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#11
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
Chuck Gould wrote:
On Nov 4, 4:30?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 3, 4:29?pm, HK wrote: Just read that Albemarle was bought out by Brunswick. Another famous line goes in the crapper. Cabo was sold last year. Sad to see the independents disappearing, since they build the best boats. Where have you been, Harry? Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper tier trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats. I'm sure they were better boats when the companies that built them were independent. The newest model Albemarle, for example, is wider and with less deadrise than the model it will be replacing. That's corporate conglomerate think for you...take a line of fishing boats and turn them into something less. Why would every boat in succession always have to be narrower and with a deeper V than previous models? Perhaps the new model is intended for slightly different conditions. Slightly different conditions? Like what, flats fishing? Dockside condos? There has been discussion for some time on the more serious "fishing" boards about the downturn in quality in Cabos by those who know them well, and the same is beginning to be said about Albemarles. These comments come from experienced owners who actually know something about these boats and others of their style. Guys who when they see a term like "composite construction" used to describe a hull tend to say, "composite what?" |
#12
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
On Nov 4, 8:40?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 4, 4:30?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 3, 4:29?pm, HK wrote: Just read that Albemarle was bought out by Brunswick. Another famous line goes in the crapper. Cabo was sold last year. Sad to see the independents disappearing, since they build the best boats. Where have you been, Harry? Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper tier trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats. I'm sure they were better boats when the companies that built them were independent. The newest model Albemarle, for example, is wider and with less deadrise than the model it will be replacing. That's corporate conglomerate think for you...take a line of fishing boats and turn them into something less. Why would every boat in succession always have to be narrower and with a deeper V than previous models? Perhaps the new model is intended for slightly different conditions. Slightly different conditions? Like what, flats fishing? Dockside condos? There has been discussion for some time on the more serious "fishing" boards about the downturn in quality in Cabos by those who know them well, and the same is beginning to be said about Albemarles. These comments come from experienced owners who actually know something about these boats and others of their style. Guys who when they see a term like "composite construction" used to describe a hull tend to say, "composite what?"- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - You keep expressing a concern regarding the term "composite." When I visit some of the local factories, the types and varieties of materials used by everybody is amazing in its diversity. Gone are the days when most boats were built simply from mulitple layers of glass strand cloth and resin. Space age materials such as Kevlar, and a wide variety of coring materials (going well beyond the traditional and problematic balsas and foams) are strategically included in the assembly of materials in the "dry" layup before the vaccuum-assisted infusion of resin. Many of these specialized synthetic materials are produced specficially for inclusion in a fibergalss hull. There was a time when differentiating between "hand rolled" and chopper gun FRP was sufficiently informative, but in an era of rapidly changing (and we hope "advancing") technology the general term "composite" is as useful as "hand laid" used to be. How many of these savvy fishermen would routinely demand to know "hand laid with what? How many layers at the keel, at the chine? What is the rove to resin ratio in the transom?" etc? As you like to view the boating world from the perspective of a fisherman, here's a link to an item that appeared in Sal****er Sportsman. It fills in many of the gaps for folks uneasy about the "new fangled" terms. :-) http://www.sal****ersportsman.com/ar...sp?ID=21012214 |
#13
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
Chuck Gould wrote:
On Nov 4, 8:40?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 4, 4:30?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 3, 4:29?pm, HK wrote: Just read that Albemarle was bought out by Brunswick. Another famous line goes in the crapper. Cabo was sold last year. Sad to see the independents disappearing, since they build the best boats. Where have you been, Harry? Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper tier trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats. I'm sure they were better boats when the companies that built them were independent. The newest model Albemarle, for example, is wider and with less deadrise than the model it will be replacing. That's corporate conglomerate think for you...take a line of fishing boats and turn them into something less. Why would every boat in succession always have to be narrower and with a deeper V than previous models? Perhaps the new model is intended for slightly different conditions. Slightly different conditions? Like what, flats fishing? Dockside condos? There has been discussion for some time on the more serious "fishing" boards about the downturn in quality in Cabos by those who know them well, and the same is beginning to be said about Albemarles. These comments come from experienced owners who actually know something about these boats and others of their style. Guys who when they see a term like "composite construction" used to describe a hull tend to say, "composite what?"- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - You keep expressing a concern regarding the term "composite." Yes, well, the question wasn't about "composite," but composite *what*? I asked you that several times, and you never provided an answer. I can appreciate the use of foamboard as the filling of a fiberglass sandwich in the transom, but not in the hullsides or bottom. The only materials I think suitable for the fiberglass "hull" are the various cloths and resins, not foam or foam boards or fillers. |
#14
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
"HK" wrote in message
news I saw a beautiful old Gretsch f-hole electric hanging in the window of a music store today. Irrelevant to this subject. Yes, I've often noted how important relevancy is in rec.boats. I was at the supermarket yesterday and I saw some milk for sale. |
#15
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
On Nov 4, 9:10?am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 4, 8:40?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 4, 4:30?am, HK wrote: Chuck Gould wrote: On Nov 3, 4:29?pm, HK wrote: Just read that Albemarle was bought out by Brunswick. Another famous line goes in the crapper. Cabo was sold last year. Sad to see the independents disappearing, since they build the best boats. Where have you been, Harry? Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper tier trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats. I'm sure they were better boats when the companies that built them were independent. The newest model Albemarle, for example, is wider and with less deadrise than the model it will be replacing. That's corporate conglomerate think for you...take a line of fishing boats and turn them into something less. Why would every boat in succession always have to be narrower and with a deeper V than previous models? Perhaps the new model is intended for slightly different conditions. Slightly different conditions? Like what, flats fishing? Dockside condos? There has been discussion for some time on the more serious "fishing" boards about the downturn in quality in Cabos by those who know them well, and the same is beginning to be said about Albemarles. These comments come from experienced owners who actually know something about these boats and others of their style. Guys who when they see a term like "composite construction" used to describe a hull tend to say, "composite what?"- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - You keep expressing a concern regarding the term "composite." Yes, well, the question wasn't about "composite," but composite *what*? I asked you that several times, and you never provided an answer. I can appreciate the use of foamboard as the filling of a fiberglass sandwich in the transom, but not in the hullsides or bottom. The only materials I think suitable for the fiberglass "hull" are the various cloths and resins, not foam or foam boards or fillers.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - "Foam" is a poor choice below the waterline, but few of the specialized cellular structures I see included in dry layups can be properly characterized as a foam. With trade names like Corecell, Divinycell, and others, these materials are normally introduced in a flexible dry sheet, speicifically engineered to allow the most efficient and uniform distribution and penetrataion of resin during the vacuum infusion process There are channels of varying dimensions cut through the material to allow the resin to flow. As a general class, they do not absorb water. A "foam" core never really became in integral part of the laminate to the same degree that the modern "composite" materials do. Technology often advances faster than the human willingness to accept new ideas. Don't be surprised if the 1980's idea that "nothing but rove and resin can ever be used below the waterline" eventually begins to be supplanted by materials that have proven suitable for the purpose. At one time back in the 60's or early 70's a local boat builder (Fairliner) produced a series of boats that had fiberglass gunwales but were plywood or planked from the chines to the keel. The marketing pitch of the day was that they had "no fiberglass below the waterline!" They sold pretty well to aging boaters who weren't entirely ready to trust that experimental new material of the day, fiberglass. :-) If it were just about building a boat as cheaply as possible, some of the techniques used to produce the lower end FRP hulls in the past were quite likely cheaper than vaccuum infused composite construction. |
#16
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
Chuck Gould wrote:
