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Chapter One APPLICATIONS Recreational Marine Industry Over 30 years of FRP boat building experience stands behind today’s pleasure boats. Complex configurations and the advantages of seamless hulls were the driving factors in the development of FRP boats. FRP materials have gained unilateral acceptance in pleasure craft because of light weight, vibration damping, corrosion resistance, impact resistance, low construction costs and ease of fabrication, maintenance and repair. Fiberglass construction has been the mainstay of the recreational boating industry since the mid 1960s. After about 20 years of development work, manufacturers seized the opportunity to mass produce easily maintained hulls with a minimum number of assembled parts. Much of the early FRP structural design work relied on trial and error, which may have also led to the high attrition rate of startup builders. Current leading edge marine composite manufacturing technologies are driven by racing vessels, both power and sail. Racing sail and power events not only force a builder to maximize structural performance through weight reduction, but also subject vessels to higher loads and greater cycles than would normally be seen by vessels not operated competitively. Examples of raceboat technology and some other firms that have carved out nitches in the industry are presented for illustrative purposes. This is by no means an exhaustive list of manufacturers who are doing innovative work in the field. Racing Powerboats Racing powerboats employ advanced and hybrid composites for a higher performance craft and driver safety. Fothergill Composites Inc., Bennington, VT, has designed, tested and manufactured a safety cell cockpit for the racing boat driver. The safety cell is constructed of carbon and aramid fibers with aramid honeycomb core. This structure can withstand a 100 foot drop test without significant damage. During tShaecramento Grand Pr,ixthree drivers in safety cell equipped boats survived injury from accidents. [1-1] Ron Jones Marine Ron Jones Marine, located in Kent WA, manufactures high-tech hydroplanes for racing on the professional circuit. Ron Jones, Sr. has been building racing hydroplanes since 1955. In the 1970s, these classes switched to composite construction. Today, Ron and his son build specialized craft using prepreg reinforcements and honeycomb coring. Over 350 boats have been built in Jones’ shop. Many innovations at the Ron Jones shop focus on driver safety for these boats that race in excess of 200 mph. To control airborne stability, Jones builds a tandem wing aft spoiler using low-cost sheet metal molds. They also developed sponson-mounted skid fins, advanced hydrodynamic sponsons and blunt bows. [1-2] Paramount to driver safety is the safety cell developed by Ron Jones Marine. Safety cells are also sold as retrofit kits. Figure 1-1 shows a typical safety cell and hydroplane race boat. The safety cells feature flush mounted polycarbonate windows providing 270 visibility and underside emergency rescue hatches. 1PDF Image | Marine Componsites
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