Any one ever make a bustle like a skater or outerlimits? I assume they build a core and laminate it then the attach it to the hull? Are they seem to be pretty thin how they attached? Do they just laminate the to the hull?

I have the mold for the 40' skater bussel

Jim darr alert......Jim darr alert....

You're beyond belief Jim,.

Definitely not a thin or superficial piece by any means. I have often thought about the prospect of building a bustle and what it would take, especially now that i have a pair of Arnesons sitting on the shelf that will most likely need stand off boxes on whatever I put them on. My thoughts are the stern of the boat would need to be completely built and designed to hang the box off, including new stringers and knee bracing to beef it up accordingly. I would probably make the sides of the box kneed'd into the stringers or something like that. Its a project that would need to be well thought outl

These guys added one, but they don't give too much info it doesn't look to complicated. (famous last words I know)

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-racer-10.html

I cant imagine it would see any more force than a typical swim platform. many of those are not as beefy as one would think. I don't plan on building one as long some of the ones they use I'm thinking 18" would be plenty. the longer obviously the more force they would have to deal with.

Using a mold would be nice but not practical for a one off piece.

a wood core would be easy to work with but foam will hold up better. and be lighter

It does not appear that Skater ties these into the stringers? etc I know they are added after they leave the mold. Some appear to be little more than a flat surface with a couple of braces. I'm curious as to how they attach this to hull.

oops, ya know i may be thinking of something else. I dont know why but i thought you wanted to stand the drives off. You are just looking to add a shrouded affect over the drives, my bad. Yea thats a different thing all together. Not necessarily structural but would still have to take some abuse. I would probably still build a quick and dirty mold to loft the part. Gonna have to be well tabbed on.

Do you think I could just core it and tab it in? if so should I do a 6" /12" tab? Yeah glass stand off boxes would be way more work, that would basically need to be part of the hull like you suggested. Unless you are a master of glass (like you self) it would probably be easier to buy stand off boxes.

lol, yea i dont know how i thought thats what ya wanted lol. I would probably over do the tabbing a bit but you on the right track staggering the widths. What are you putting it on? Surface laminate generally isnt a problem on stuff like this, rather joints/gussets and edges take the beating so they need to be properly thought out. Not necessarily over built but very well done and with the right schedule/materials. A good foam core in the four or five pound range, or even end grain baltek.

I don't have the hull yet but it will probably be a small flat deck of some sort. 24/7 or scarab cv26, leaning towards the scarab. do you think I should carry the tabbing out farther than 12"? what schedule should I use? I will round the edges ans probably do 4 large gussets like skater does. probably some smaller ones under the spans as well.