Modern wood strip boats - why bother

M

Mel

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Jun 2001
Messages
192
Location
Live in South Norfolk
Visit site
I was recently visiting Ipswich Docks (over Easter) where they make posh wooden strip yachts - saw one along the dockside ready to go into the water - a new posh yacht. I thought the topsides had perhaps been damaged by the crane strops. All brightly painted in dark blue I could see strange markings on the side. On second look I could see there were dozens if not hundreds of pock marks showing. Looked like the hull strips were fastened with staples and these could be seen in or through the paint job.

Having never seen such a sight with blemishes across the topsides of a glass fibre boat I wander why would anybody bother with this wooden approach ? Is it possible to get a fine finish on a wooden hull ?

The deck, cockpit and coach-top look very impressive with high gloss hard wood, but similar used boats in the water soon seem to show signs of water damage and knocks by rigging, fading from the sun etc.

Is there a green/environmental reason to use wood - can hard wood be sustainable ?

I simply cannot see why one would bother using wood

Is it lighter, easier to use as low tech. cheeper - more profit perhaps, surely it can't be stronger can it !!
 
Mel said:
I simply cannot see why one would bother using wood

Is it lighter, easier to use as low tech. cheeper - more profit perhaps, surely it can't be stronger can it !!
Click to expand...
For one-offs and beautiful boats it's ideal.
Near to us are quite a few wooden boatbuilders.

My choice would be Pattersons (Clicky)

​
 
Last edited:
I've not heard of the pockmarking problem - strip-planking as I understand it uses only epoxy with no fastenings. You do sometimes get a shadow of the glass cloth weave at first; the recommendation I saw was not to attempt a high-gloss finish (which emphasises it) the first year, but that subsequent repaintings would hide it.

Moulded GRP doesn't make much sense for a one-off boat, as you have to build and fair the mould and don't get to amortise that cost over many hulls. Wood strip you build up directly over bulkhead-like formers instead.

It is supposed to give a very quiet, well-insulated hull.

Some people just don't like having a boat made out of "frozen snot", however practical it is :)

Pete
 
I'm aware of the 'diagonal cold-moulded' technique of fastening long strips of 3-4mm ply to bulkheads and stringers using staples, then flow-coating the successive layers in epoxy to seal and stiffen the wood structure.

One method uses short strips of plastic binding tape under each staple, so it/they may be pulled free once the epoxy 'glue' has set, and the resultant holes filled and faired. Another techniques dispenses with the plastic strip, uses non-corroding Monel staples - and leaves them in.

This saves a whole lot of money but, if the setting pressure on the staple gun is not exactly right, there are tiny indentations where each staple has been set just below the surface. These can be seen when the angle of the light is just right. Of course, such can be faired out quite simply - see the Gougeon brothers' book - but that costs money and time....

'Spoiling the ship for a ha'pworth o' tar'

:)
 
Staples are commonly used if the hull is cold moulded from veneers, but not normally used in strip planking. Some boats are strip planked then sheathed in veneer as an alternative to a glass cloth skin.

As stated by others there are many benefits of this form of construction in custom boat building and if done properly is very durable. Dark hull finishes are always a problem as they show every imperfection in the substrate.
 
THe motor launch looks really smart and with all that gloss can be put away on its trailer under cover - but t6e yacht I was looking at appeared to be a sea going or even ocean going vessel that would not survive the sun and salt so well.
 
Mel said:
I simply cannot see why one would bother using wood

Is it lighter, easier to use as low tech. cheeper - more profit perhaps, surely it can't be stronger can it !!
Click to expand...

For one-off construction the methods are limited. The usual method of laying up GRP in a mould isn't viable as you have to effectively build 3 boats to get the first one.

The normal options are -

Steel: heavy
Aluminium: expensive
Ferro: heavy, poor resale value
Plywood: OK for hard-chine hulls, difficult for round bilge
Wood strip/epoxy: light, easy to get any shape

There are a few minority one-off techniques in GRP but they have never gained much popularity for some reason. I have built 7 one-off GRP hulls up to 40 foot over the years so I prefer to work in that material but a lot of amateurs have a sentimental attachment to wood.
 
Mel said:
THe motor launch looks really smart and with all that gloss can be put away on its trailer under cover - but t6e yacht I was looking at appeared to be a sea going or even ocean going vessel that would not survive the sun and salt so well.
Click to expand...

