Bruce writes:

For whatever reason the owner, or perhaps the surveyor, cut cores out
of the hull and had them tested. The cores tested at 90-something
percent of the calculated original strength of the hull material.

I find it highly unlikely they could calculate the original strength
with a 10% inaccuracy. The materials used were not characterized that
well and the variation in the lamination process is much bigger. I
have been told by a senior structural engineering consultant that
the uncertainty in fatigue life for the materials we know best--
structural steels -- is roughly 6%. Composites, even aerospace
qualities, are much, much harder to get good data on.

There was no mention of the boat's history or how much time it had
spent in the water, and in England many boats are hauled out for part
of each year, so the testing was hardly a comprehensive study but, as
the magazine wrote, it did show that fiberglass did not deteriorate
greatly with age.

This is pure nonsense. Fiberglass laminates have limited fatigue life as
do all materials.

This boat has lived a pampered life relative to its scantlings.

/Martin
http://hem.bredband.net/b262106/