Balsa Core: I'm pretty sure balsa coring was used by almost every manufacturer from the 70's, 80's and 90's to save weight, add stiffness, and problems can be detected by a decent survey. C&C used Balsa but so did Pearson, O'Day, Columbia, Ericson, Swan, Baltic, Beneteau, Jeanneau, Peterson, Morgan, Hunter, Catalina, Columbia, on and on. If you held a piece of balsa cored deck and compared it's lightness and stiffness to a solid laminate, you'd understand why a cored hull is so amazing and highly desirable. I'd say 90% of the boats in the average boatyard are balsa cored boats, sailboats and powerboats.
I've done some balsa core replacement and can share photos, but the end result is faired and painted and the repairs are undetectable, so my boat now looks better than when I bought her twenty years ago. Plus, all of my deck penetrations are now overdrilled, filled with thickened epoxy, and redrilled for the fasteners, so the balsa is sealed from moisture, which wasn't done when my boat was built. If a deck fastener leaks over time, the water will pass the balsa core and drip into the boat, alerting the owner to rebed the fitting. Many balsa cored boats are sailing offshore and around the world. Chuck Scheaffer Resolute 1989 C&C 34R, Annapolis > On 03/20/2023 7:06 PM Shawn Wright via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: > > > As we once again consider a boat with cored hull (LF43 or LF38), I am > reminded of why we eventually chose our current 35 four years ago. I couldn't > be sure of the hull integrity without an expensive survey, and at the low > price range we could afford, avoiding a cored hull just removed this concern. > > But as I understand it, most C&Cs over 35' have been cored since the late > 60s or early 70s depending on the model, so that includes a lot of boats, > most of which are probably still sailing, albeit mainly coastal cruising or > racing. Now as we consider the next boat for our long term offshore boat, > things like potential hull damage from a reef or a collision in a remote part > of the world are a concern. > > So I am interested in hearing about experiences with cored C&Cs, problem > which have occurred under both normal use and as a result of damage from > impact, and how effectively they could be repaired. > > I guess an additional question is how C&C's balsa coring compares with > modern day foam coring, either with or without vacuum bagging. I assume foam > has some advantages in not absorbing water. > > Thanks. > -- > Shawn Wright > shawngwri...@gmail.com mailto:shawngwri...@gmail.com > S/V Callisto, 1974 C&C 35 > https://www.facebook.com/SVCallisto > Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and > help me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > Thanks for your help. > Stu >
Please show your appreciation for this list and the Photo Album site and help me pay the associated bills. Make a contribution at: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks for your help. Stu
