Gene Kearns wrote:
On Sun, 28 May 2006 19:59:43 -0700, JR North penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

http://www.bayliner.com/cruisers.asp...ype=1,4,9 ,23


Maybe they noticed that as a flaw and from 2005 to 2006 fixed their
error.

Interesting link, though. I noticed they are now touting Hand-Laid
Fiberglass. I wonder what that *really* means. Hand held chopper gun?
No more electronically controlled gee-whiz whatever it was that the
resident Bayliner-village-idiot used to spout here to prove that
Bayliner was better than any other boat?


The general layup practiced on Bayliners of all sizes is a few layers
of mat under the gelcoat, with the majority of the thickness created by
chopped strand. Also true of Sea Ray,
and a host of other mass-pro boats. The chop is now frequently laid
into the mold with a robot arm (I think there's a good photo or video
of the process on the Sea Ray website) to ensure an even application,
and the mix of strand and resin is constantly monitored by computer
during the layup so you run less risk of developiong dry or
over-saturated pockets in the layup. To additionally guard against
uneven saturation, molds are rotated 20-30 degrees on the longitudinal
axis during the layup.

Within a few years, we are going to see a greater number of boats built
with the vacuum injection process. It is now common for cabin tops,
decks, and other components with more manufacturers beginning to use
vacuum bag molding for entire hulls.