Basic quality requirements for a boat designed to take off shore 70mph+ abuse.

I ask after talking to an aquantance this weekend. The person's other half is producing some of these 25' + center console style performance "fishing" boats. I asked about layup and heard " chop gun" almost instantly. I asked the person why they were using chop. They said, "because it's way to exspensive to use all woven mat."
The person said it as though it was perfectly normal and common with such a high end boat. I am about as green as it gets and would love to hear any opinions on what you would consider minimum "quality" with regular rolled out resin layups.

Chop gun.... too funny... It's quick ...dirty.... heavy... no control over the direction of the glass... Cheap,,, almost no labor involved compared to hand layup... but oh so fast... strength to weight ratio is lousy..About the only time you see offshore boat manufacturers using a chopper gun... it is to build up the glass on a mold.. but never on a hull... That is the way boats were built 40 years ago... it's great on a small 16 foot boat that will only do 25 mph... I'd be scared to death on anything bigger than 25' and faster than 35 mph...

some times used in non structural stuff like dash panels and pash pods. I see no major problem with that.

Oh yeah Puder... I agree... perfect for stuff like that...

The response was about the hull. Gelcoat, chop gun, then mat. Now that I think about it, that almost sounds like the mat was for asthetics...

The final mat was to smooth out the inside... chopper gun boats are really rough ... sharp little barbs sticking up everywhere... Sometimes they are just ground and then painted... that is how they did it back in the 60's.

I would also bet the hull and deck are not glassed together. Probably rivited? Makes for some good flexing. Check his deck hardware, is it through bolted with backing plates? How are the seats made? How much hidden wood that isn't sealed? How is the rigging? Supported by cushioned stainless steel clamps?

If a lot of the answers are no, then the boat may go 70, but it is unlikely that it will do it 5 years from now without stuff falling off and the gell coat looking like a spider web.

It's scary to think there aren't any "standards" for boat builders like there are for automobiles... Lucky us... could you imagine crash testing a new OL??? I can see it now... run one into a bridge piling at oh.... say... 100 mph...

that'll leave a mark!

Oh yeah...