Rich,

I have a 1978 Winner 24 I/O which has fiberglass over foam in the
stringers. Since we hadn't used it in a few years, I had it surveyed
last winter before putting any money into a trailer, etc. The
surveyor found absolutely no issues with the hull, stringers or
transom which he said is very unusual for a 25 year old runabout.
Your mileage may vary of course but it is a fact of life that water
almost always finds its way into wood, or wood core stringers if you
keep the boat long enough. Good engineering and construction, using
the best materials for the job, is still the secret to longevity
however regardless of any one factor over another. My Bertram 33 for
example has a lot of structural wood but it is top quality marine ply
and heavily encapsulated with resin and fiberglass.

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On 18 Nov 2003 21:18:00 GMT, (Rich Stern) wrote:
Many manufacturers are touting "no wood/no rot" construction, and some are
using a composite grid system (fiberglass over some type of foam) to replace
traditional hull stringers and forms. Several bay boats I am interested in use
this type of construction. Of course, from a marketing perspective, it sounds
great. But I'd be interested in some real world opinions. Is such a boat less
prone to flex? Does it result in a more solid boat? Are there other problems
to be aware of? Any pre-purchase inspections that can be accomplished,
assuming it's even possible to see the below-deck structure?

Comments appreciated.


-- Rich Stern
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