Reply With QuoteWhat brand?
While visiting cali last summer I checked out some west coast tunnels. Some of them didn't seem to have any balsa core in the sides of the hull. One company that I checked out showed me a couple of hulls, one being repaired on the bottom.That boat had a hole cut out of the bottom so I was able to see how thick the bottom was. It only had 1/2" balsa under the engine area and that was it! Coring ended in front of the engine!! The other brand I looked at seemed to have a strong bottom but sides seemed like they werent cored The third boat I looked at was really built nice and when you banged on the side with your bare hand you could tell it was thick and strong like a cored hull. Last weekend I went to a boat show on long island here and they had two west coast hulls on display. I love the west coast gell work and interiors which is why I'm looking at west coast tunnels over east coast. These boats didn't seem to have any coring on the sides of their hull either. Most all east coast performance hulls are totaly balsa cored. My question is do you guys on the west coast do something different other than balsa core the sides and deck. I realy like your boats and hope to own one particular brand which I thought was the only one that was built really well out of the brands I looked at but was wondering about the others that didn't seem to be cored. Maybe I'm missing something?
What brand?
Here's a couple reasons. Lake boat vs offshore boat, I can count the number of performance boats on the ocean here on one hand almost any day I'm on the Pacific. There's hundreds every time I go to the lakes.
What brand?
I know Ultra has a Dealer in Long Island and they are know for thier Gel work. Could be one of them.
Andy
I know Lavey Craft does coring and vacuum bagging on thier cat for an additional fee.
Thanks for info fasterdamitt. That makes sense to me. I would prefer to have a balsa cored hull because I do go in the ocean. But I mostly boat in the long island bays which are big and can get very rough also. Charley I didn't say the brands because their is probably a reason why they don't balsa core [like fasterdamitt's answer] and I didn't want to sound like I was bad mouthing any of them cause I'm not. I think they were all real nice boats and if I buy one I will ask them if I could get it built with full balsa core for use in my area. Andy01 no Ultra wasn't the brand, it was two others and they were real nice boats with alot of people looking at them. In ***boat mag alot of builders claim to use coremat. What is coremat,how strong and how thick is it. Is it as strong as balsa core? Or better? Thanks again for info and replies
Keith
Don't let TDO see this thread. He's gonna go nuts over the east siders.
oh the humanity
Thanks for info fasterdamitt. That makes sense to me. I would prefer to have a balsa cored hull because I do go in the ocean. But I mostly boat in the long island bays which are big and can get very rough also. Charley I didn't say the brands because their is probably a reason why they don't balsa core [like fasterdamitt's answer] and I didn't want to sound like I was bad mouthing any of them cause I'm not. I think they were all real nice boats and if I buy one I will ask them if I could get it built with full balsa core for use in my area. Andy01 no Ultra wasn't the brand, it was two others and they were real nice boats with alot of people looking at them. In ***boat mag alot of builders claim to use coremat. What is coremat,how strong and how thick is it. Is it as strong as balsa core? Or better? Thanks again for info and replies
Keith
With all due respect, just tell us the brands. Know one would think you are talking crap because of the way you said it but again this makes me feel a bit childish not telling us.
:hammerhea
What is coremat,how strong and how thick is it. Is it as strong as balsa core? Or better? Thanks again for info and replies
Keith
Remember, the only function of coring material is to separate the outer layers of laminate to increase the cross sectional moment of intertia and hence increase the stiffness of the overall laminate. The thicker the laminate (outer layers further apart), the stiffer it can be, regardless of weight. Core material needs to be strong in compression only, not bending. It's purpose is to prevent buckling of the outer skin as the laminate deflects in bending, and not contribute too much weight to the overall structure. Balsa is very good at this. That's why it's arranged in little squares that are end-cut with the grain inline across the cross section. Honeycomb is even better. Core mat is not even in the same league, but it's cheap and easy to work with, so lots of builders that don't know or care any better use it. You won't find much coremat in aircraft construction.
As someone else mentioned, east vs west = ocean vs lake boat. Big difference!
Dave C Thats OK Im used to being a little beatup by the east coast guys for having more interest in west coast tunnels than east coast [I need room and a cabin] Burley,I didn't mean or want to make any body feel that way. The boats I looked at all seem to have stiff cored bottoms and and looked like excellent craftsmenship. real nice gell work. Just didn't seem to have cored sides. The boats I looked at at the boat show were Nordic and Force Like I said their bottoms were definitely strong and felt like they were cored. The other boats I checked out in Cali were commander and carrera. Carrera was a very well built boat and seemed to be strong all over including the sides. I just like the dull thud you get from a full cored hull when re entering the water. Thanks again
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