Posted by Ted Brewer Boat Reviews. In the s and early s we rarely saw metal yachts in Stsel American stsel. Steel yachts had been built in Holland and Germany for many years but, with only oil-based paints to protect them, they were not particularly long lived. A few custom aluminum yachts were built overseas as well and in a couple of quality yards in the U.

However, aluminum was considered to be a material restricted to large and expensive craft; half the weight for twice the price vss the 80d conception. Today however, due to advances in the protection of steel hulls and the reduction in ve cost of aluminum, metal is often the material steel vs aluminum yachts 80s choice for both stwel and amateur-built yachts, steel vs aluminum yachts 80s steel and aluminum craft are commonly seen in almost every harbor.

Each material has its advantages, but the racing skipper will choose aluminum construction for its combination of lightness and strength, of course. The cruiser, on the other hand, may prefer steel for its greater strength and lower initial cost, or aluminum for its longevity, low maintenance, and high resale value.

Sailors interested in a metal yacht need steel vs aluminum yachts 80s know stee, pros and cons of the two materials so they can make qluminum intelligent choice, whether buying a used boat, building their own, or having a new custom yacht built.

I offer a few points to consider. The simplest comparison is that aluminum weighs about pounds per cubic foot and steel weighs pounds per cubic foot, almost three times as.

It is not steel vs aluminum yachts 80s simple a comparison steel vs aluminum yachts 80s. The machinery, interior furnishings, hardware, rig, general equipment, and stores weigh about the same for steel and aluminum craft, so the overall weight advantage of an aluminum yacht is not nearly as great as it might.

Comparing strengths is made more difficult because aluminum alloys lose strength after welding while steel does not. The table below shows the differences between some typical alloys. For example, a steel footer would be plated. Her aluminum sister might be plated. The 10 percent difference in strength is relatively inconsequential while the thicker aluminum still has a substantial aaluminum advantage: 2.

Aluminm, as pointed out earlier, the overall weight advantage might be only 20 to 25 percent in the long run due to the weight of the other parts of the yacht. Still, that means the aluminum yacht can be 20 800s lighter or carry Steel Vs Aluminum Yachts 95 extra ballast, and that translates into improved performance.

Steel also has the advantage of being 60 percent harder than aluminum, so it is much more resistant to abrasion in a aluminim on rock or rubbing up against a concrete bulkhead.

And, it is yahts malleable, so it will stretch farther in a collision or a aluminumm grounding on granite before rupturing. Aluminum, in turn, is more resistant to abrasion than either fiberglass or wood and will stretch a great deal more in a collision. In the stretching steel vs aluminum yachts 80s, I can tell of a foot ultra-light aluminum design of mine that had her anchor chain slip the stopper while sailing into the teeth of a knot squall, letting the anchor drop 15 feet or so before it jammed.

For close to an hour the boat rose on each big sea and fell onto her heavy Bruce anchor, yet the only damage was several 2-inch-deep dents in her light. This is certainly alumium unusual accident but aluminm one of the solid advantages of metal yachts. I feel certain a wood or glass hull would have suffered severe damage in a similar situation.

In any case, sailing yachtx a metal yacht can be very comforting when you are out on the deep blue competing for lebensraum with floating cargo containers. Even cleats and other hardware can be welded to the deck, or machine-screw fastened to pads welded in place, to avoid bolt holes through an otherwise watertight structure.

The marine aluminum alloys, and used for yachts and commercial fishing vessels are very different from the aluminum used in your pots and pans at home. The marine alloys contain a substantial yahcts 3. They are essentially inert. Indeed, these metals are not even similar to the T6 used in your mast. The latter is a heat-treatable alloy yachta steel vs aluminum yachts 80s substantial strength in the vicinity of a weld; hardly steel vs aluminum yachts 80s quality we want in our hulls with Steel Vs Aluminum Yachts Generations their hundreds of feet of welding.

Nor is T6 as corrosion-resistant in a marine atmosphere, as some sailors have discovered to their sorrow. Still T6 is favored for internal steel vs aluminum yachts 80s by many builders due to its stiffness and is used, suitably increased sreel thickness, for frames, longitudinals, keel, knees, and other parts that will not come into contact with sea water.

Quality aluminum yachts are plated with series steel vs aluminum yachts 80s on the hull and superstructure, of course, and are all-welded structures. Proof that the marine aluminum alloys are unaffected in sea water is that many commercial fishing craft, and an increasing number of yachts, are not even painted above the waterline.

The aluminum will darken to a gray steel vs aluminum yachts 80s with age, but its strength and durability are essentially unchanged. The interior of the aluminum hull need not be painted either but, obviously, the bottom must have anti-fouling paint applied 80 prevent the growth of performance-robbing weeds and barnacles.

Steel, of course, rusts quickly in a saltwater atmosphere, so a steel yacht needs to be protected inside and. The interior is usually painted with coal-tar epoxy, while the exterior can be epoxy-coated or flame-sprayed with zinc or aluminum.

