Aluminium SailBoats VS Fiberglass SailBoats

[Jim Cate]

One could note that boats designed for very high latitude work (Antarctic, for instance), both workboats and yachts, are most often in aluminium, not grp. Most of these boats are specified/designed by professionals with lots of ice experience.

Perhaps there is a lesson there...

Jim

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Redreuben

Aluminium also has no insulation whereas with a foam sandwich boat it’s built in.
In Fremantle aluminium yachts are called Aspirins.

An aluminum boat built without insulation was a build choice, and frankly, a bad one. Non of the metal boats I have looked at have been without insulation.

The foam core in a GRP has very little insulation value. The best foam insulation has an R value of 5 if an inch thick. How thick is the foam in a GRP sandwich? Even at a 1/2 inch that is not much insulation. Even if it the foam GRP sandwich was an inch think it would only have an R value of 5.

Metal boats should have at least 2-3 inches of insulation so they would have an R value of 10-15.

Later,
Dan

[dannc]

Originally Posted by mcarthur

I can see your point gbn, but if the damage was that severe to the alu yacht it's likely you would be raising the grp boat from under the water and that requires a lot more repair than the aluminium boat!
...

Exactly. A solo woman sailor had her AL boat go on the rocks/reef off east Africa. I think Madacascar. The boat was pulled back into the water with one side of the boat heavily damage. I don't see how any non metal boat would have survived the beating that boat took. She sailed the boat back to the NL and is repairing it herself. Yeah, she had to strip out the interior to fix the scantlings and plating but a plastic boat would have been a total loss on the reef/rocks.

I believe this was posted on CF somewhere.

Later,
Dan

[Stewie12]

I lived on an aluminium yacht for 5 years and I have also lived on a GRP yacht. The big difference is if you hit a rock the fibreglass will probably shatter and the hull will leak. On an aluminium hull you will probably get away with it. If the aluminium yacht is painted and you want to screw on an non aluminium fitting then you must put an insulating gasket behind it. Rubber or whatever you have. Use plastic rawl plugs so that the screws do not tough the aluminium. Otherwise the paint will bubble. That apart I would have an aluminium boat any day over GRP.

[Centreboard2017]

We have an aluminium French boat called an Alubat Ovni, she's 42 feet long. We bought her as we wanted something robust.
It is true that the paint issue is a pain, our topsides are painted and where there is any air introduced, such as where stuff is screwed into the hull, the paint bubbles.
And yes, you do have to be careful with isolating your boat from corrosion and stray currents. We have an isolation transformer which works well.
That said, we manage all this with little trouble, you just have to be aware and plan accordingly.
Our boat is insulated, and we are really pleased with how dry everything stays, friends with fibreglass boats have reported loads of condensation, which we don't seem to get.

[Leee]

Aluminum hulls are almost always insulated. Our 15m sailboat has 3" of dense foam above the waterline; needless to say, cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Alum boats are more expensive because they are stronger, last longer and generally better built as they are not production boats built to the lcd. There are numerous builders, Allures being one worth looking into.

[Breaking Waves]

We have had both glass and aluminum boats, and have been to both arctic and antarctic ice.

Really almost any of the normal boat building materials can make a perfectly fine cruising boat for the high latitudes. It is just a matter of quality design and quality boat building and money. We had a very experienced arctic hand tell use in all seriousness that he thought the perfect arctic boat was thick wood (with a stainless bow plate to avoid ice abrasion) - and he had compelling reasons for that opinion.

For a one-off, aluminum is easier, as you don't need a mold and it is such a simple and well-understood material that any journeyman architect can design a strong and stiff hull (a fast hull takes a bit more skill).

With unlimited money, imho, a 'glass' hull can be made even better than an aluminum one even for high latitude purposes. But we are talking about s-glass, and carbon and kevlar, and more sophisticated core designs. This takes rather more skill and knowledge in both design and construction and there is more to potentially go wrong. We have a friend who had essentially unlimited money & significant high latitude experience and knowledge and hired a well-known designer to build him a high latitude glass boat - the first try was perfectly workable and just fine but not perfect and try number 3 was as near perfect as humans are likely to get. It had some pros and cons vs a similar aluminum one (our Hawk was a quite close match in aluminum) but overall probably a better boat at several times the cost.

And yes, insulation is a big benefit - for both glass and aluminum. Hull insulation and deck insulation, and double paining of all glass and minimizing the number of all thru hull/thru deck metal fasteners and insulating those that are necessary.

[JPA Cate]

To add a little detail to what dannc wrote,

Susanne Huber-Curphy's vessel "Nehaj" went on the rocks in the harbor at Reunion Is. It underwent some initial repair, and her injuries healed. Subsequently, she sailed it, one side looking like a badly starved dog, from there, via the Azores, back to Holland to the yard where "Nehaj" had originally been built, repaired her, and now is back at sea, having been for a while in Bremerhaven.