Harry Krause wrote: You keep expressing a concern regarding the term "composite." Yes, well, the question wasn't about "composite," but composite *what*? I asked you that several times, and you never provided an answer. I can appreciate the use of foamboard as the filling of a fiberglass sandwich in the transom, but not in the hullsides or bottom. The only materials I think suitable for the fiberglass "hull" are the various cloths and resins, not foam or foam boards or fillers.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - "Foam" is a poor choice below the waterline, but few of the specialized cellular structures I see included in dry layups can be properly characterized as a foam. With trade names like Corecell, Divinycell, and others, these materials are normally introduced in a flexible dry sheet, speicifically engineered to allow the most efficient and uniform distribution and penetrataion of resin during the vacuum infusion process There are channels of varying dimensions cut through the material to allow the resin to flow. As a general class, they do not absorb water. A "foam" core never really became in integral part of the laminate to the same degree that the modern "composite" materials do. Yes, Chuck, I know about these materials and how they are used. I've seen them used in boat construction. That's not the point. They're foam, albeit in "foamboard" form and I wouldn't buy a boat in which they were used in the hull, aside from the transom and perhaps way above the waterline. They're fine for decks, and for "furniture" in the cabin, though. There's no doubt foamboard makes for a lighter boat. |
#17
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:42:13 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote: Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper tier trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats. Sometimes people make the mistake of looking at the cheapest entry level product a corporation builds and then presuming that no matter what point they buy into the product line or what trademark they get the quality will be no better than the least expensive, entry level "leader" item the corporation builds. I think that there's always a concern when a large corporation buys into a smaller company that quality will suffer. The business rationale for the merger is almost always cost reduction. If those cost saves are not realized in an intelligent way, and if the corporate culture of the smaller firm is seriously disrupted, then there is no guarantee that high quality will continue. On the other hand if the new corporate parent invests in better production methods that are also more efficient, that could turn out to improve overall quality. You just have to wait and see. |
#18
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:10:43 -0500, HK wrote:
The only materials I think suitable for the fiberglass "hull" are the various cloths and resins, not foam or foam boards or fillers. From the very beginning fiberglass boat builders have been using core material in strategic places to add thickness and stiffness without adding weight. Unsupported fiberglass by itself is not a particularly good structural material. Wood was probably the first core material and is still very popular. The trick is to properly protect it from moisture and rot. If you take a look at well built offshore boats like Bertram, Hatteras and Grand Banks you will find a lot of structural wood. The secret is to use high quality material and protect it well. Fiberglass combined with any type of core material is a composite. |
#19
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:10:43 -0500, HK wrote: The only materials I think suitable for the fiberglass "hull" are the various cloths and resins, not foam or foam boards or fillers. From the very beginning fiberglass boat builders have been using core material in strategic places to add thickness and stiffness without adding weight. Unsupported fiberglass by itself is not a particularly good structural material. Wood was probably the first core material and is still very popular. The trick is to properly protect it from moisture and rot. If you take a look at well built offshore boats like Bertram, Hatteras and Grand Banks you will find a lot of structural wood. The secret is to use high quality material and protect it well. Fiberglass combined with any type of core material is a composite. Yeah, Hatteras is well-known for using a lot of "structural wood" in its hullsides and bottoms, right, Wayne? Jeez. Properly protected wood is just fine in stringers, bulkheads, transoms, et cetera. But that wasn't what was being discussed. Hulls were. Does that high transom, dead transmission RV of yours have wood in its hullsides or bottom? Well, hopefully if it does, it isn't balsa. |
#20
posted to rec.boats
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Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:12:19 -0500, HK wrote:
Properly protected wood is just fine in stringers, bulkheads, transoms, et cetera. But that wasn't what was being discussed. Hulls were. THe hull is more than just topsides and bottoms, and the transom is part of the hull also, last time I looked. Encapsulation and strength of core material is the key but I agree that the bottom and hull sides should ideally be uncored. If you do that however, you have to stiffen them up in some other way, and increasing the thickness of the glass laminate is an inefficient way to do it. The traditional way is to add internal structure, typically encapsulated wood, another form of composite construction. |
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