The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction - WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

10 Fundamentals of Wood/Epoxy Composite Boatbuilding
Figure 2-4 <strong>The</strong> trimaran Adrenalin’s hull is 3 ⁄8� (9.5mm)
strip-planked cedar sheathed with unidirectional carbon fiber.
Figure 2-5 Adrenalin under sail.
every kind of racing, and at least part of this is due to the
superiority of the materials used in their construction. At
a time when materials failure is a major problem in radi-
cally designed non-wood racing boats, wood composites
offer the safety of very high strength for many years.
<strong>The</strong> Importance of Research and Testing
While wood/epoxy composite construction is innovative,
tradition continues to play a large part in the
development of marine engineering: the wise builder
considers what has worked in the past as a basis for
what will work in the future. Boatbuilding must overlap
with engineering because improper boat construction
can have serious consequences. We assume that any
builder will make many engineering decisions. To
complicate matters, even the best engineers have not
been totally successful in predicting the loads to which
a given hull will be subjected. Enough boats have been
built with wood/epoxy composites to provide a sound
foundation of knowledge, but composite construction
has not matured to the point where hard and fast scantling
rules can be made to apply to every situation.
To help fill this void, we have provided technical data,
which we hope will be of help. <strong>The</strong>se include updated
scantlings from successful boats built with wood and
WEST SYSTEM materials and the results of testing
performed in our lab and elsewhere.
We believe that it is extremely important for any builder
planning to use wood and epoxy composite construction
to develop an understanding of these materials and a
feel for working with them. We strongly recommend
that you perform simple tests as you proceed. If you
know your materials, your solutions to problems will
be better, and you will gradually evolve the technique
that works best for you. After you have become familiar
with our techniques, you may wish to modify them and
develop your own.