# Any 24-28' sailboats with solid fiberglass decks??



## Motti123 (Feb 2, 2010)

I know that some Triton 28's have solid (no core) fiberglass decks. Any others that folks know of?

Thanks, 

Motti123


----------



## mstern (May 26, 2002)

I'll bet there are some; many boats have solid epoxy areas where items are thru-bolted, but I suspect you are looking for a 100% solid deck configuration. Enquiring minds want to know: why do you ask? Are you looking for a boat with that feature? Although delamination and rotting balsa core material is a common problem in Good Old Boats, the basic cored design produces a deck that is stronger, more resilient and lighter than an all-fiberglass structure.


----------



## Motti123 (Feb 2, 2010)

Many of the boats I have been looking at seem perennially plagued by deck core issues. I figured if one model used a solid deck, it might be heavier and less stiff, but more resilient and involve lower upkeep over the long term. I'm very interested in Cal 2 25's right now but have seen and read some horror stories on the web.


----------



## COOL (Dec 1, 2009)

Most '60s and early '70s production boats have
solid fiberglass decks, but with plywood laminated 
to the underside. In some cases it would have a thin
layer of fiberglass cloth, some times just covered with
a fabric headliner.


----------



## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

COOL said:


> Most '60s and early '70s production boats have
> solid fiberglass decks, but with plywood laminated
> to the underside. ,,,.


No way, solid fiberglas decks are very unusual, largely present in some of the first run, early '60s glass boats like the Triton. Not a very useful criteria for selecting a boat, "very, very, very old" would work as well.


----------



## scottyt (Jul 19, 2008)

the hunter 27 cherubini boats have solid decks, except they have AL plates where the deck hard ware is, and under the mast is plywood. they are very solid boats


----------



## COOL (Dec 1, 2009)

sailingfool said:


> No way, solid fiberglas decks are very unusual


I alluded boats with solid fiberglass decks with laminated
plywood reinforcement, which is how the early Cals, and
Islanders were built, as opposed to a cored sandwich 
structure such as an Olson 30 or J24.


----------



## Mechsmith (Jun 7, 2009)

Seafarers are all solid with plywood reinforcment under the deck hardware. My 29 also had the cockpit floor built up from underneath for wheel steering.


----------



## mitiempo (Sep 19, 2008)

A boat with solid decks rather than core will be rare and just because the decks are not subject to water intrusion and rot doesn't mean there are not other problems. It all comes down to the maintenance of the boat through the years really. Hardware doesn't stay leak free forever and periodically needs rebedding. The best solution is to look at each boat on an individual basis. Most older boats might have some moisture around a few fittings which is an easy fix by rebedding the fitting and potting the holes properly. Some are disasters and need a lot more work and recoring. This should be apparent in a survey.

A friend across the dock has a Spencer 35 (similar to an Alberg 35) built in 1966 and it has solid decks without core. As you walk across the foredeck it flexes a bit which some find a bit disconcerting and I guess it didn't go over well with prospective buyers. Plenty strong enough though. Later Spencers were cored as were most boats at the time.

The best core materials are either end grain balsa which is common and foam which is less often seen. Plywood makes for a bad core because it is heavy and if water does get in the plies let the water travel a long ways. Balsa is end grain so water migration is generally not an issue if caught in time.

The best solution is to find a boat you like and check the deck for soft spots as well as checking the interior for water stains and leaks through the hardware attachments. Chainplates deserve attention as well. Also the tips here http://www.sailnet.com/forums/boat-review-purchase-forum/48177-boat-inspection-trip-tips.html
will help when checking out a boat. If you want to go further with a boat get a survey.

I wouldn't let a cored deck stop me from purchasing and it didn't. I'd look for a boat I liked in good condition with evidence of good maintenance over the years. And don't let your search for a solid deck blind you to the many other issues that a boat can have.

Good luck.


----------



## puddinlegs (Jul 5, 2006)

Motti123 said:


> Many of the boats I have been looking at seem perennially plagued by deck core issues. I figured if one model used a solid deck, it might be heavier and less stiff, but more resilient and involve lower upkeep over the long term. I'm very interested in Cal 2 25's right now but have seen and read some horror stories on the web.


Deck core issues WILL happen at some point somewhere during a cored decked fiberglass boat's life. That said, while messy and kind of a pain in the arse, there are proper tools that make doing some of this work much easier than you might imagine. The horror stories... aside from boat design and initial construction it really depends on a particular boat's maintenance history. Survey's are your friend.


----------



## uggawish (Feb 3, 2010)

I just got a 1981 Lockley-Newport 23 (then became Glochester 23) which appears to have solid fiberglass decks.