Depends on the surface coatings. The owner has probably been warned about dark colours, sunlight, salt and spent the extra having it sprayed with Awlgrip. Brightwork is a different matter, but there are durable coatings available.

The Amber 40 referred to above has had a full life including in the Med and looks as good as a GRP yacht of its age.
 
I think there's a bit of a mix-up here. Strip planked, and cold-moulded are two entirely different building methods. And yes, I've done both.
 
Mel said:
THe motor launch looks really smart and with all that gloss can be put away on its trailer under cover - but t6e yacht I was looking at appeared to be a sea going or even ocean going vessel that would not survive the sun and salt so well.
Click to expand...
So, did you follow the link? The picture is a link. They build a 50ft Open cruiser racer for transworld use using a combination of materials and techniques.
 
Found your link
THe 50 foot racer looks to have no varnish on deck.
The one I saw that was elaborately lavished at deck, cockpit and coach like a piece of very expensive furniture in high gloss varnish. The yacht you refer looks like a stripped down racer that has a very different characteristic - I can only see paint and a teak deck - the fact that there is not actual picture makes me think this is still on the drawing board !
 
Mel said:
Found your link
THe 50 foot racer looks to have no varnish on deck.
The one I saw that was elaborately lavished at deck, cockpit and coach like a piece of very expensive furniture in high gloss varnish. The yacht you refer looks like a stripped down racer that has a very different characteristic - I can only see paint and a teak deck - the fact that there is not actual picture makes me think this is still on the drawing board !
Click to expand...

I think you may have been looking at a Spirit yacht. They build them at Ipswich.

See here
 
NormanS said:
I think there's a bit of a mix-up here. Strip planked, and cold-moulded are two entirely different building methods. And yes, I've done both.
Click to expand...

Not completely different. You can have either all moulded or a mixture of strip plank with anything up to three layers of veneer on top. Advantage of mixing the two techniques is that a strip hull needs far less elaborate framing and arguably produces a neater interior finish. External veneers are harder than the cedar use for strip planking and can be very attractive bright finished.

As I am sure you know, most of the techniques and variations are well covered in the Geougeon Brothers book.
 
This method of construction has the major advantage that epoxy resin is used, why more premium boat builders don’t use this superior resin in their yachts is a mystery to me,.
 
Mel said:
Found your link
THe 50 foot racer looks to have no varnish on deck.
The one I saw that was elaborately lavished at deck, cockpit and coach like a piece of very expensive furniture in high gloss varnish. The yacht you refer looks like a stripped down racer that has a very different characteristic - I can only see paint and a teak deck - the fact that there is not actual picture makes me think this is still on the drawing board !
Click to expand...

Hmm. the site is designed for looking around.
http://www.pattersonboatworks.co.uk/New_Boats/Openworld_30.html

Your OP asked why bother building in wood because the finish wasn't good. This site answers your question.
 
In the Med at the moment. Posh wooden yachts are not uncommon. They are - generally - not high mileage passagemakers but prestige possessions that spend their lives being looked after carefully by professional crew and an industry of boat care specialists. I'd suggest that for many of them, their running costs outstripped their build costs some time ago.

So to the OP, the yacht you saw may not look practical to you and I, but the owner may not have bought something he expected to be practical, but to look good moored in Portofino.
 
Snowleopar:
There are a few minority one-off techniques in GRP but they have never gained much popularity for some reason.

could please elaborate

Lakesailor: Appreciate the Patterson Boatworks Link. Now dreaming of a version of the Mills 40 that they have a design for!
 
gardenshed said:
Snowleopar:
There are a few minority one-off techniques in GRP but they have never gained much popularity for some reason.

could please elaborate
Click to expand...

The ones I use are variations on the foam sandwich theme. They involve putting a layer or grp laminate on either side of a closed-cell foam. Forming a hull shape can be done by forming the foam over a male mould before glassing or making up flat panels on a mould table then bending and joining them. It is also possible to vacuum-form in a female mould. I have used all these techniques.

Then there is C-Flex where a fabric is used that has some lengthways rovings pre-laminated so it drapes over a skeleton male mould a little like wood-strip planking.

Some laminate over a rough-finished male mould. It's cheap and easy but involves a lot of filling and sanding with a longboard which is an instrument of torture that would be disallowed under the Geneva Convention.

None of these are as quick as making a solid laminate inside a female mould so they are used only by amateurs and one-off builders.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top