[PUP] PUP-PPM hull material

[Alan Wagner]

If you are going to design and then build your own, cost criteria will
eliminate fiberglass unless you want to pay a huge premium.  To build one
hull, fiberglass is very expensive.  The savings to build with fiberglass
comes only with the benefit of reusing the mold time and time again.

When you think metal, of course, steel comes first to mind -- but you really
need to consider aluminum.  For me, I ended up with aluminum. Steel rusts
and must be painted.  Aluminum does not rust and does not have to be painted
 but can be.  You must pay a little more attention to electrolysis issues
with aluminum, but aluminum is lighter and, in many respect, stronger.  It
has a better resale.

There are few Kasten articles that discuss the issue in some detail:

http://kastenmarine.com/alumVSsteel.htm
Aluminum vs. Steel  -  A comparison of their relative strengths, and the
advantages of each...

http://kastenmarine.com/steelboats.htm:
Some people claim that steel is too heavy for use as a yacht building
material.  Is there any truth in that claim...?

http://kastenmarine.com/aluminum.htm
Aluminum for Boats   -   Is there good reason to consider aluminum over
other hull materials?


Alan Wagner
Tampa, Florida
Building 53' Passagemaker in Aluminum


\-------Original Message-------

From: bob england
Date: 11/1/2008 5:00:54 PM
To: passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com
Subject: [PUP] PUP-PPM hull material

I think our discussion is getting ahead of itself. We need to decide what to
build the hull with. I vote for steel. I think it is the toughest material
that could be used to build the hull as cheaply as possible, maybe not the
"best" material but a one off hull will be cheaper in steel.