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Genmar hires the GB designer
On 12 Jan 2004 19:20:25 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:
Chuck, do you know when GB went from a wooden to a fiberglass hull?
How were their initial fiberglass hulls, any problems? What I'm trying
to determine is what years would be good ones to consider if buying a
used one, say a 36'er.
Grand Banks switched from wood to fiberglass on 32's, 36's, and 42's in 1973.
I'm trying to remember if they built the 50' "Alaskan" much past the early
70's, but if they did that boat continued in wood.
In general, early FRP hulls were overbuilt.
I suspect that early builders figured the glass needed to be as thick as wood
in order to provide the same strength.
Blisters are relatively uncommon on glass boats of this vintage.
Like any 30-year old boat it's the wood that will probably screw you up, not
the glass.
On a boat of that age the model year means almost nothing. Even the brand name
means very little. A boat that started off as top-of-the line could have to
beat to death by previous owners, so you must look a lot deeper than the
pedigree.
Some of the early FRP 36 GB's are still
very fine boats with several decades of useful life remaining. Others have
gone, or should have gone, to the breaker's yard long ago. Old boats are like
old people.....
you will encounter a wide variety of folks with a common name. :-)
Thanks for the info!
John H
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!
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