I am designing a 19' x 25" SOT similar to Aloha Dan's pelagic. I intend to build it from a set of female molds. Here is where I intend to stray from the norm. The bottom half will be molded in one piece. The top half will consist of two molded water tight sections fore and aft of the cockpit with the cockpit formed from foam that would rest on the bottom half.

Through hull penetrations for the mirage drive and scuppers would be limited to the foam formed cockpit area.

Here are some questions that I have about working with closed cell foam;

1. What would be some good ways to form the foam insert?

2. How to attach to the hull?

3. Material recommendations for the foam?

4. How to best finish the surface of the foam?

Additionally, I am looking for recommendations for terminating the transition from top halves to bottom half of the composite fore and aft of the cockpit area. To clarify, the top halvs would would return down below the top seam of the bottom half and fit to the hull shape.

Any help in these areas will be appreciated.

Trevor

I am not knowledgable in this area other than what I have read.

My uderstanding is you can use one of those SUR FORM tools to shape the foam.

The rest of your questions I leave to others, but I believe you can seal the close cell foam with epoxy (It won't eat the foam in other words)

Thanks for the feedback. I've decided to shell out the bucks to get the reinforced plastics handbook. It is about $230 but it seems to be the most up to date and comprehensive resource on the market right now.

After giving it some more thought, I remembered reading some leterature on some two part spray on rubber membranes. That would make for a flexable and comfortable surface.

I have been playing around with Bearboat pro and I am starting to get the hang of it. I still have a ways to go.

Looking around online I have seen some nice carbon / Kevlar weaves on the market. I think I will probably go with something like that for my finished product. Epic made a beautiful boat a couple of years ago that was made from carbon fiber and resin, no gel coat. She was all black from the natural color of the Carbon.
My stepdad has one. Absolutely beautiful. The carbon was already much lighter than glass and cutting out the gel coat cut out more weight. The lack of gel didn't make her any less durable in my opinion. It gets a lot of use and still looks great.

If it all works out, I think I'll be able to produce a 19' mirage drive boat that comes in a bit lighter than the Big A.

Just wondering, by making these boats mirage drive compatable are we stepping on Hobie's toes (copy rights)?

I'd be interested in that spray whatever it is.

Your not stepping on Hobie' toes as long as you buy their drive, don't build (mfg) one. They are for sale as a separate item.

No problem there. I plan on using the Hobie Mirage, Rudder assembly, Side kick, and sail.

http://www.liquid-roof.com/application.html

Here is one of the rubber products that I have seen. EPDM is pretty tough. I have built several ponds with it before but the stuf I used came in rolls. This stuff could be the ticket.

Very interesting stuff. I'll have to see if I can find a spot fr it.

I'm using the AI fittings and ama system. Having tired the 20 ft sq ail with Sidekick I just don't think it provides enough trolling speed.

Plus the AI furling aspect is a real boon.

Getting the mast to collapse with some sort of homemade universal joint and supporting sleeve looks like the biggest challenge to going with Hobie's AI sailing system.

I will be using my sail to get from A to B. Where I need to cover a lot of ground is behind the barrier islands of the Eastern shore of Virginia. Lots and lots of open shallow water. When I get to point B I will simply deposit the excess gear at a base camp or cache and peddal to the fishing grounds and start casting. If you look it up on Google earth you will see that some of the most promising spots are several miles from the closest launch.