Thats really what its all about, using your boat. I think we only put 80 hours on the boat this year. Would have been alot more if I didnt go off to school. That weekend was one of the best weekends of the year. Running down to the run, doing the run, then running back, getting stuck in a rain and thunder lightning storm then running out of gas in one motor at the mouth of the river!! It was a blast!!

Kevlar maybe?

Bobby said nothing about Kevlar he stated carbon fiber layed up as thick as fiberglas versions.

Been in and inspected a few kevlar boats and have seen the results of flex of the kevlar on gell coat and paint. No flex in this boat. Its like standing on a rock.

Carbon fiber was invented in the early 1960s so anything is possible. bob was always trying new things with his boats!

"Carbon fiber is one of the leading materials used in Formula One car production since the introduction of the fiber into common commercial use in the early 1980s." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_fiber

McManus does the carbon reinforcement of kevlar Apaches. Many builders do a carbon reinforcement at highly stressed points. Carbon is ridiculously expensive today and these days it's fairly common place. I couldn't imagine what it would cost to build a whole 33' hull out of the material in 1983.

I believe the wording as its being an experimental use of it was in the conversation too.

Carbon Fiber is a great product. Awesome for F1 cars, but does not make sense on hi-perf boats because it is so rigid. Best used on high stress points only I am told. Although I still wonder because it will shatter when under too much stress. I am not an expert, just give me a kevlar Apache resin bucket and I will go play in the rough!

They were saying that about Kevlar too- that it might be stronger but didn't yield progtressively. it was said to be either OK or shattered. Alot of that came from raceboat incidents where major failures occurred. Most likely it was excessively light layups that were the culprit.

In theory, carbon fiber is much stronger than any of the other fibers. The trick is the overall process- resins, resin ratios, cures, etc. All the aerospace stuff is cured in autoclaves. The one at Boeing is big enough to cure a carbon fiber apartment building.

yep....works for me...light and long built real strong.....1986 hull....sat for a few years in govt. warehouse.........running it since 95 no sign of age....and i run it....the proper way...........does not sit......ask anyone who has ridden in the Lucy boat...............m.m...

Looked pretty darn good at Bracco's a few months ago! I didn't know much about its history until you told me but, it looks damn good! PS, you were willing to run it MUCH harder than I was willing to run the couple times we came out the inlet together!!!! Then again, we had 40 miles to run on the ocean to get back home......is that a good enough excuse? The second time we ran I did run a bit faster than the first time a few weeks before....you guys looked great! GPS said 84 that day.....

See ya next year!