Quote:
Originally Posted by sailingdog
A good example is in one of the recent threads where a hull support in the bilge rusted away because it was made of stainless steel. Why would you want a large chunk of stainless steel in your bilge?
IMHO, it would make far more sense to replace that chunk of stainless with a fiberglass laminate that will not be affected by the water that often is found in the bilge. Also, a steel piece up against the hull, like this piece was, will cause two hard edges that the fiberglass laminate will flex and fatigue against—where a properly installed and designed laminate support will not.
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In my case, the 18 keel studs need tightening down very hard. GRP would be crushed under the washers, so SS backing plates are fitted to spread the load to the GRP. That's one extreme, the other is like X-Yachts, which I believe have an entire inverse arch structure in SS that takes the downward compression on the mast across to the cap shroud mounting each side, so the hull can be lighter.