here is an article on Cored Hulls that might help

Cored Hull Bottoms

Really sketch.

This guy is the king of fuzzy logic. He wants you to believe that all cored hulls will fail because he's had two Rolex Submariners fail on him.

Yes, there was a problem with the Sea Rays from a certain era. But applying that to all cored hulls is like claiming that every automobile with a gas tank will blow up because that's what happened to a few Ford Pintos.

[noelex 77]

There are plenty of premium European yacht manufacturers producing non cored hulls ( above and below the waterline) in their cruising boats.
Oyster and Rustler just to name a couple

[s/v Jedi]

My boat was built using the SCRIMP technique in 1993, launched in 1994. It is now 2013 so that is 19 years which isn't "lately" nor "the past 10 years".

When people drill holes into the core and it gets wet then they get what they deserve. There is no cure for stupidity. It also isn't that much more work to do it right when a fast curing filler, like the 3M vinylester, is used.

Much depends on the design too; the core should be tapered out to a solid laminate for areas where high loads occur (around keel, prop-strut, rudder etc.) or where many fasteners exist (deck-hull joint for example). I would not be charmed by a hand lay-up cored hull either.

[Cheechako]

Not only Sea Rays, Bayliners etc etc. They virtually all have cored sterns (except Tollycraft) and get saturated from the stern drive penetration. I Liked the article... especially the " want to work in the marine industry? No experience required!"

[albergsailor]

I figured this topic would get a little off course. the question was... Is balsa core above the waterline a bad thing? Im not talking about the decks im talking about the sides. and of course the awnser is is it depends.. of course wood coring below the waterline is a very bad thing. the boat i was looking at was a very thick heavily built boat. Lots of good information. Im assuming there are less solid glass 35-40 boats built than cored. Thanks for all the great info.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

There are plenty of premium European yacht manufacturers producing non cored hulls ( above and below the waterline) in their cruising boats.
Oyster and Rustler just to name a couple

Umm, besides Oyster, exactly who? Rustler make like 3 boats a year (extremely beautiful ones, admittedly). I think fully cored hulls are just about universal, among high end European yacht builders.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by Bash

Really sketch.

Yes, there was a problem with the Sea Rays from a certain era. But applying that to all cored hulls is like claiming that every automobile with a gas tank will blow up because that's what happened to a few Ford Pintos.

I guess I am really screwed!!! I have a cored boat and I used to have a Pinto back in the day.......

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Umm, besides Oyster, exactly who? Rustler make like 3 boats a year (extremely beautiful ones, admittedly). I think fully cored hulls are just about universal, among high end European yacht builders.

If you want number of hulls produced look at manufacturers like Beneteau.
If you want top quality, which only happens with smaller numbers look for manufacturers like Amel ( if you don't want an Oyster or a Rustler )

[Saltyhog]

All Cabo Rico's are cored all the way down to the turn of the keel. I have not heard of a single problem, and I looked / asked. I think how well it's built has a lot to do with it.

[nhschneider]

Our 29-year old Contest is completely end-grain balsa cored, right down to where the keel bolts on. When I was adding a second depth transducer recently, we found the core (at least in that area) to be dry but I have no reason to suspect that there is water entering the core anywhere else. By the way, our boat received a Lloyd's certification when it was built.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, my hull is solid fiberglass and I'll bet you a dollar there's no moisture inside. LOL I can tell even without a moisture meter.

IMHO cored is fine on a racing boat.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Well, my hull is solid fiberglass and I'll bet you a dollar there's no moisture inside. LOL I can tell even without a moisture meter.

IMHO cored is fine on a racing boat.

Is that something like: And my daddy's better than your daddy? I seem to remember that line floating around the playground many, many, many years ago.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

Our 29-year old Contest is completely end-grain balsa cored, right down to where the keel bolts on. When I was adding a second depth transducer recently, we found the core (at least in that area) to be dry but I have no reason to suspect that there is water entering the core anywhere else. By the way, our boat received a Lloyd's certification when it was built.

Fair winds and calm seas.

Contest is a Dutch built boat, of-course it's good! Isn't it built with the SCRIMP method? I saw some pics and think it is, which means it is good and will outperform a solid glass hull on every front except price.

[sailorboy1]

I bet that most problems with cored hulls have NOTHING really to do with the hull construction at all. It has to do with 2 things: 1-quality of fittings installed on the hull (valves, ports etc), 2-owner maintenance of those fittings!

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Well, my hull is solid fiberglass and I'll bet you a dollar there's no moisture inside. LOL I can tell even without a moisture meter.

I'll take that bet. Polyester resin is hygroscopic with a saturation point somewhere between 2-3%. If your boat has been in the water for more than a few years you most certainly have water in the resin.