"Paul Eric Lantzer" wrote...

I'm planning several years of Circumnavigation. Honestly, I would prefer
af
cruising sailboat or motorsailer with at steel hull, but I do have to take
both my economy and the relatively limited numbers of steel boats at
approx.
35-45 feet into account... and will probably end up buying a glassfiber
boat. One of the boats I'm interested in is a Fisher 37 - but, no matter
how
well it's constructed, it have a glassfiber hull. Despite good sailing and
navigating skills there are also the possibility of a grounding, an
encounter with a whale, a container and other 'debris' out there. That's
why
I'm interesting in Kevlar and its possible use - and limitations.

Several production boats, from very small to very large, have Kevlar in the
lay-up. In the small range, the "glass" versions of Steve Kaulback's
Adirondack Guideboats (www.adirondack-guide-boat.com) have a layer of Kevlar
sandwiched between 2 layers of glass. I don't recall which large boats have
Kevlar in the lay-up, but you can probably find the mfgrs quickly with a web
search.

OTOH, I don't think it's practical for a layman to "reinforce" an
already-built boat by adding layers of Kevlar. It is harder to work with
than glass, and has to be protected from abrasion, so it cannot be used
effectively for the outer layer. Also, it seems impractical to me to add
more layers to an already-built hull...