I'm in the midst of buying the first boat for my family, on a budget as always i'm looking at gop boats of late 70's vintage, ie glasskraft, fleetline, etc - and the thought has popped into my head "do the hulls have a reasonably defined lifespan?". Life span of fibreglass the woodenboat forum is sponsored by woodenboat publications , publisher of woodenboat magazine. the forum is a free service, and much like the "free" content on public radio, we hope you will support woodenboat by subscribing to this fabulous magazine.. Twenty years is often quoted as the lifespan of an frp vessel. however, there are many vessels older than this still very sound and in service. it is also obvious that an frp pleasure boat which is well maintained and rarely used will have a longer service life than an frp trawler in daily use and repaired only when something breaks..
Fibreglass hull lifespan? i'm in the midst of buying the first boat for my family, on a budget as always i'm looking at gop boats of late 70's vintage, ie glasskraft, fleetline, etc - and the thought has popped into my head "do the hulls have a reasonably defined lifespan?". Fibreglass has a half life of more than 10,000 years, though doubtful it would still be in a solid mass. there a wreck of a 40+ year old fibreglass boat on an island not far from here, it was burning when beached and the has been covered by the tide every day and in tropical sun all year round.. I restored a 1972 boat in 1992, and it looked and preformed as new. that boat has been sailing daily ever since and is still in top shape--over 35 years old. if a fiberglass boat is cared for properly its life span may well approach 100 years--at least the best built. it is the non fiberglass components which fail..
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