No Wood?
 

Are there any boats that don't have wood in them? If there is when did they change over to all plastic, fiber composite or whatever they are using? It seems like there is a lot of rotten transoms and stringer issues out there in the used boat world.
Are some manufacture's more apt to rot than others?
Still looking for a 29-30 boat!
thanks RB

I have a Cobalt and to the best of my knowledge there are only 2 pieces of wood in the entire boat -- 1 to hold the instruments and 2 to hold the radio.

Everything else is a composite -- that is one of the reasons why we went with Cobalt - don't have to worry about rot!

3pointstar

Wellcraft=rot

I think it really just depends on age, as many manufacturers have slowly been migrating over to wood free construction since the late 90's/early 2000's. oddly I'm not sure about what all in the go-fast world is wood-free.

Yes, I was speaking of the go fast boats. I do know that the comp ski boats started no wood back in the mid 80's.

Nordics are all wood free since 08.

Concepts are wood free since at least 2004 and I think its more like 2000 or longer, but dont quote me on that.

Oh wait...those are not go fasts though at least not per this thread..."What ever happened to offshore go-fast boats?"

Newer fountains, bajas, and donzi are wood free. I'm not sure what year they moved to composites though.

So are you saying their is no wood in the transoms
I know formula has the grid system in bottom but still wood in transom

Quote form Concepts brochure under construction. " Wood Free Hand laid Fiberglass Hull. High Density Composite Cell Core Transom and Stringer system encapsulated in Fiberglass & bonded together, Lifetime warranty to the the first owner."

Another quote form the brochure. " ...and from bow to stern the highest standards of quality wood free construction."

http://www.conceptboats.com/download...lerypdf/28.pdf

My 1967 hatteras. The upright behind side windows that holds roof and flybridge up has wood in it...and it is wet! Other than that only mahogany interior panels. And some cockpit deck supports. No wood in stringers or transom.

I am all for the not wood concept everywhere but the transom. The cored material is susceptible to compression failure which I have seen on performance boats in the past. I've talked to a number of builders including Doug Wright and John Cosker who agree. The Dragon and GTMM39 boats that I was involved with all had African Mahogany transoms.

I think a lot of people condemn wood when there are clear reasons why certain manufacturers have problems. Many of these builders don't practice proper boat building techniques. Examples would be, not sealing the wood, using non marine grade plywood, not sealing rigging screws..... Then there is the issue of older poly boats that just leak through the substrate quite a bit more(less watertight) than lets say a modern vinyl Ester. Nordic is one of many that went composite, however they didn't do it because they were having a rot issue. They are one of the manufaturers known for not having this issue. Buyers like the piece of mind, and in the end you have to keep them happy if you want to sell boats. Surprisingly their boats aren't much lighter vs the wood/fiberglass offerings prior to 2008. In the end if you have superior technology(with respect to its water resistance) that has become affordable, you use it. When done properly, there is nothing wrong with a wood/fiberglass boat.

My 1972 Allmand has no wood except for 1/2 of the transom and it's made of what I call Iron Wood. It must be African Mahogany. 40+ years exposed wood where they cutout the outdrive hole and you still cant drive a nail in it.

I can't agree more with your comments. There are a number of very fine boats that have used wood in a number of structural places. However, even with the most stringent process parameters, processes do vary- and in some cases this variation is so subtle that only after many runs/lots or in this case boats does one see process shift --not that it was out of spec - just different. The switch to composites was most likely the result of market demand as well as a reduction of process variability or cost. Also, a boat leaving a factory is not necessarily how the boat will be maintained or used. I've seen a number of - well intentioned owners-- get these high pressure sprayers and just blast the snot out of their outdrives and the areas where they seal against the transom -- well dugh- blast enough high pressure water into this area and I don't care how well the manufactured or controlled the "seal" process something has got to give.

I vote for composites for a couple of reasons. I believe they are structurally a little more sound and in my mind it takes some of the "worry" of degradation. Of course I keep boats a little longer than most.

These are all IMO

3pointstar

I agree that if a boat is taken care of it should last a long long time. As I have been trying to buy a go fast boat for the last several months I have ran across some boats that it seems that they should not have been having issues already. For instance a 10 yr old Fountain that supposedly has a bad transom. And this boat does not set outside every day of it's life. The boat is pretty much everything that I want but I have no idea what is involved in fixing a rotten transom on that kind of a boat.

Is there any kind of magic glue or chemical that can be injected into a stringer or transom?
thanks RB

Wood isn't the problem ,Water Intrusion is...Even in a composite boat once water intrusion starts then the problems begin with wet core followed by delamination...The biggest culprit is NOBODY bothers to re bed their hardware,,,most production company's use silicone or a marine grade silicone and it's junk,,,even the better polyurethane adhesives are still only good for about 5 years...The company's that take the time to do an infused ,scrimp or vac bag layup and properly resin or epoxy impregnate the core and also decore any areas that mechanical fasteners are going through the core ,then the core material is lasting A LOT LONGER ,But very few are doing this because it is cost prohibitive...IMHO the smartest thing to do is re bed your hardware every 5 years and resin or epoxy coat any exposed core or wood...Just my .02 cents worth which is still three cents shy of a nickle....

This is the real reason that GlassDave loves Wellcrafts 😄

Mastercraft was the first to go wood free ttbomk.

if nothing ever broke or wore out, most of us would be flipping burgers...

They are wood free when they quit building !!!!!

Active Thunder is wood free after around 1999 other than some interior stuff.

Wow that's really cool. I'd have never guessed.

My boat is wood free, I believe all of them since '96 were. Jefferson marlago, also not a real offshore.

Velocity

I think velocity still uses wood in their performance boat layup; however, you do have the option for a composite layup (like the bay boats and center console) for an extra cost.

How about Balsa wood, that was big for a while. What a mistake, talk about absorbent.

I dont think the composite materials are as strong as wood, all the big time boats are still wood for a reason.... nothing wrong with wood if it was done right, my Mistress is dry and b=never been redone, but everything was sealed properly in it...

I do not like the ride quality and jarring in Composite boats I been on, they flex too much... no thx gimme wood....

Yes, many folks don't realize just how strong plywood is. Then laminate it, and it's even stronger yet. Hopefully Glassdave will chime in on this.

I understand that there is a preference for custom carolina wood sport fishers over fiberglass boats. I'm assuming it's because the wood boats are more flexible and ride nicer.

My VR1 was advertised as no wood in cockpit interior. When I was at the factory last April they had signs up advertising no wood in any boat.