what is the best building material sor sailing boat?

[ALIZE]

hallo everybody? what i should to look (what kind o hull building) material in my 33-40 foot sailing boat(liveaboard) ??? is that steal,aluminium,fiberglas,wood,ferrocement?
thanx for advice.

[Stumble]

In that size range, fiberglass, maybe wood.

But there is no best, there are trade offs with all materials, and it just depends on what you are planning on doing.

[micah719]

There is no best, just various compromises. Titanium or Monel would be getting close to ideal, if one has the moulah to afford it. Whatever compromises you are prepared to make will decide which is the best material for you.

Are you looking at buying....new or used?

Or building...by a yard to order, or by yourself?

A stock design, or modified stock, or one-off?

To keep permanently, or to sell at some point?

For local or coastal sailing, or global mobility, or a combination?

Just the one of you, or a couple or family or the option of crew?

More marinas and docks, or preferably anchoring out?

No frills, or every mod-con?

[Target9000]

"what is the best building material sor sailing boat?"

Money

[ALIZE]

ok im looking for a boat to cruise and liveaboard mostly from England to med alround... spain,italy...also grece, croatia... also to go around England ireland and scotland... i will be permament with my partner... but will need like 5 berth one to be able to take sometimes some friends on board preferably anchoring out. and im looking for second hand one 33-40ft ...

[micah719]

The next questions then would be....

Budget? Not just purchase price, but upkeep?

Which is related to: how handy are you (both) with tools, fixing things & making things?

What kind of rig do you have in mind? What do you have experience with, what would suit your personal style and expectations best?

[ALIZE]

loking for a easy nice sailing boat ... most of fings i can fix my self... the budget is about 20.000$ and the most cheap to keep

[ALIZE]

my personal style ...? nice woden classic but im not sure if that is very safe to go everywhere?

[Astrid]

I don't see why not if it is well found and in good shape. Wooden vessels travelled the world long before man-made materials found their way into ship building.

[micah719]

You might like to go to the boat-design forum (sorry, is that a crime I just committed, suggesting another forum?), they have good in-depth arguments from all sides of the spectrum. For a classic wood boat and its merits, you might like the user Bataan's staunch and instructive defence of his wooden Spray. Not to plug Spray or wood or junk rig, but that discussion is good to read. Just a tip....of course, there's more than enough info on CF and the Cruisers Wiki to keep you busy.

[bruce smith]

Alaska yellow cedar and epoxy and Monel, for my money
Ayc is one of few woods that can be used to build everything on a boat, keel to mast.

[barnakiel]

Hi,

Use the search function on the forum. You will get plenty of info on all materials and plenty of opinions from respective owners.

It looks like a boat can be built of any material and the choice of material WILL affect the boat's properties.

So to say ask yourself what you want from your ship and then go for the right material(s).

Cheers,
b.

[ALIZE]

yjank you for all advices

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

Alaska yellow cedar and epoxy and Monel, for my money
Ayc is one of few woods that can be used to build everything on a boat, keel to mast.

+1
Although other woods are used in other areas. Bead and cove is a proven, easy and cost effective method of forming complex hull shapes without the issues of ply or the added complexity of a mold. These boats can actually be fairly light and are pretty strong. Western Red Cedar Bead-and-Cover Strips: 1/4" x 3/4" - Perfect for Boatbuilding.


Another option is the KSS method by Derek Kelsall. for smaller boats you laminate one complete sheet of fiberglass on the floor of your shop equal to the size of your hull. Then you cut out long tapered arrow shaped slots fore and aft and then fold the sheet up and clamp the sides of the arrow slots together and presto there is your hull shape in FG with no mould to make. For larger boats you construct half of each hull and the bond them together. He mostly designs multis and he has all the templates and know how to make it relatively easy for a novice although it's still a major project. There are clips on Youtube. It's a really cool idea.
Catamarans - Kelsall Catamarans - Boat Designs

[Sand crab]

And..... there's a partially completed Brown Searunner Tri on Ebay now with the bids at only a couple of thousand. But it's in Oregon. That's a fair commute for ya.