SEA-GOING YACHT IN PLASTIC

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27709, 13 July 1955, Page 10

SEA-GOING YACHT IN PLASTIC

Moulded Hull 54ft Long LONDON. Believed to be the largest single plastics moulding in the world, the hull of a sea-going yacht 54ft long is being made in glass-reinforced polyester resin by a United Kingdom firm under Lloyds survey. The firm was one of the first in the United Kingdom to produce plastic hulls and has completed a number of successful craft. When this latest and largest hull, which weights 60001 b, has been fitted out, the finished yacht will be used for big-game fishing off Cape Town. The hull was moulded in three working weeks from a sectional wooden mould and is pigmented pearl grey. It has a single thickness of about sin reinforced by IJin deep hollow “top hat” frames at 12in intervals. It is appreciably lighter, it is said, than a comparable wooden hull built to a standard Lloyds specification and has greater strength. It is of the round bilge, displacement type, and was designed to incorporate a built-in spray chine which serves to keep the boat dry and forms a fore and afti stringer without adding to the weight! or cost. Another interesting feature is the: keel or skeg. This has been moulded in, thereby overcoming the problems of rot and the ravages of marine borers. The yacht will be fitted with two 200 h.p. Rolls-Royce diesel engines, giving it a speed of 20 knots.