CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/576646
107 CompositesWorld.com APPLICATIONS SUPER "SKINNY" WATER SKIFF › Known for superlight fatboats built for "skinny" waters, Hell's Bay Boatworks' (Titusville, FL, US) previous best was its 5.8m long Glades Skif, which weighs in at 172 kg fully loaded (engines and fuel) and maneuvers easily, with a draft of 1.2m. But a recent custom project demanded a craft with a draft of only 0.6m. "This customer fshes in very shallow waters in Texas," says Hell's Bay president/owner, Chris Peterson, "so we were already looking at waterjet engines to meet the minimal draft." But that would only solve part of the problem. "When you run in shallow water, you are more likely to hit things," he explains. So, more impact resistance would be needed, but at less weight. "Every 8 lb of weight displaces another gallon of water," he says, "so less weight equals less draft." Sportfishing often requires pushing the boat quietly with a pole. "We needed to have a hull and deck that could handle … potential impacts but also float well for easy poling. We needed to have a reinforcement and resin system that could do both." Peterson teamed with Vectorply (Phenix City, AL, US), Innegra Technologies (Greenville, SC, US) and Scott Bader ATC (Stow, OH, US). "Vectorply came up with a special carbon fiber weave that gives a lot of stiffness with thin laminates," he says. That noncrimp fabric combines carbon, E-glass and Innegra's S fibers, and integrates a carbon fiber veil as a flow medium. "Vectorply helped to design the laminate architecture as well, so that we used the fewest layers to meet mechanical property and impact requirements," adds Peterson, in a sandwich construction, with a single- layer, multiaxial faceskin on either side of Corecell foam core (Gurit, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK). "We weren't sure how the Innegra hybrid fabric would work with the Scott Bader infusion resin," concedes Peterson. "So we tested it and it worked great." The Crestapol 1250LV low-viscosity urethane acrylate's cured molecular weight is 80% that of epoxy or vinyl ester, one reason the boat came out 24% lighter than the company's standard craft. "The boat also sat higher in the water," says Peterson, "which is what we wanted." Shaving weight and boosting toughness of flatboat for shallow waters Source | Hell's Bay Boatworks