composite boats wood/ GRP

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Discussions on teak decks leads me to ask for advice on composite boats. I have been looking seroiusly at the Vindo 32 which has a GRP hull and wood deck and cockpit. A number of people in my sailing club have warned me off saying that this combination is a package of problems. They tell me that the different expansion rates of the teak and GRP leads to bad leaking.
Vindo seem to have a good reputation in Scandinavia so I was surprised to hear the detractions but the science is understandable. Do any of you guys have any knowledge or experience with which to advise me?
 
Composite boats are popular throughout the Baltic, especially in Germany where a lot are still being built. The main difference is that they generally have facilities for keeping boats under cover ashore during the winter in heated sheds. Mostly their boats are immaculate, and this is the secret of keeping a composite. It can be done, and maybe Swedish Lass will come along and tell how, but if the join is allowed to deteriorate in any way then problems can arise.
 
Molly is GRP hull and rest wood. 20 years old and aside from a few cracks (repaired) in large wood sections and the deck seams all now needing re-doing, there seem to have been no issues. Well, there was the top 6 ft of the mast that we had to replace... but presumably the Vindos have ally masts?
 
A acquaintance of mine owned a Vindo 32. I did sail with him early on in his ownership. It was a nice boat, and I was not aware of any leaking, but 2 or 3 years on, I heard that when the boat was being lifted to winter ashore, a sizeable split appeared along the joint between the side-deck and the coachroof. I didn't see the damage, so I can't elaborate further.
Just to add, this was in the early 1990's, so Vindos are a lot older now. The coachroof was cold-moulded mahogany, the deck was teak, AFAIK, laid over a GRP moulding. I don't think that economy of build was a main factor with Vindo. The objective was to produce a boat that looked, both internally and externally, to be a high quality all wood construction.
 
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I think that part of the idea, especially in the early days, was that the cost of setting up a deck/cabin mould was quite a lot. So for short production runs wood made sense, as well as keeping the trad look. Even Cornish Crabbers were built thus. Looking after would be much the same as a wooden boat, without the hull.
A
 
I have a composite Twister with a grp hull and deck moulded by Tylers. She was built in 1967 and apart from the hull/deck, she was built by Uphams, Brixham.

As with many composite Twisters a problem occurred when the sealant between the wooden coachroof/ cockpit and the grp deck failed allowing rainwater to collect inside the woodwork and cause rot. This became apparent in my boat soon after I bought her in 1997, so she had gone 30 years before requiring major repair. The repair involved cutting out the rotten wood and epoxying new timber filling pieces into the cut-out parts. The repair was disguised and strengthened by an approximately 2x1" shaped mahogany moulding fixed into the corner betwen the deck and coachroof/cockpit.

In the 12 years since that repair the interior of the boat has remained dry and there is no sign of any rot developing

Doing the repair was not particularly difficult but it took quite a lot of my spare time [I was working full-time then] and the cost of mahogany, fastenings and epoxy came to a few hundred pounds, but that was a lot less than the prices quoted for a professional yard to do the work, and I think the quality of the work is just as good because I took my time over it and I wasn't doing it for a living or working to a price

If you are attracted to a boat of this type of construction, which has signs of rot in it, you will either have to pay a lot of money for a proper, lasting repair by a yard or be prepared to spend a lot of time doing it yourself.

I will be laying the boat up in Gosport next month so if you are in that area, and want to have a look at what was done, you are welcome.
 
Here we go again.

A well maintained timber anything on a boat looks and feels beautiful.

However, time spent maintaining will reduce time spent sailing.

I don't have any timber on the exterior of the hull or deck, plenty below deck away from salt and sun though.

I do admire those who spend half a lifetime keeping very beautiful timber boats in mint condition, but don't see them out very often.

Avagoodweekend......
 
Perhaps a dinghy experience is not too relevant, but I once had a Fireball with GRP hull and deck/cockpit of mahogany and mahogany-faced ply. It was professionally built and looked beautiful. I kept it ashore and canvas-covered by a Swiss lake. At the time of buying I thought I was getting the best of both worlds.

It wasn't long before the hull-deck joint started to leak - the boat wasn't new and the sealing was hardening and separating with the different coefficients of expansion of the two materials.

