Boating Tips: Understanding Foam Core Construction 34 4

Boat 8 years ago 11,889 views

Is foam core construction a good thing when it comes to building boats? Some say yes and some say no, but boats.com Senior Editor Lenny Rudow explains why foam core construction can be a great thing. Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/boatsdotcom For more boating videos, visit http://www.boats.com. boats.com features boat reviews, how-to videos, special features, and information about new boats, boats for sale, and boating products—usually with a dash of fun. Our reviewers test the features, performance, and specifications of each boat, searching out the hidden details for a critical evaluation. If you're shopping for a boat, we want to help you make the best choice. And if you're just looking, we'll try to make it fun too. Subscribe to receive notification of new videos.

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SoloSail Boat - 6 years ago

HA HA HA, you start off with lets pretend. So now lets pretend your little cracker is wet! Foam core has never been nor ever will be as strong as a solid glass hull. Also nothing in the world worse than water logged foam core hull, delaminated glass layers from foam is going to cost huge bucks to repair, maybe more than the boats worth. Foam is used because its cheap for the builders, that means bigger profits.

Easy Fix - 6 years ago

Great Video!! Here is another video using a material called SEACAST and the summary of my repair. https://youtu.be/uRD0YNoCYQA

Simon Vercoe - 6 years ago

Welp, that settles it. I was wondering go plywood/epoxy or go foam sandwich/glass for my first sail, and no way am I going through the hassle of shaping wood, thanks so much for this easy video.

Had Enough! - 7 years ago

Very nice,simple concrete example. Your presentation was excellent. Very well. Done

TheVirginiaStew - 8 years ago

Great job

Safe Sailing - 8 years ago

Great illustration and nice snack. Glad you didn't chew the cardboard. But I see stiffness and strength as different. Cored construction may be stiffer by weight, but may not have the impact resistance (rocks!) nor abrasion resistance (grounding!) of solid glass. The glass layers of cored tends to be very thin. I can see the sense of cored above the waterline but solid seems more sensible below (with hull stiffeners). And when buying an older boat, cored below the waterline seems like asking for trouble. There have also been builders that use core under the water and solid above. That really seems like an upside down world to me.

Safe Sailing - 8 years ago

Advise owners of cored boats to avoid running into rocks when possible" gave me Hugh laugh. Thanks for that Lenny.

boats.com - 8 years ago

+jhyacinth Thoughtful comment, jhyacinth! You're 100-percent correct about impact-resistance - there up-sides and down-sides to all materials and designs, and on that point solid glass does win. I'd always advise the owners of cored boat to avoid running into rocks, whenever possible. Big-time. You're also correct about older boats and there are plenty of examples of saturated cores from early construction techniques, but I'd argue that the vast majority of today's boatbuilders have become far, far better at eliminating this issue. And as for building with a core below the waterline and solid glass above... I sure would like to know the theory behind that one!!

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