hull construction on old hatteras

[mtadamek]

Just wondering what kind of stringer system an old 1965 41' Hatteras would have. Is it hollow, cored with wood, cored with foam...Structural or non structural.

Thanks

 

[Avenger]

Foam cored fiberglass, non-structural.

Only the best from Hatteras!

 

[akintosyali]

about 1" solid fiberglass at the bottom and the back. The deck is 3/4 thick, with a wood core.

 

[spartonboat1]

Foam cored fiberglass, non-structural.

Only the best from Hatteras!

As has been noted before, the structural foam coring was present to provide a 'mold' over which to layup the fiberglass stringer system. After the glass set up, the foam stayed in place, but had no real further purpose.

The older hulls are solid fiberglass to the best of my knowledge. On one occasion, a Hatt shop employee showed me a round section of hull, which he had just cut out, while installing stabilizers. As Willis Slane used to do, you could have shot it with a 45cal round, and it would not have penetrated! Very tough stuff!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Core plugs from the engine bays just in front of the mains where the pumps are... for the Disesa drains ;-)) ws

 

[mtadamek]

My friend was looking at a 28' Bertram recently and was told by the surveyor that 1 of the stringers was pretty rotten due to a blister that formed on the hull and was not taken care of correctly. The water intrusion caused the stringer to fail and my friend not to buy the boat.

I started wondering about the stringers on my 1965 41' Hatteras. Thoughout the process of refitting my boat, structural issues were non-existent. After looking at some pictures of 28' bertrams that had been repowered I noticed that the stringers were mere 1x6 or so wood with a fiberglass covering layed up on them. It seems like this would fail more often than not...Especially on a 1970's era boat. Looks like hatteras did us all a favor. The only water that my hull holds is in the front bilge. I always have about .5" of water the pump never pumps out, but I never figured this as a problem. All the other bilges are completely dry usless we are underway. Is the water in the front bilge something I should be concerned about?

 

[mtadamek]

Pretty impressive core samples. If that were attempted today, the cost of the resin, labor, and the cloth would be incredible. All hand laid with no chopper guns. I don't think there is another production boat in the world with that thickness of hull. I have read articles about how the new production boats can stand up to some of the old hand laid hulls, but I just can't believe that they could ever be as tough as an old Hatteras hull. Lighter, sure, but will they be around in 40+ years?????? And bullet proof to boot.

 

[spartonboat1]

My friend was looking at a 28' Bertram recently and was told by the surveyor that 1 of the stringers was pretty rotten due to a blister that formed on the hull and was not taken care of correctly. The water intrusion caused the stringer to fail and my friend not to buy the boat.

I started wondering about the stringers on my 1965 41' Hatteras. Thoughout the process of refitting my boat, structural issues were non-existent. After looking at some pictures of 28' bertrams that had been repowered I noticed that the stringers were mere 1x6 or so wood with a fiberglass covering layed up on them. It seems like this would fail more often than not...Especially on a 1970's era boat. Looks like hatteras did us all a favor. The only water that my hull holds is in the front bilge. I always have about .5" of water the pump never pumps out, but I never figured this as a problem. All the other bilges are completely dry usless we are underway. Is the water in the front bilge something I should be concerned about?

I remember looking at a used Bert about 15-20 years ago, when I also looked my first ever 43'MY Hatt. When I stuck my head down in the Bert ER, my first thought was, wow, wooden stringers identical to my 1953' 40' Chris Craft! My first sight of a couple DD 6-71's was awesome (modern term...but I did think they were cool)...

 

[dennis]

I removed my Naiad stabilizer fin actuators a year ago to have them rebuilt and in the process measured the hull thickness exposed by the hole in the hull. I measured the thickness and it was a heavy three quarters of an inch. My boat is a 43 DC. It was solid fiberglass with no coring of any kind.

 

[jim rosenthal]

In the course of repowering my 36C we drilled holes in the bottom for new seawater intakes. I kept the cores we drilled out- nearly an inch thick.

When I visited the High Point plant years ago I watched workmen laying up a large convertible hull in the mold- all glass cloth, no chop gun stuff, although they had guns which pumped the resin out through a spray head, mixed with the catalyst. And everything was squeegeed down by hand using comb rollers. Nowadays that would be very old tech, I'm certain, but I was impressed then by how clean everything was and the appearance of the factory. I remember Walt Frazier telling me that the hull would cure in the mold for two weeks after it was laid up, and also noticing that the top of the hull molding was braced by metal bars glassed in temporarily so that the hull molding would not warp. I also recall him telling me that Hatteras was one of the few companies that built their own electrical panels in house.

 

[BUSTER]

I remember looking at a used Bert about 15-20 years ago, when I also looked my first ever 43'MY Hatt. When I stuck my head down in the Bert ER, my first thought was, wow, wooden stringers identical to my 1953' 40' Chris Craft! My first sight of a couple DD 6-71's was awesome (modern term...but I did think they were cool)...

Kind of coincidental........I removed and rebuilt a transmission on a 1989 33' Bertram a couple of weeks ago.I could not stop looking at those flimsy engiine bed stringers. Two by whatever stringers,covered with roving and the engine beds were just aluminum angles bolted through the stringer.Really,not a lot more than a Searay has.

Not exactly the way Hatteras does it.lol!