Fiber glassing the 580 hull

 

Thoughts of glassing the hull with two layers of 600 haunted me for ages, not fully knowing how to do it and having to do it on my own. Then I discovered peel ply !

I decided to glass the hull in glass cloth widths, one day at a time. Transom was first, then each piece laid across the hull, overlapping by about 100mm. While each piece was wet, I pressed on peel ply. The whole boat was covered, then a second layer overlapping the first layer, like bricks in a wall.

Below are photos of the process.

The best decision I made was hiring a professional plasterer to apply the epoxy and filler layers. First half was done by lunch, I was mixing and Kevin, the plasterer, applying the mix. Second half after lunch and then I faired for two days ! Then another, thinner layer was applied and faired again.

Before turning the hull, the waterline and center line were drawn. I also made a rough template for a cradle.

I made a copy of the skeg template from stiff insulation and shaped it with a wood file. The covered with 600 gm cloth and the insulation broken out.