Old Aluminum Mast -- Replace?

[Jim Fulton]

Originally Posted by Brian Duff

On another note i would be more in doubt of the hull of a 46 year old boat. Fiberglass hulls that old are often found to be brittle and not nearly as strong as the resins we use now. I am by no means a fiberglass expert, but I have been instructed by local experts to avoid and mistrust such old hulls. Maybe its just 'buy new boat-itus' but I am not sure.

As the owner of an older fiberglass boat, I would be very interested in seeing something besides hearsay to validate this assertion. I understand--again, by hearsay--that smaller boats with hulls that are thin and unreinforced (e.g., smaller daysailors and powerboats) do tend to soften up and become prone to oilcanning after several years of hard use, but I have never heard that larger hulls with more robust layup schedules get brittle. Most fiberglass boats built in the '60s and '70s were substantially overbuilt by today's standards; many are still going strong and are sailing all over the world.

Jim Fulton

[Brian Duff]

I second what Jim is saying, and myself own an early 70's heavy fiberglass sailboat.

I confirm that that coment is hearsay - Its what the 'guy around town' say. I am quite sure I have read it in a number of texts on the subject of yacht design and building, and will try and dig up those referneces some day, and post them here. None the less, I reinforce that I have no direct expirience with 'brittle' hulls, nor am I an expert in the composites or boat building by any means.

Sail safe ?

[billknny]

Old hulls getting "brittle" doesn't make a lot of sense. If you have ever seen cured raw,
unre-enforced polyester or epoxy resin it is VERY brittle right from the get-go. It is only the glass fiber that makes it strong and flexible.

I have never heard of an old, well built hull that had to be abandoned becuase of "brittle" fiberglass.