Re: [Paddlewise] Spare the gelcoat -- pros & cons of skin-coat boats

From: <jfarrelly5_at_comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 22:12:33 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: <jwd_at_acm.org>
To: <PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 9:44 PM
..........They said that they've ordered their recent boats, whether
> for race use or not, WITHOUT gelcoat (these are fiberglass or kevlar
> composite boats).  Their justification was that gelcoat provides no
> structural benefit to the boat, and going without it saves 5-8 lbs of
> essentially useless weight............
  > So, I got to wondering about the pros and cons of going with a skin-coat
> hull (or hull and deck) configuration.
------------------------------------------------    ------------------------
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   I have been thinking this idea over while building my stitch & glue kit.
I am going to paint the hull.  Why do I want to add epoxy to fill the weave
of the glass if  it doesn't increase the strength?  Is my thinking correct?
Would there be a significant change/increase in drag by leaving it rough?
Is the fill coat only to make it look slick or does it help protect the
glass?

Jim et al
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Received on Fri Jun 06 2003 - 07:43:31 PDT

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