[Grattaway]

Good Morning

I put my money on Ali being cheaper to maintain as well as longer lasting and being more robust. So "cheaper to maintain" improves as boat ages
With Ali, painting is optional and while some people (including my better half) think unpainted boats look more like work boats and/or less "pretty" there are plenty of solutions including painted designs or transfers that change a look.
What I really like is the lack of hull penetrations - no hull penetrations or bolts where components can be welded on - think davits, mooring fixings, winches, stanchions etc.
same with underwater such as no keel bolts
My Ali fishing cat is now 30 years old and has plenty of life left in it -my mates fiberglass runabout not so much - and sure Ali workboats and pleasure yachts are not the same thing but both can be repaired by the same people and there are plenty of skilled workboat tradies around the globe who often come cheaper than the pleasure boat tradies yet have more experience - Ali is after all now a widely used component in auto's, pumps, outboard motors etc. as well as many industrial operations

Rgds Wayne

[Midnight Son]

Originally Posted by Redreuben

Aluminium also has no insulation whereas with a foam sandwich boat it’s built in.
In Fremantle aluminium yachts are called Aspirins.

Almost all the high latitude boats I've seen are aluminum, evidently quite easy to insulate.
Best wishes.

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by Grattaway

What I really like is the lack of hull penetrations - no hull penetrations or bolts where components can be welded on - think davits, mooring fixings, winches, stanchions etc.
same with underwater such as no keel bolts

This can be done by good shipwrights in almost any material - certainly in glass and steel.

In glass, integral composite chainplates are pretty much standard on modern race boats. Integral tapped bases for winches and cleats and blocks and such are easy to do (use g10 or c-plate). Stanchions are best mounted on integral g10 rod stubs . . etc. Done carefully there can be the exact same lack of penetrations as on metal.

Originally Posted by Grattaway

With Ali, painting is optional and while some people (including my better half) think unpainted boats look more like work boats and/or less "pretty" there are plenty of solutions including painted designs or transfers that change a look.

In pretty much all materials you have a choice to make regarding esthetics - you can go workboat level or superyacht level. In glass, you can easily go with no-gloss paint that is super easy to maintain. Scratches (ones deeper than can just be buffed out) are actually easier to fix in such a glass finish than in aluminum.

[Manateeman]

I built my first sailboat 60 years ago. I’ve built in wood, glass epoxy and wood, fiberglass, glass/ epoxy, glass infusion and aluminum. I’ve worked for a half dozen OEM builders. I’m qualified as a USCG vessel safety coordinator and hold a US Merchant Mariners Credential. My first ocean race was Marion to Bermuda over 50 years ago. My personal yacht is aluminum.
So many of the personal opinions on aluminum as a material for yacht construction posted here is SIMPLY...WRONG .
I’ve said this many times before. There is NO perfect design for all voyages. NO perfect method of construction. No perfect naval architect nor builder. But of all the materials I have built with, aluminum is my preference. It’s only downside is the initial cost....not long term costs. Again, much of what has been posted is not fact...opinions by posters who are not professional boatbuilders and by some who have never built a single boat in any material.
Until you get to small ships in steel, aluminum continues to increase as the number one material choice for commercial vessel construction.
Working vessels in fishing and the oil field have proven the economics and overall benefits of aluminum construction. Lastly, there is an environmental question.
I often joke my manatee crew drink huge amounts of beer to crush the cans and TIG them into boats. Do we need more plastic on earth. Your choice.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark and his manatee crew of professional boatbuilders.

[kryg]

Here is my experiences, I have an aluminium 15 meter boats build in France. The fellow beside me has a Fibreglass boat which knock my boat over on the hard stand. See photos. Mine was dented, his was holed. I will never own a fibreglass boat after this experience. Both boats were totally rebuilded.

Originally Posted by Sailingwithgil

Hey I was search for a Sailboat on-line and I come around on this brand Garcia made in Cherbourg Franch that makes all Aluminum sailboats.
Is it cheaper to maintained all Aluminum Sailboat our a Fiberglass Hull Sailboat. Over 50' range ?

[Sailingwithgil]

Thank you for your input and the photo's say a lot about how strong Aluminum boat are made.

[smj]

Originally Posted by kryg

Here is my experiences, I have an aluminium 15 meter boats build in France. The fellow beside me has a Fibreglass boat which knock my boat over on the hard stand. See photos. Mine was dented, his was holed. I will never own a fibreglass boat after this experience. Both boats were totally rebuilded.

Catamarans don’t fall over on the hard.