Curious about the West Epoxy System

[BigAssHam]

Thanks for all the information from everyone. Very interesting.

[sailingdog]

55 tons of wooden boat...damn that's a big boat... wonder how many gallons of epoxy they used.

[camaraderie]

There's an article too over on the West System site about al of the equipment and testing they had to undertake for this boat to stand under the loads...quite interesting...just google the boat name and look for a WEST link.

[Johnrb]

I remember seeing the Bruce King designed Whitefin in 1983 at a wooden boat show in Newport. The boat was so beautiful people would just stop and admire the details, almost always in silence. I believe it too was built using cold molding. Here is the only photo I could find (I think it's now privately owned in Italy).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspart...in/set-862667/

[Sailormann]

Does anyone know of any boats that were built using the West Epoxy System ( saturated wood laminates and glassed over ) and are over 15 years old? I'm curious to know how this construction method holds up over the years. I haven't been able to find any info. Thanks.

I owned a WEST system strip planked Tancook Schooner. It would have been close to 16 years old when I sold her. This was not a cold-moulded boat, where thin strips of veneer are laid up in alternating directions. This hull was thick , and built of carefully cut and shaped 1 inch square strips of wood.

The boat was great. Maintenance was a bit more than the average fibreglass boat, but nowhere near the amont of time required for a regular wooden boat.

The big issue was remembering NOT to sand through the epoxy. In theory, the planks are hot and porous and just soak up the epoxy when they are immersed in it, but in reality, the stuff only goes into the wood a little way (in strip plank NOT cold-moulded construction). It does penetrate enough to seal the wood, and several finishing coats are applied to create a pretty water-resistant structure.

The boat was built with minimal framing, yet remained stiff and strong as long as I had her. There was never a problem with rot or wetness in the hull. I will say that I was religious about ensuring that she was sealed every season, and there were never any new holes drilled through the hull. She was painted, marine enamel topsides and various antifouling products under the waterline. UV was not an issue.

If I found another boat that I wanted, that was constructed the same way, I would not hesitate to buy her. As far as the cold-moulded craft go, I think that the difference between owning one of them and owning a fibrglass boat is negligible, with the exception that you need to be religious about sealing every single hole or void in the boat.

I might be a bit shy about the ones that are bright finished, particularly if they have been like that for a long time. The deleterious effects of UV on epoxy were not well-known when the earlier boats were built, hence they might have had the chance to seriously degrade by now.

Good Luck !