I recently heard a supposed rule-of-thumb for FRP hull scantlings that said 0.01 inch of thickness at the waterline for each 1 ft of LWL, with "10-to-15%" greater thickness at the bottom and 10% thinner at the sheerline. (It supposedly applied to modern low-resin vacuum-bagged hulls vs older high-resin-content hulls.) Has anyone else ever heard of this, and - more importantly - do any naval architects or boat-builders here agree with it as sufficient for open water?
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Scimping on Scantlings
Al, I don't know the answer, probably shouldn't even be wasting ink here. The fRP use to be much thicker, stronger, but heavier too. They found that glass is much stronger than had been originally thought, engineered, and have been making them thinner; I could see the waves sillouetted against the hull of a 36 ft Hunter from teh aft cabin. The stringers and ribs give more strength than the skin, but I am with Ross here; I like a strong hull under me. They make racing hulls very thin nowadays, could those be scantlings for race boats?
Al, I don't know the answer, probably shouldn't even be wasting ink here. The fRP use to be much thicker, stronger, but heavier too. They found that glass is much stronger than had been originally thought, engineered, and have been making them thinner; I could see the waves sillouetted against the hull of a 36 ft Hunter from teh aft cabin. The stringers and ribs give more strength than the skin, but I am with Ross here; I like a strong hull under me. They make racing hulls very thin nowadays, could those be scantlings for race boats?
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