| tart --> | | | | 2. Long life |
| Most sailboats are fiberglass these days, but if | | | | On the face of it, both steel and aluminum should |
| you are looking for a really strong sailboat, you | | | | last a long time, and both need some attention. |
| are likely to choose steel or aluminum. Fiberglass is | | | | Both can suffer from galvanic corrosion in salt |
| fine for normal use, but if you are going cross | | | | water - especially in marinas - so you need more |
| oceans, or give your sailboat a hard life, metal is | | | | sacrificial anodes than with fiberglass, and you |
| best. They are also good materials if you want to | | | | need to renew them regularly. Aluminum is at a |
| get your own design of sailboat built. | | | | slight disadvantage in this respect - you must |
| The reason aluminum or steel are best is that | | | | maintain good anodes, but as these usually last |
| metals are both strong and stiff, and when hit | | | | more than a season this is not a problem. |
| really hard, they bend - fiberglass and even the | | | | Aluminum panels that are exposed to the |
| most advanced composites will break, and even | | | | atmosphere form an oxide film automatically, and |
| shatter. Then the sailboat will almost certainly sink. | | | | this prevents further corrosion. So long as the |
| A sailboat with a dent in the hull can keep going. | | | | panels are dry, they do not corrode. Therefore, it |
| There are other advantages, too. Fiberglass boats | | | | is best to leave most of the hull unpainted, and to |
| usually have separate keels that are bolted in | | | | coat the decks with non-slip panels - these are |
| place. The bolts 'work' in the retaining holes in the | | | | like rubber mats that are bonded in position - |
| hull, enlarging then slightly, and after a few years | | | | rather than non-slip paint for example. |
| you are likely to get leaks. Worse still, if you | | | | With a little care, an aluminum hull will last a very |
| press your sailboat really hard, the bolts can | | | | long time. Steel is very different because it is |
| break,and you lose the keel. This happens quite | | | | always trying to corrode or rust away. It must |
| often in racing, and can happen to cruising | | | | be treated, then coated to give it protection. It is |
| sailboats as well. | | | | usually easy to see what is happening outside, and |
| The keel of a steel or aluminum boat is formed | | | | keep the hull in good shape, but not so easy to |
| as part of the hull, so it cannot come off - and | | | | see what is happening in the bilges, and behind |
| the ballast of lead or steel is encapsulated inside, | | | | lockers and elsewhere. Almost always, after a |
| where it cannot move. | | | | few years, a steel hull will start to corrode on the |
| If you are looking for a 20-28 foot sailboat to | | | | inside, owing to condensation or water getting |
| cruise around rivers, estuaries and a little offshore | | | | inside. Therefore, the steel boat is not so likely to |
| cruising, then fiberglass is fine. But if you want to | | | | last a long time without giving some trouble - |
| go further, or you want your boat to be of a | | | | unless it has very thick panels - like a ship, in |
| particular design, choose aluminum or steel. Many | | | | which case it will be very heavy. |
| firms offer excellent designs for metal sailboats, | | | | Expensive to Repair |
| and some offer sets of panels that you weld | | | | When steel starts to rust badly, it costs a lot of |
| together - or have welded together - usually | | | | money to repair. I have met several people who |
| complete with instructions. | | | | have had problems with steel sailboats. One |
| Twenty years ago, it was much easier to weld | | | | couple I knew spent six months, working every |
| steel than aluminum, but with modern welding sets | | | | day, to remove the rust from the hull of their |
| and alloys, aluminum can be welded easily with | | | | steel sailboat. Fortunately, the hull was thick and |
| just a little training - hours not weeks. Therefore, | | | | had been well protected so it remained sound. |
| more and more sailboats -and smaller motor | | | | One sailboat that was about ten years old was |
| boats - are being made from aluminum. | | | | found to have rusted badly through the whole |
| But the next question is: Should I choose steel or | | | | hull- and needed repairing extensively, with new |
| aluminum? | | | | panels. The boat was worth about $30,000 in |
| The things to be considered are: | | | | good condition, but it would cost $20,000 to strip |
| 1. Weight and weight distribution | | | | the boat out for welding and then to refit it. On |
| 2. Long life | | | | top of that the welding repairs would cost |
| 3. Maintenance | | | | $10,000. In other words, the boat was almost |
| 1. Weight advantage of aluminum | | | | worthless. |
| Steel is stronger than aluminum, but this is not the | | | | Another man I met had bought a 32 foot steel |
| advantage it seems with a sailboat because if the | | | | sailboat which was only a few years old. On the |
| panels of the hull are too thin, they are difficult to | | | | maiden voyage, he found water in the bilges |
| weld without distortion, and you will end up with a | | | | which he discovered was leaking through the hull. |
| hull with wavy panels. The minimum practical | | | | He returned to port, got it safely to a suitable |
| thickness is around 1/8 inch (3 mm) and an | | | | yard, and when I met him first he had started |
| aluminum hull made from 3/16 inch (5 mm) plate | | | | work on repairs. |
| is plenty strong enough for a 35-foot yacht and is | | | | This steel sailboat had cost $75,000, yet the hull |
| lighter than the steel boat. | | | | was riddled with rust which in many places could |
| If you are building a 40 or 50 foot sailboat, the | | | | be pushed through with a small screwdriver. He |
| weight saving with aluminum over steel will be | | | | told me the rust was mostly along the weld joints |
| considerable - in all cases this allows the designer | | | | and reinforcements. |
| to put the weight where it is needed for a good | | | | I met him a year later, and he had finished |
| motion at sea - in the keel. As a result, aluminum | | | | welding up the hull. He had had to replace just |
| sailboats usually have a sea-kindly motion. With a | | | | about every panel below the water line, and was |
| racing boat, the reduced weight is an advantage, | | | | then fitting the boat out. He had help from his |
| although a hull made completely from carbon fiber | | | | father and a friend, but he still reckoned it had |
| will be a bit lighter, but is brittle. | | | | cost him $70,000 to repair. |