53 foot concrete yacht

[mainsail1]

Maybe. But we have to remember the chances of this vessel ever going very far on the sea are still slim.

 

[Sybarite]

Is this going to kick off a ferro slagging session again?

Lots of yachts of all sorts of materials have come to grief after hitting something solid.

The only thing new that I have to add, is the observation that in Australia, the price of used yachts has plummeted.

Prices for ferro vessels have stayed much the same, so now there are lots of steel, and some GRP yachts, that are cheaper than ferro.

I did read many years ago that ferro cement boats continue to cure and so the older they get the better they get. As they are not hi tech apparently they are not difficult to repair if needs be.

Also, when you get up to the size of this boat weight is not a significant factor.

 

[pyrojames]

I've met a few big ferro boats cruising, but I was also a fan of the original Helsal, who won the 1973 Sydney Hobart in record time. I think one of the first ferro cement boats. My father was very involved with prestressed and steel reinforced concrete back then and new the designer.

 

[Bobc]

Looks just the job to me.

 

[TQA]

Maybe. But we have to remember the chances of this vessel ever going very far on the sea are still slim.

Maybe the owner will follow in the footsteps of Robert Griffith and his family who circumnavigated on the ferrocement cutter Awahnee III.

It is also worth noting that the record for a sub 35 foot circumnavigation was for many years held by a ferrocement Hartly 32.

 

[mainsail1]

I was not thinking about the competency of the boat. I was thinking about the owner and the chances he has of realising his dreams, based on other such projects. I hope I am wrong.

 

[jac]

I was not thinking about the competency of the boat. I was thinking about the owner and the chances he has of realising his dreams, based on other such projects. I hope I am wrong.

he seems to have made reasonable progress so far, hull repaired and new masts.

 

[NormanB]

I was not thinking about the competency of the boat. I was thinking about the owner and the chances he has of realising his dreams, based on other such projects. I hope I am wrong.

Oh such pessimism, you do not know Shea (neither do I) but he has set about this repair and rebuild with industry and alacrity and has set himself a challenging schedule to get the boat back in the water. My guess is once afloat he will be shaking down and setting off in fairly short order.

 

[mainsail1]

Pessimism or pragmatism, who knows. I am rooting for him just as much as you but the history of many such projects is not on his side. We shall see.

 

[Otter]

Following him for a while on Facebook, he has a work ethic that would shame most of us.

 

[Kukri]

Following him for a while on Facebook, he has a work ethic that would shame most of us.

I have started following him; he knows his stuff and I predict that he will succeed.