Fiberglass/carbon infusion or an alumni boat

[mikethedane]

Hi all can you help me with the pro's and con's between these boat type besides price I'm here thinking newly build . The boat will be used for cruising both arctic and Caribbean plus crossing the Pacific

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[neilpride]

If you dont plan to hit a Iceberg i put my 2 cents in Carbon Infusión... Just me.. Cheers.

[mikethedane]

Can you tell me why

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[JPA Cate]

Aluminum. Proven. Consider beth & evans starzinger's Hawk or a new Allure......or......
Plenty of very attractive boats in Europe.
Ann.

[mikethedane]

I'm not asking for brand names but on what is the benefit a d down sides to these two types of material.... When it comes to sailing maintenance and so on

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[bsurvey]

infusion especially scrim should be 100 % penetration of the epoxy


aluminum no matter what grade is the worst material to ever be used for boats. its a only plus is to the builder, easy to shape cut and weld.


it will just fizzle in salt water, paint will not stick to it and it corrodes and fatigues very quickly

[dwhardee]

Jimmy Cornell and his Aventura would certainly disagree about your views on aluminum yachts cornellsailing.com/aventura/about-aventura/

[valhalla360]

If you are meticulus about protecting aluminum it's a good material that will last a long time and will likely hold up better in the event of iceberg derbies. Allow a dissimilar material situaiton and it will fail very quickly. That can be as simple as dropping a coin or nut into a hidden area of the bilge or having a stray current issue.

Fiberglass isn't prone to corrosion but it is more brittle. Assuming you are going for a heavily built solid hull for cruising, it can take quite a bit of abuse before it will crack. If it's lightly built performance oriented design and you are running into solid objects, the aluminum holds the advantage.

In either case, I would prefer to avoid hitting solid things.

My question back is how much experience do you have that you are thinking of arcitc sailing and aren't familiar with the material differences? If it's just a vague someday I might want to go beyond the easy warm weather cruising, I suggest ignoring the arctic qualities and when you get enough experience and actualy are ready to head to the arctic, then get a boat for that purpose as the prefered designs will be different.

[billgewater]

For ultimate strength and malleability combination, why not consider steel. I have seen a steel ketch sail away after being washed over a coral reef. Buckled badly..yes. punctured no. but care beats all else.
Beware of all the other problems such as water freezing in tanks and bursting. Fuel /oil lubrication systems. Do all fire extinguishers work as effectively at below zero Celsius?

It seems that you wish to sail in extreme climatic conditions. Much homework required. Leave brass monkeys at home. Get wife to put on weight as thermal protection.

[Jim Cate]

aluminum no matter what grade is the worst material to ever be used for boats. its a only plus is to the builder, easy to shape cut and weld.

What a ridiculous statement! Thousands of work boats, yachts, tinnies and so on seem to refute your belief.

Aluminum has failure modes. So does EVERY boat building material that you can name.

Jim

[MIRELOS]

If racing carbon is lightest........arctic, places where you can go bump in the night, aluminum.

[nimblemotors]

Kevlar

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by billgewater

For ultimate strength and malleability combination, why not consider steel. I have seen a steel ketch sail away after being washed over a coral reef. Buckled badly..yes. punctured no. but care beats all else.
Beware of all the other problems such as water freezing in tanks and bursting. Fuel /oil lubrication systems. Do all fire extinguishers work as effectively at below zero Celsius?

It seems that you wish to sail in extreme climatic conditions. Much homework required. Leave brass monkeys at home. Get wife to put on weight as thermal protection.

Arctic? = Steel