Re: Fiberglass Pax 20

Posted by craig on Jan 28, 2005

I also built Pax 20 as my first(and only, so far). I now run an ICF K-1 fibreglass boat(the Orion, as waa produced by Wenoah for many years, until they mergered with Current Designs). It works as a 27 lb. fibreglass boat because of the design. It is a diamond shaped boat with no hard edges at or below the waterline. All of the light weight glass boats have an almost round bottom. To create a hard chined glass boat would cause it to weigh much more than a wood boat. The glass does not have the correct structual rigidity needed to make the chines without considerable reinforement or buttressing, which add as much weight as a corresponding amount of epoxy in the joints. Now, as to the fable on glass durability, polyester resin is not waterproof, epoxy is. If you scratch through the gelcoat into the polyester, the boat will take on water and delaminate. To create a light glass boat, you can only use 1-2 cm of gel coat, and this is not thick enough to keep the boat in good shape, without constant maintenance and repair. Build your Pax in wood and be very careful to use only the amount of epoxy necessary. Use wood blocks instead of solid end poors and you can probably get a 35 lb boat.

In Response to: Re: Fiberglass Pax 20 by Gene on Jan 28, 2005

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