Oil Crisis Affecting 1975 Boat ?

[Swift Drift]

Making a trip next week to examine a 1975 challenger 40. My hope is that this hull likely avoided any potential problems associated with the oil crisis (high price of resin leading to not enough resin used in hull construction). Anyone have any insight or practical methods to establish a legitimate conclusion?

[pressuredrop]

i dont think the problem is so much that they used less resin in the boat but that the resin formulas were changed then to deal with the crisis, blisters are rare on pre 1972 boats... there are always exceptions

[David_Old_Jersey]

That was over 35 years ago..........

.....do you not think that in itself is a fairly good test of her durability?

[Swift Drift]

Originally Posted by pressuredrop

i dont think the problem is so much that they used less resin in the boat but that the resin formulas were changed then to deal with the crisis, blisters are rare on pre 1972 boats... there are always exceptions

Noted. Thanks for correcting me. Question still applies however.

[Swift Drift]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

That was over 35 years ago..........

.....do you not think that in itself is a fairly good test of her durability?

Yes! I do and you bring up a great point! Just trying to cover my bases and over analyze now before I write a check.

[forsailbyowner]

Look for blister repairs and go over the hull with a phenolic hammer to find delamination. Magic is 76 vintage and has had many blister repairs. Look at yachtsurvey.com for expert descriptions of what to look for. Your boat may have a review there.

[zeehag]

i have heard of no problems with challenger yachts quality of hull work. i have known a few folks ith that brand boat-- were awesome strong.
my formosa is 1976--no problem with hull even after a pre-me week long beaching of her on a breakwall in santa barbara.

[Swift Drift]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i have heard of no problems with challenger yachts quality of hull work. i have known a few folks ith that brand boat-- were awesome strong.
my formosa is 1976--no problem with hull even after a pre-me week long beaching of her on a breakwall in santa barbara.

Thanks Zeeeee!!!!! Was hoping that was the case!!

[Cheechako]

I would guess that some builders trying to stay solvent would have put less glass/resin in the boat to save money. Their prices were established before the gas crunch. For instance, old Bayliners were noted to have real thick hulls prior to the crunch and then they got a lot thinner after. No way to know without determining hull thickness I suppose. My Rawson 30 built in '74 was way thinner than I thought it would be from previous information. When installing a through hull, I was amazed to find the hull only about 3/8+ thick within 2 ft of the keel! The boat took me to mexico and back... after all the hull is just a skin to keep the water out! or is it?

[zeehag]

my formosa is 2 inches thick to cap-- challenger has a decent reputation for having built good hulls, and i have heard no war stories regarding blistering from those i know who have owned them. their complaint was the palmer gas engine under the dinette in the 32 ft model.
challenger 42 was on my list of boats to look for for a phase of my searching-- they were just not for sale when i was looking, so garden won!!!!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Swift Drift

Making a trip next week to examine a 1975 challenger 40. My hope is that this hull likely avoided any potential problems associated with the oil crisis (high price of resin leading to not enough resin used in hull construction). Anyone have any insight or practical methods to establish a legitimate conclusion?

The main effect of the oil crisis on boatyards was from the economic effect on customers. Kinda like now.

[rebel heart]

my hull is 1975; never had a blister