----------



## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Boy is this thread full of misinformation. Solid fiberglass decks without cores of any kind are extremely rare. Some early boats had plywood cored decks, like the early Cals. Early on the English employed a boat building method that had closely spaced glassed in deck frames (similar to a wooden boat) and eliminated coring (my boat's decks are built this way). Except for a very few examples, plywood coring was abandoned by most of the industry because plywood was more prone to rapid rot problems due to the orientation of the fibers. By the mid-1960's most of the quality boat builders had shifted to either the more expensive and more rot resistant end grain balsa coring. A few manufacturers had shifted to the even more expensive closed cell foam coring. 

It was not unusual for value oriented manufacturers to use plywood or aluminum coring in areas where hardware was being bolted, but many of the better manufacturers would simply eliminate the coring and either build up the are with a polyerster resin/chopped fiber slurry or else simply bring the interior and exterior skins together. 

Cheap trailerables had limited amounts of deck coring because coring a boat is expensive. 

Deck coring plays a very crucial role beyond the tactile. Fiberglass is very fatigue prone and without coring or framing of some kind the decks would be extremely heavy reducing stability and hurting motion comfort, or else would be prone to flexing which would weaken the decks due to fatigue over time. 

I know of no manufacturer who 'potted' their fastenings with Epoxy and I have not heard of a manufacturer who potted hardware prior to the 1990's. Even then it was only small shops who potted their hardware and it was generally with a polyester resin slurry. I have not heard of any manufacturer who even claimes to pot their fastenings with epoxy. 

In terms of specific claims and specific boats, Almost no 60s and early '70s production boats had solid fiberglass decks, but with plywood laminated to the underside. Some manufacturers used plywood backing plates on their cored decks which may be what the poster is seeing. 

The Olsen 30's that I knew had closed cell foam deck cores and not balsa core. 

Depending on who you believe, there may have been less than a dozen Tritons built without coring and apparently some or all of them allegedly had plywood coring in the foredeck, doghouse top, and cockpit. 

The Hunter 27's and 30's that I knew had balsa core decks with plywood reinforcing where hardware was through bolted and aluminum that was drilled and tapped where hardware was blind installed. 

Jeff


----------



## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

IIRC, the Nauticat sailboats have a solid deck, at least that's what TrueBlue said about his... they're heavier motorsailors though.


----------



## COOL (Dec 1, 2009)

Jeff_H said:


> Boy is this thread full of misinformation. Solid fiberglass decks without cores of any kind are extremely rare. Some early boats had plywood cored decks, like the early Cals.


Jeff,
I think there is just a little mincing of terminology here.
I would not refer to the plywood reinforcement that Cal
employed as a core. It was really just plywood laminated
to the deck and sheathed in one layer of glass cloth.
My Islander 30 has plywood with no sheathing at all,
just a fabric headliner glued to bare plywood. 
My '61 Cal 20 foredeck was solid fiberglass with half round
stringers.
Also I believe the Olson 30s were built with Baltek core in
the hull and deck.


----------



## RXBOT (Sep 7, 2007)

I think the smallest Nauticat is 33 feet not 24-28 as the OP was asking about.


----------



## boatpoker (Jul 21, 2008)

sailingdog said:


> IIRC, the Nauticat sailboats have a solid deck, at least that's what TrueBlue said about his... they're heavier motorsailors though.


I helped re-core the rotted plywood deck of a Nauticat 33'


----------



## boatpoker (Jul 21, 2008)

COOL said:


> Jeff,
> I think there is just a little mincing of terminology here.
> I would not refer to the plywood reinforcement that Cal
> employed as a core. It was really just plywood laminated
> ...


How thin does a slice of bread have to be before it's not a sandwich


----------



## PaulinVictoria (Aug 23, 2009)

1/8" Then it's just crackers


----------



## GaryHLucas (Mar 24, 2008)

scottyt said:


> the hunter 27 cherubini boats have solid decks, except they have AL plates where the deck hard ware is, and under the mast is plywood. they are very solid boats


Except that the keels can fall off, tearing a big a hole in the bottom.

Gary H. Lucas


----------



## sarafinadh (Jun 16, 2009)

Motti123 said:


> Many of the boats I have been looking at seem perennially plagued by deck core issues. I figured if one model used a solid deck, it might be heavier and less stiff, but more resilient and involve lower upkeep over the long term. I'm very interested in Cal 2 25's right now but have seen and read some horror stories on the web.


not too hard to determine on a case by case basis. Our 1067 Cal 28 is solid except for one patch up by the bow dorade, and a tiny area at some rotten stanchion mountings. Both easily repaired when the boat gets pulled and all the deck holes are redrilled, epoxied and then reset. with BACK palets this time fer hevinsake... I can only wonder what they were thinkin to not put any in place!

The squish where it's gone bad is pretty distinctive. And Maine Sailor has some good instructions for improving small areas that are problematic.


----------

