[Jeff_H]

With all due respect, I am somewhat skeptical about the post stating that Beneteaus have particle board in thier construction.

Not all that long ago I read a article that described Beneteau as the largest user of marine grade plywood in the world, and because of that, how Beneteau was able to influence veneers, plys, and laminating practices for the products they bought and that other boat builders were able to purchase as well.

The article talked about the Beneteau chosing inner plys which gave them specific weight and strength advantages. While it is possible that Beneteau uses particle board on their charter fleet spec'd boats, I would be skeptical of that. Given that Beneteau went though the process of developing lighter weight plywood that the article suggested was being used across the Beneteau line, I cannot imagine them then turning around and using particle board, which is generally significantly heavier than plywood.

That said, while I persoinally generally am not a fan of 'particle board' type produces, we are now seeing OSB concrete formwork and OSB subflooring which has better moisture resistance than the plywoods and are using better moisture glues and internal sealants than were typically used for this purpose in the past.

Jeff