building a wooden boat from a fiberglass design
 

It's the snow...gives you time to think...about when it all melts...
I'm asking because I don't know the first damn thing about boat
construction. I've got an older fiberglass boat, an HR28 made by
Hinterhoeller. It's sound and will be getting new standing rigging and
sails this year. I love the lines and the way it handles. Is it possible
to take the lines from this boat and have one made in wood? What kind
of changes in performance, behaviour might you expect? Is it even
possible with the differences in the weight of bldg. materials to build
an exact copy in wood? At my age I'm thinking the next boat I own may be
the last one I own, and there's something really appealing about a wood
boat. This particular boat is a perfect size for my mate and me and it can
handle just about any kind of weather the Great Lakes can throw at it. In
fact one guy sailed his from Quebec to South Africa and back without a
motor. Opinions?

building a wooden boat from a fiberglass design
 

"mr.b" wrote in message
...
It's the snow...gives you time to think...about when it all melts...
I'm asking because I don't know the first damn thing about boat
construction. I've got an older fiberglass boat, an HR28 made by
Hinterhoeller. It's sound and will be getting new standing rigging and
sails this year. I love the lines and the way it handles. Is it possible
to take the lines from this boat and have one made in wood? What kind
of changes in performance, behaviour might you expect? Is it even
possible with the differences in the weight of bldg. materials to build
an exact copy in wood? At my age I'm thinking the next boat I own may be
the last one I own, and there's something really appealing about a wood
boat. This particular boat is a perfect size for my mate and me and it can
handle just about any kind of weather the Great Lakes can throw at it. In
fact one guy sailed his from Quebec to South Africa and back without a
motor. Opinions?

Perfectly possible from a technical point of view, but it will be a _huge_
hit on your bank balance.
Better stick with the boat you have or else find a wooden boat that is
already in existence and ensure that you find a surveyor who knows about
wooden boats to check it before you buy. Bringing back a wooden boat that
has been allowed to deteriorate is also _very_ expensive in terms of
man-hours. Been there, done that on small boats several times, but with my
own labour. Problem is, having done it I am reluctant to part with them so
now have more boats than I can ever use. Passing the problem to my
executors...

building a wooden boat from a fiberglass design
 

The H-28 (if it's the Herreshoff one) was originally designed for wood
construction and those drawings are available. A new wooden boat,
built by someone who knows how (and there are several of them in
Maine) does not absorb much more care than fiberglass adn is much more
rewarding!

Cheers,
Michael

"mr.b" wrote:

It's the snow...gives you time to think...about when it all melts...
I'm asking because I don't know the first damn thing about boat
construction. I've got an older fiberglass boat, an HR28 made by
Hinterhoeller. It's sound and will be getting new standing rigging and
sails this year. I love the lines and the way it handles. Is it possible
to take the lines from this boat and have one made in wood? What kind
of changes in performance, behaviour might you expect? Is it even
possible with the differences in the weight of bldg. materials to build
an exact copy in wood? At my age I'm thinking the next boat I own may be
the last one I own, and there's something really appealing about a wood
boat. This particular boat is a perfect size for my mate and me and it can
handle just about any kind of weather the Great Lakes can throw at it. In
fact one guy sailed his from Quebec to South Africa and back without a
motor. Opinions?
Michael Porter Marine Design
mporter at mp-marine dot com
www.mp-marine.com

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

building a wooden boat from a fiberglass design
 

On 2007-12-17 10:25:16 -0500, "Edgar" said:

"mr.b" wrote in message
...
It's the snow...gives you time to think...about when it all melts...
I'm asking because I don't know the first damn thing about boat
construction. I've got an older fiberglass boat, an HR28 made by
Hinterhoeller. It's sound and will be getting new standing rigging and
sails this year. I love the lines and the way it handles. Is it
possible to take the lines from this boat and have one made in wood?
What kind of changes in performance, behaviour might you expect? Is it
even possible with the differences in the weight of bldg. materials to
build an exact copy in wood? At my age I'm thinking the next boat I
own may be the last one I own, and there's something really appealing
about a wood boat. This particular boat is a perfect size for my mate
and me and it can handle just about any kind of weather the Great Lakes
can throw at it. In fact one guy sailed his from Quebec to South
Africa and back without a motor. Opinions?

Perfectly possible from a technical point of view, but it will be a
_huge_ hit on your bank balance.

And an even more huge hit on your sailing time. This sort of project
takes man-years to complete...

and in the end you'd end up with a boat that requires considerably more
maintenance -- time that you can't spend sailing.

There's a reason few wooden boats are made currently.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

building a wooden boat from a fiberglass design
 

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:04:56 -0500, Michael Porter wrote:

The H-28 (if it's the Herreshoff one) was originally designed for wood
construction and those drawings are available. A new wooden boat, built
by someone who knows how (and there are several of them in Maine) does not
absorb much more care than fiberglass adn is much more rewarding!

No, the boat we sail is an HR28, designed and built by George
Hinterhoeller in Canada. I'm feeling you about the wood though...