RS Cat

Originally posted by hum3 Originally posted by transient yep assy blox defo, more strategic my arse...on small, slow boats at least, whether made of polyester, rotomould or cheese   IN MY OPINION   Fixed it for you.   You're welcome...

LMAO.

....Thank you kindly Hum3........now go back through this thread or indeed the forum in general and fix the other similar recent posts....if it was all edited out there'd be bugger all left

....when in rome.

If I felt inclined to go off topic I'd argue from logic and reason the basis for my echoing of yellowwellies statement.

FACT

Edited by transient - 25 Jul 13 at 11:54am

Originally posted by transient ....Thank you kindly Hum3........now go back through this thread or indeed the forum in general and fix the other similar recent posts....

Originally posted by hum3 BUT ANYWAY...   Anyone got anything interesting to add to this thread about this Cat

Originally posted by L123456 Originally posted by transient Originally posted by yellowwelly or folks who were brought up dinghy sailing, now getting back into it or realising all that asymmetric b**locks was a complete waste of time & energy.   yep assy blox defo, more strategic my arse...on small, slow boats at least, whether made of polyester, rotomould or cheese 200 up for sale shortly Assy sailing is no more or less tactical than the converse; it is just the gains (and losses) are accentuated by the bigger angles sailed downwind. So it is more obvious. There is an argument that with the greater angles sailed that provided greater tactical choice which is true.

Edited by yellowwelly - 25 Jul 13 at 12:25pm

Most boat builders, understandably, prefer to use materials they are familar and comfortable working with, but that doesn't make them the best choice.

I'm sure Al knows more than I do, but IMHO boat building has created rod for its own back by marketing epoxy/foam/carbon as the de facto ultimate material combo. Of course, there are applications where this is the best choice - a 14 or Moth wouldn't be competitive with these high quality materials. But in most day-to-day apllications 'lesser' materials will suffice to the extent that there would be virtually no degradation of performance, but with the advantages of reduced cost and increased robustness.
This kind of cat, for example, will run low rig tension and make no attempt to plane. Stiffness and weight are therefore not of paramount importance, so even in rotomolded form will probably be quicker than an 800 and shed loads more robust and lower maintenance. And heaps cheaper. All good reasons for buying one.
There is a growing gulf between high end epoxy built boats and basic rotomolds. Standard polyester GRP sits in this gap, but there is an alternative that will surely replace them. Reinforced thermoplastics offer the potential for the robustness of rotomolded plastic boats but with the stiffness and weight of normal thermoset boats. And, they are recyclable and don't release VOCs when curing. The reinforcing fibres can be short, long or continuous. The longer the fibre, the better the mechanical performance, but short fibres mean the plastic can be injection molded so very automated production and low labour intensity. The plastic can be anything from polypropylene to PEEK, and the reinforcement anything from glass to carbon, so a wide range of material properties can be achieved. This stuff is widely and increasingly used in the automotive and aerospace industries, so is well proven. The downside is tooling costs are higher than for GRP as the plastic needs to be heated to about 200C.
Twintex is one such material, essentially a prepreg cloth of glass and polypropylene that can be draped and used much like a carbon/epoxy prepreg. Cleaner, greener, healthier to work with, more bump proof when sailing and recycled at the end of life. And I believe the polypropylene doesn't soak up water, unlike polyester, so shouldn't get heavier with age.
Thermoplastics have many advantages for boats and they won't stay at the very basic level they are being used at currently.