Which makes have solid vs foam cored hulls?

anrkii

Rank: Lubber

Registered: May 12, 2011

Last visit: Jun 25, 2011

Posts: 35
Posted: May 29, 2011 - 12:12 AM

Just wondering which of the old boats have a solid fiberglass hull construction vs foam cored?
I know hobie and prindle are foam cored,

what about Gcat?
nacra?
sol cat?
and any others you can think of.

Does solid construction hold up better over the years than foam cored hulls?
dennisMe

Rank: Mate

Registered: Mar 04, 2010

Last visit: Jan 14, 2018

Posts: 128
Posted: May 29, 2011 - 02:23 AM

I know Nacra 5.2s prior to 1986 should be solid glass laminate. Mine's from 1985 and solid as a rock. Not sure about other boats produced by Nacra in those years.

Dennis
golfdad75

Rank: Mate

Registered: May 29, 2010

Last visit: Apr 28, 2015

Posts: 454
Posted: May 29, 2011 - 08:42 AM

Yes they hold up better no question.

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Nacra 5.2
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Wolfman

Rank: Chief

Registered: Jun 24, 2009

Last visit: Jun 15, 2023

Posts: 1555
Posted: May 29, 2011 - 09:23 PM

All Nacra's pre 1985 were solid fiberglass, not exactly sure which date they switched (could have been 1984-1986) and when their old stock was depleted. Boats that fall into that category were teh 5.0, 5.2, 5.5, 5.7, 5.8 and 18 squared.

About that time they switched to foam core for several reasons. In it's un-delaminated condition it is lighter and stiffer than pure fiberglass for the same strength. It also provides some extra bouyancy. The difference is that it can delaminate due to water intrusion, freeze/thaw, epoxy breakdown, foam breakdown, UV damage, etc.

Truly I don't think anyone was expecting the boats to last longer than about 15 years given the changes in design and technology. But we keep limping along with 30+ year old boats.

I'm pretty sure they hoped they wouldn't last this long otherwise thier business model wouldn't be sustainable. And obviously the business model was flawed as some of the popular brands are dead i.e. Prindle and SolCat. And most others are suffering, Dart is essentially gone and Nacra looks like it is having problems (at least in North America). Hobie is still around but you can attibute quite a bit of that to thier kayak business as well as them being the Microsoft of Catamarans (nice when everyone calls any catamaran a hobiecat).

The only ones who look like they are making any money right now are the super competative companies geared towards international racing (Marston, AHPC etc) and Hobie who have developed thier own rec market with super tough cheap simple boats (Wave, Getaway) and diversification into Kayaks. No one really appears to be investing time or money in a boat that you can't take your family on or race like a bat out of hell.

Edited by Wolfman on May 29, 2011 - 09:26 PM.

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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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