Boat Hull laminate schedules and thickness

[Cotemar]

A boats Hull laminate schedules and thickness are a popular point of discussion, so this thread will help all you cruisers to understand the why and how of these important questions.

The first thing that has to be defined is how the yacht will be used?

How does the boatbuilder determine which materials and laminate schemes to use?

What dictates the boat's design, tooling and fabrication methods?

What does it really take to conceive of and produce a composite vessel with particular performance requirements for a particular market segment?

[DeepFrz]

One good read on this subject is Gerr's "Elements of Boat Strength".

[neilpride]

My best piece of advice for future buyers , owners, could be to visit the Factory and see , understand how is yacht is put together at each step of the way, and even before to visit the Factory ask for construction specifications , drawings..... any reluctant answer show something to hide and if you dont understand boat scantlings , construction etc... hire a surveyor for the Factory tour.

Its amazing how many unaware future owners put big sums $$$ without understand what the hell are buying...Cheers..

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by neilpride

Its amazing how many unaware future owners put big sums $$$ without understand what the hell are buying...Cheers..

I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of buyers of new boats are like this, very few people that can afford a new boat of this size have any kind of mechanical background, a few yes, but not most.

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

A boats Hull laminate schedules and thickness are a popular point of discussion, so this thread will help all you cruisers to understand the why and how of these important questions.

The first thing that has to be defined is how the yacht will be used?

How does the boatbuilder determine which materials and laminate schemes to use?

What dictates the boat's design, tooling and fabrication methods?

What does it really take to conceive of and produce a composite vessel with particular performance requirements for a particular market segment?

I think we all can agree that light and strong is the way to go, but for the mass production builders this point is not feasible without rising the final product Price, in other words , some brands are proud to offer a hig tech light and strong product and still doing bussines because customers are willing to pay the Price, others are marketing the same phrase but hiding the fact that in reality its light and not so strong, and sometimes even dangerous...


How does the boatbuilder determine which materials and laminate schemes to use? ..............

Income, money, numbers, profit....for the vast majority...others they are stick to its good reputation and follow it.


What does it really take to conceive of and produce a composite vessel with particular performance requirements for a particular market segment?


I think experience and a good designer. Early VOR`S Volvo Ocean Race are plaged with problems and only the Southern Ocean probe that ...
Now they are much better, faster, lighter and strong... and expensive..

[Cadence]

I guess it depends on what you want. Cocktails and glitz at the dock or ? I guess there are both, probably out of my price point. I'd skip the glitz.