sailboat survivability

[mikieg]

i appreciate the "floating cork" qualities of a closed up sailboat to sinking. but it has always made me wonder as to why they are not sink proofed like powerboats? there is certainly no shortage of spaces to shoot that foam into. whats the deal?
has anyone modified their boat to these standards?

[neverknow]

The amount of foam required would be so much it wouldn't work. A sailboat weighs much more than a power boat of equal length do to the ballest.

[mikieg]

my boat is 25' and weighs 2400#.

[treilley]

Originally Posted by neverknow

The amount of foam required would be so much it wouldn't work...

Not true. Check out the Etap.

[RobGallagher]

http://www.etapyachting.com/index.html

:::::: 2012 Survival ::::::

It's comforting to know that the owners of Etap believe the end times are coming via tidal wave and the only way to survive is on on unsinkable boat.

They also seem to have a love of Roger Whittaker.

Open fist, palm up, lower head, slap skull.

[mikieg]

they are setting up a survival community. sounds alot like jim jones without all the jesus hoopla. where people can live harmoniously? this has yet to happen since the history of humanity.

[aeventyr60]

Cruisers out here living pretty darn harmoniously!

[peterchech]

Originally Posted by mikieg

i appreciate the "floating cork" qualities of a closed up sailboat to sinking. but it has always made me wonder as to why they are not sink proofed like powerboats? there is certainly no shortage of spaces to shoot that foam into. whats the deal?
has anyone modified their boat to these standards?

Back to the OP.

I believe that almost all multihulls have positive flotation, but that's not really surprising since they don't have lead keels and are often foam cored.


James Baldwin of Atom Voyages has an article somewhere about trying to introduce positive flotation in his boat. The biggest problem is trying to find space for it in such a small boat without losing most of your storage space. But rather than using foam, if one can use sealed compartments this becomes less of an issue I think. That said, it is unlikely that large sealed compartments, which allow ready access to stores inside, wouldn't leak after a while so...

The mini 650's, those 22' keelboats that race single handed across the atlantic often hitting 20 knots and higher, are required to have positive flotation. I'm not sure whether they use foam or sealed compartments to acheive this. They also have long bulb keels, which reduce the amount of lead they are carrying and prob make it easier to give them positive flotation.

Some C-22's had foam flotation I think, but they are fairly light boats with centerboards that weigh a little over 500 pounds or so...

One possible solution I have thought of is lining the entire inside of the hull with 1 inch thick pink closed cell foam insulation. You lose some space on the interior, but it wouldn't be as noticeable as if you put the same amount of flotation under the v-berth or something. It would have good insulating properties as well, but might be a good place for mildew to collect if not sealed well. A layer of woven 10 ounce glass over the foam would seal it up well if one was so inclined. But this is ALOT of work to try and make your boat float...

[curtcee]

David Sadler built some "unsinkable" sailboats.

SADLER 25 Mk III sailboat on sailboatdata.com

Curtis

[tommays]

Originally Posted by mikieg

i appreciate the "floating cork" qualities of a closed up sailboat to sinking. but it has always made me wonder as to why they are not sink proofed like powerboats? there is certainly no shortage of spaces to shoot that foam into. whats the deal?
has anyone modified their boat to these standards?

The foam and sinking deal only works on fairly small powerboats <25' and the WET foam (YES IT ALWAYS GETS WET) causes endless issues