Capetanios Oz wrote:

Same resins can be used but as you said before epoxy is best..harder
still to wet out though. Technique is identical, jut much more
thorough.

I think I see... you *could* do it exactly the same, but anybody with a lick of sense goes the extra
yard to get good results.


I looked into prepreg for our dinghy, it would be scandalously expensive and only a few ounces
lighter. For bragging rights, it ain't worth it (in this instance).

Yikes, great if you can get offcuts...for free.
Seriously though, for a dinghy the weight saving is just not worth he
cost, you won't skin it any thinner and the only place the carbon
would be marginally useful would be at towing and rowlocks.

Well, the weight savings can be noticable even in a 9' dink. According to figures, the hull of our dink
will weigh a tad under 11 lbs; 4.8kg. Now, adding seats, hardware, especially the rubrail, will add in
some weight, but it will still be at least 30 lbs lighter than a 'conventional' dinghy... and I have
some tricks up my sleeve to get the thwarts & gun'ls weight down. I expect the whole pkg to come in
around 25 lbs minus the oars & sailing rig. Splashing the dink or getting back aboard will be a very
quick & casual operation, which is the way we want it.


Sure, especially with any type of core. Much better core-skin adhesion with vacuum bagging.

Secret with any core is to prefill the surface to reduce resin use and
improve adhesion.

Do you use a bonding filler? I have used WEST epoxy mostly, and like their bonding filler very much,
IMHO it at least doubles peel strength.


Used kevlar in a couple of HP dinghys a while back.
First had an ally space frame to take the rig loads, 2nd carbon tubes.
They sounded like drums when tensioned up.

Snare drum or kettle?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King