Sorry "Blisters"

[missscarlet]

In short two questions.
1. Are there builders whose hulls do not suffer from blisters ?
2. Is there a year of manufacture after which blisters dont occur ?

[barnakiel]

Norlin Boats. After 1980.

b.

[Phil Turner]

No. Of couse I only get see the ones with. Pearson, Hatteras and surprisingly Baba have best layup I've seen but still have problems. Maybe epoxy or vinylester lay up will fix. To soon to tell. The vinylester skim coats have not worked in most cases. Phil Turner

[Weyalan]

Blisters, I am told, are restricted to hulls that use polyester resins. Vinylester and epoxy resins based hulls should be free of blisters.

[propellanttech]

By what I have read, blisters are possible with any layup process.

This has to do with many things, not just the resin.

You can read this if you do not believe what I say:

FIBERGLASS BOATBUILDING: The Origins of Blisters

There are many ways blisters are propagated, but the end results are all the same.

James L

[Target9000]

Buy a metal or wooden boat. >

[Me-and-Boo]

Originally Posted by Target9000

Buy a metal or wooden boat. >

I hate rust bubbles.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW... anecdotal evidence:

I have owned three "serious" boats over the past 35 years or so

1. Yankee 30, built in 1974, conventional solid grp layup. Sold when it was about 10 years old. No blisters ever.

2. Palmer Johnson Standfast 36, built in 1974 too. Some sort of MIL-spec polyester resin, foam cored hull. Sold in 2004 at age 30. No blisters ever. Just talked to the current owner who has recently completed a major refit... still no blisters.

3. Jon Sayer designed one-off, built in 1990. Strip planked Western Red Cedar in epoxy with e-glass inside and out. No blisters yet at age 22.

Point of all this is that it is simply not true that all frp hulls will have blisters, and that other materials too are immune to the pox.

But it is true that a great many boats have had the pox, including some from the highest end yards... like Swan, like Halberg Rassey, like Oyster. It is a bit difficult to predict which ones will suffer and which will not... I certainly couldn't do so, so I think that I have been pretty damn lucky!

Cheers,

Jim

[noelex 77]

One factor that has not been mentioned is how the boat is used.
The risk of osmosis is greatly increased if the boat is kept in the water year round, especially in warm water. Unfortunately this is just how most long distance cruising boats are used.

The laminate layup and quality of the resin is however the most important determinant. In order of resistance, from best to worst, it goes:
(Note its not linear, there is a big increase in moisture permeability between vinylester and isophthalic)

Epoxy
vinylester
Isophthalic polyester
Orthophthalic polyester

An epoxy resin boat should never suffer osmosis (and I have never heard of one in practice), but manufactures, even those of expensive boats, like to use the cheapest resin which is orthophthalic or isophthalic polyester. A small layer of vinylester resin on the outside is often used.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

FWIW... anecdotal evidence:

I have owned three "serious" boats over the past 35 years or so

1. Yankee 30, built in 1974, conventional solid grp layup. Sold when it was about 10 years old. No blisters ever.

2. Palmer Johnson Standfast 36, built in 1974 too. Some sort of MIL-spec polyester resin, foam cored hull. Sold in 2004 at age 30. No blisters ever. Just talked to the current owner who has recently completed a major refit... still no blisters.

3. Jon Sayer designed one-off, built in 1990. Strip planked Western Red Cedar in epoxy with e-glass inside and out. No blisters yet at age 22.

Point of all this is that it is simply not true that all frp hulls will have blisters, and that other materials too are immune to the pox.

But it is true that a great many boats have had the pox, including some from the highest end yards... like Swan, like Halberg Rassey, like Oyster. It is a bit difficult to predict which ones will suffer and which will not... I certainly couldn't do so, so I think that I have been pretty damn lucky!

Cheers,

Jim

My Hallberg Rassey is 38 years old...no blisters. Maybe the newer ones had blisters but I have never heard of the older 35' "Rasmus's " having any problems. I talked to a former employee of Westsail who told me that during their heyday, they were pumping out hulls faster than they should have and he felt the ones that had blisters were these ones. Maybe improperly cured or the resin too hot. When I read the articles, I think to myself that there are way too many authorities on the subject.

[alan_za]

It's not purely down to how or when the boat was manufactured but also the condition that the boat was kept in. Boats spending most of their time in warm waters tend to be far more prone to blistering.