Solid Fiberglass Monohulls, a list

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yep, I missed the bit about the cored deck. I figured he was worrying over a cored hull boat.

But the Niagara 31 has a solid fiberglass hull. The Niagara 35's hull is cored. I researched it thoroughly because there is a Niagara 31 for sale in North Carolina that I almost bought.

Thanks, good to know for the future reference.

[maj75]

So, trying to keep score,

CSY 44 no deck core
IP has deck core but it isn't wood or foam
Islander 34, possibly 33 & 32 no core


Did old Hinckleys have cored decks?

[oldragbaggers]

Bristols and Cape Dorys both have cored (balsa) decks but solid hulls.

West coast built Pearson Tritons had solid decks I understand. The East coast versions did not.

[Yukon Cornelius]

Hinckley Bermuda 40's from 1959 to 1968 had a solid glass deck.

[maj75]

Thanks!

[thomm225]

The English built Contessa 32:

Construction
The Contessa 32 is robustly constructed and through the years has proven to be durable. The hull and deck of the UK boats are built from solid GRP, while the Canadian boats use a balsa-cored deck. Both meet Lloyd’s hull specifications.

Though the solid fibreglass deck avoids rot and reduces delamination risk, there is a noticeable flex in the deck without the stiffness provided by the balsa coring. The mast is keel-stepped so there are no problems with sagging.

The Contessa 32 Sailboat : Bluewaterboats.org

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

Bristols and Cape Dorys both have cored (balsa) decks but solid hulls.

West coast built Pearson Tritons had solid decks I understand. The East coast versions did not.

Yes, but the early Bristol 27's did had solid fiberglass decks and hulls. Mine is a 1974 and has something like 1 1/2" thick balsa decks. I didn't measure it but it is extremely thick in places.

It's a wonder that a 40 year old boat with balsa decks has no soft spots. The cockpit sole on mine is starting to go, but I may get another year or two out of it.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Don't you get a lot of condensation problems with non cored decks?

You would think, but maybe like automobiles the headliner being insulated prevents that? In the right conditions with no insulation, I bet it would rain inside your boat

[olegmenshov]

any opinions about Moody's (early 1980-x) :-)?

[Neptune's Gear]

It really beats me why some, especially it seems Americans, are so anti GRP cored construction. Yes, some cores can and have caused issues, especially early on when this was new tech. Cores make the boat stronger and lighter. As long as the core material is non absorbent, and through hulls are correctly fitted, cored hulls can be trouble free.
Cored decks also need through deck fittings correctly installed, and as long as this is done, they are insulated by (most) core materials, and robust.
Every method of construction has it's issues. Yes, cores can delaminate (usually bad maintenance, or race boats highly stressed). Solid GRP is heavy, therefore slow - and normally no stronger than the same thickness core layup, but it does have more penetration resistance (like to a rock or sharp object)
Timber has it's own issues
Steel and Alloy as well

My boat is cored. Built in 1988, Coremat hull, divinicell decks. Still in great order, no delam, despite lots of offshore miles - and being sailed in Cook Strait (in New Zealand, below 40 S) for years. Oh, and we survived hitting one of those big logs off Borneo, while doing 7 knots. No damage to the hull but scratch marks, and a 15cm vertical crack glass covering the keel leading edge. Nothing structural at all....

I have owned a solid GRP boat, a Raven 26. Wouldn't go back.. But each to their own I guess

[Thin Line]

CSY 37 can be added to that list, boat is solid as a rock.. I installed a light once and drilled through the cabin top, all the way through.. No biggie, no core, no problem. Every cored deck boat I ever had suffered from soft spots and mush, solid construction is at the top of the list when it comes to reasons I bought the CSY.

[zboss]

You have not considered stringers. Our Cabo rico has solid fiberglass below the waterline. There are no wood stringers to rot.

Our deck is cored balsa but only for insulation. Tiki trek is 27 years old and there is no water in the core. This is because anywhere there is a fitting, they removed the coring and simply glasses the two pieces together. There is no way for water to penetrate from that fitting into the balsa.




Sent from somewhere other than where I want to be!

[Jon Neely]

Our Hans Christian 33 has solid decks. It seems about 50% do, you can tell the ones with solid decks because they have no wood plugs in the teak decks (screwed from below)

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Most all the boats on this list are solid fiberglass I believe:

Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List

then a few others that I have been looking at are:

Cal 31
Niagara 31
Ericson 35
Cape Dory (all)
Bristol (all)
Wauquiez Centurian 32
Wauquiez Gladiator 33

Im skeptical about many of those boats having solid glass decks, i know for a fact that the Ericson 35 has cored decks as i have re cored one. A lot of older boats had plywood cored decks, I have seen both balsa and plywood in Rangers, Islander 30s had plywood. Very few boats, even from the 1960s had solid glass decks.

Steve

[jtsailjt]

Hinckley B-40's have already been mentioned, but both Hinckley Pilot 35's and I believe Hinckley 41's were also solid glass. My favorite of the 3 would be a 41 for both its looks and sailing ability, and if you can find one, they often can be had for under $100K, but unfortunately there are currently none listed on Yachtworld. Great boats though!