wooden boats who has 1

Will,

I race an old wooden Mozzie; it was in my price range at the time had been raced only in a fresh water lake (minimal corrosion and hull stresses) and I didn't know any better. <img src=

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I'd always raced timber yachts when I was growing up when the difference between timber and fibreglass was like chalk and cheese. You could make the timber yachts light and strong but the fibreglass yachts were heavy and strong. You could easily fix damage to a timber hull and slap on a primer and undercoat but there seemed to be a lot more messing about with fibreglass. From what I remember, the lightweight fibreglass hulls didn't last as long as timber.

Thanks to modern materials (carbon fibre, boron, pre-preg, foam sandwich consruction etc) the composite hulls have come a long long way in terms of strength to weight ratio. Moulding plugs have also improved to get the best out of the Mozzie and taken the buoyancy to the maximum limit of the rules.

Unless you really like working with timber and stripping and re-painting every couple of seasons composite is the way to go. You can probably guess by now that my next Mozzie will be composite. <img src=

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Regards,

Peter

Having owned a painted boat before they look great until the first scratch. My question, change you spray a timber boat with gelcoat?

I have had mostly timber boats and have painted a lot of them over the years. But going to composite would not be on my list of priorities when getting another one.

A good spray of 2 pack epoxy paint lasted on the hulls of my current Mozzie from (I think) when it was born, At least I have had it for 8 years and had never painted it. See my painting post elsewhere, only the varnished decks where truly stuffed.

When I was 15 I painted my Arrow with marine enamel single part and it lasted for about 5 years in the sun before it cracked.

The first Mozzie I had was an early Blockys Boat (197)built in fibreglass and it weighed in at around 80kg, slow as hell and not that strong.

You're right there. If treated with a bit of respect, a timber boat can, a)be built to the minimum weight, b)be as strong and as stiff as a composite boat, and c)a two part polyurethane paint job done properly could compare with a gelcoat finish year to year. One thing I don't like about composite boats is their ability to be dented, looking at some of friends boats, I would be very disappointed if it were my boat, and not as if they've hit it with anything really hard, just those accidentally contacts with trap hooks or a slip of the knee.

LONG LIVE TIMBER BOATS

So its still worth while building a timber boat, GOOD now just wait for the plans to arrive.

Performance wise how much difference is there between the two materials?

Well I believe its worth it. I will that, and I know its a different class, but the Taipan class was dominated by Noel Grellet on his timber taipan, in last couple of years he has been beaten by a glass boat, and has had to settle for 2nd. But there is absolutly no difference, if the boats had not dropped their worst result from the score card, he would be 1st, he has won something like 10 of the last 14 national and state titles, pretty good if you ask me #003 timber vs #326 composite.

Regards

John,

Bloody good question. I haven't heard of spraying gelcoat over timber and don't know the answer but maybe someone else can help please. <img src=

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Regards,

Peter

wouldnt spraying a timber boat with gelcoat make the boat excessivly heavy compared to painting it? <img src=

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Trevor,

Come to think of it my decks are 2 pack over everdure and still look good after 2 years. It's the single pack painted hulls that are looking worse for wear.

I didn't know that Blockey made fibreglass Mozzies. <img src=

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Regards,

Peter

Just an idea you could combine the two methods by using a fairly thin ply with a outer fiberglass layer for reinforcment which will maintain strength and minimum weight and finish. You could sample test a few different thicknesses of fiberglass reinforced ply against standard thickness ply for weight and strength..
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The Blockey that I had was a fiberglass hull with timber deck. The hulls were really thick and that showed up in the weight.

I have no idea how many he made, but mine had a plate inside the port hull (rear hatch) that showed he was still in Chapel St when it was made. Number 197 probably meant it was made in the early 70's.

I ripped out the Starboard main beam (loose dolphin striker) and it was super easy to fix with resin and chopped mat.

When I finish building these new hulls if they work well I was thinking of building another set and putting glass on the outside to try to get it to 104kgs and seeing how the mossie design compares to the rest of the f16 with the F16 mast and sail.
Just another project Ive got planned for later on down the track