I love wood and am prepared to work on maintaining it but have come to the reluctant conclusion that afloat it only belongs below where it is not exposed to UV or water. Times have moved on and we have much better materials that are more robust with less maintenance overheads. However, I didn't learn enough and years later I am the owner of a teak-decked boat and immersed in another set of problems with that.

There is a Vindo in my Italian marina that I have been informed has a similar problem to another poster here - rot in the coachroof and separation at the deck join - presumably from the expansion differences. Then again, it does get very hot in Italy, very different from the Nordic climate where the Vindo comes from.
 
Thanks for the cue John
I have a Vindo 32 built in 79, based in Essex. Any join between materials is a potential point of weakness i have a couple of spots of darkening wood which will be attended to over the winter and there is the rub. I regard boating as a 12 month hobby sailing when there are leaves on the trees, maintaining when there are not.
A glass hull and solid deck work well, she is leak free solid and holds a good finish. The wood is a bit of a fetish and encapsulates my dream of what a boat should look like. Hence I work to keep it right. Frost and damp together are killers. If you have the passion for any boat it does not seem like work.
 
My Chassiron is exactly that : GRP hull, and wooden deck, cabin sides (coamings ?) and cockpit.
She is now thirty years old and still going strong. No, or insignificant leaks. Of course, the junction between the hull and the deck is similar to the traditional one : the top of the hull is sandwiched between two massive pieces of timber (clamp or stringer ?), and the deck lies on traditional beams. The whole superstructure (clamp, beams, cabine sides) are made out of solid timber (some sort of mahagony, maybe sipo). Only the deck is marine ply, covered by teck.
Oh, yes, the leaks!
There never was any leak at the junction between hull and deck, neither at the one between deck and cabin sides. As mentioned above, yes there are small leaks mostly around the portlights, and where the chain-plates go through the deck. this is easily fixed with a touch of Sika.
Patootie spent all her life up to now in the med, under burning sun during the summer, and torrential rains during the winter.
Although I know the Vindo, and happened to look at some of them with envy, I don't know the detail of their construction.

Don't be deterred by the perspective of maintenance, it's rewarding.

And .... yes I know of many, many GRP boats with heavy leaks just there : at the junction between hull and deck, and Sika usually is of no help.
 
I have a Vindö 32, built in 1980, mine since 1982. The model was produced between 1974 and mid 80's, so boats are now 25 to 35 years old.
If the boat you are looking at has had any serious problems with leaks or rot it would most likely show up – or the problems have been cured by previous owners. So if it looks good it probably is (with possible exception of moisture in the deck core, see below).
The main thing with maintaining Vindö boats in my experience is to avoid trapped water being sucked into the mahogany of the coachroof sides and cockpit coamings. Damp wood will make the varnish lift and will eventually lead to rot.
The forward "corners" of the superstructure and the cockpit sides are especially vulnerable, as these are three-ply mouldings. The coachroof sides are solid mahogany.
Also the joint between the cockpit coaming and the coachroof side is a weak spot, where water can get trapped.
On Baba Yaga I've had no problems what so ever with the coachroof, but some with the cockpit. To have the cockpit covered when not using the boat would be a strong recommendation. And of course a new coat of varnish once or twice a year on all of the mahogany surfaces.
The caulking that the builders used for the teak deck was very good, but unfortunately they didn't use any bedding compound (or very little). This means that any water that has got passed the "seal" of the caulking has free access to the hundreds of screw holes into the deck core. So very likely, the boat you are looking at has some moisture in the core (mine did, as I discovered when re-decking last year). On the other hand, the core is not balsa, but some kind of vinyl foam and will not rot. If not excessive, some trapped moisture in the deck core will be acceptable – until the boat at some point in the future will need new decking, teak or "fake".
You can PM me if you have any specific questions regarding the Vindö 32.
 
Many thanks for your replies

Wow what a lot of answers, for which I am very grateful. From what I read maybe a composite is not the best choice for me. I love wood, especially below, but I am now 65 and have cancer that won't go away. I still have few years sailing time ahead of me but not a huge amount of energy for serious maintenance issues.
I have just arrived in the UK from Canada and do not have much experience of European sailboats. Seems I will have to keep looking for a boat with wood below, easily singlehanded and will allow for the fact that whilst the heart and mind are still strong the body is somewhat weak.

thank you
 
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