In either case, the steel must be sand-blasted inside and out with sharp silica sand to provide a tooth for the paint or flame spray.

This substantial extra labor can offset the higher material cost of the aluminum to a substantial degree. In talking to a couple of builders recently I had one tell me that he would charge about 20 percent more for a completed aluminum yacht over steel and another say that setel and steel yachts come out very close in price due to the extra labor of blasting and finishing the interior of the steel hull.

One advises to flame spray, preferably with aluminum; another says that an seel coating is better than flame spraying. I have seen both methods give good results after years of service and, in my opinion, it is simply up to the owner to toss the coin. Whether steel or aluminum, both metals are well below copper on the galvanic scale, and using bronze or copper in alkminum with either is a no-no! Perhaps the epitome of this is the very famous designer who, early in this century, built a large and expensive racing yacht of aluminum plating on bronze frames.

The vessel barely lasted a year, much to the surprise and dismay of the designer and owner! Some designers and builders use stainless steel seacocks, but I prefer the fiberglass-reinforced nylon yacjts, as I do not like yachhs see stainless steel used below the waterline in salt water if at all steel vs aluminum yachts 80s. For anti-fouling protection, tin-based bottom paint is the best available for metal yachts, the best available for any yacht for that matter, but is outlawed in many countries due to its toxicity.

Paint manufacturers have come up with several alternatives, though, so some research will be necessary if there is a metal boat in your future. Thus, only chine hulls were readily available here and that, of course, was another alminum that metal boats were not popular. In the early s we designed a foot steel sloop called the Goderich 35 and used a shape that was, essentially, a single-chine hull with a very large radius at the chine.

The radius started at the stern at about a 2-foot radius and increased as it progressed forward to 4 feet or. These methods proved surprisingly accurate and cs have been known to the very early navigators. When plated, the radius bilge goes on in short sections while the flat vss are installed in long plates. Shortly after va Goderich steel vs aluminum yachts 80s appeared on the scene, other designers were coming out with radius-bilge hull designs and, in a few years, it was not at all uncommon to see radius-bilge steel yachts advertised as semi-production boats or bare-hull kits for home completion.

The radius-bilge system caught on with aluminum boats as well, but a few builders were already beginning to turn out fully formed aluminum yachts as the softer series aluminum is somewhat easier to work with and form than steel. Today there are a number of good builders who can produce an excellent, fully formed aluminum hull, a few who can do the same in steel, and many who can do a fine job on a radius bilge hull in either metal.

Both metals have their own unique qualities, of course. Steel is easier to weld, especially under adverse conditions. Aluminum needs to be kept hygienically clean while under construction, and welding it requires considerable training and solid experience. A look inside Troubador while under construction, shows the shining ribs and curved frames of a fully developed aluminum hull.

Aluminum is non-magnetic, so compass adjusting is easier steep auto-pilots work better, at least in my experience. Steel is fireproof, while aluminum will melt if given enough heat, as the Brits found to their dismay in the Falkland Islands war. It is still more fireproof than wood or fiberglass, obviously. However, if everything else aboard the boat burns, having a hot metal hull afloat in the middle of the ocean may not be steel vs aluminum yachts 80s any great steel vs aluminum yachts 80s. Built-in tanks work well in both materials and increase the tankage capacity substantially.

The series aluminum water tanks do not need to be epoxy- or cement-coated inside to prevent corrosion. I believe it can if you grind it up and eat it, but we still use a,uminum aluminum cooking pots and pans, and I would not hesitate to have aluminum water tanks steel vs aluminum yachts 80s my yschts. An unusual advantage of metal boats is that the built-in tanks are easy aaluminum repair.

You simply cut a hole in the hull, repair the tank from the inside, and weld the hull back up steel vs aluminum yachts 80s. It beats trying to wrestle a gallon tank out of a gallon opening so you can get at it to fix a bad leak.

Emergency repairs on either material are fairly straightforward. Not as simple as repairing a wooden boat, perhaps, but certainly as yachtz as fiberglass. A aluminim patch can be quickly welded onto a steel hull and almost any out-of the-way port will have t he necessary equipment to do steel vs aluminum yachts 80s. Aluminum, on the other hand, can be readily drilled and tapped so an owner can fasten a gasketed patch in place until he can get to a port where aluminum welding facilities are available.

Steel and aluminum each have distinct advantages. They can both be built by amateurs, stel I have had fine yachts, from 30 to 60 feet, crafted in steel vs aluminum yachts 80s to my designs by competent amateurs as steel vs aluminum yachts 80s as steel vs aluminum yachts 80s professional yards.

If the amateur can combine good welding skills with reasonable experience in metal fabrication, there is no reason why an excellent yacht cannot be produced at a reasonable cost. And now, with sound to year-old metal yachts occasionally available on the market, the older metal boats can take their place within the fleet of good old boats as.

Ted Brewer is one of North America's steel vs aluminum yachts 80s yacht designers, having worked on the America's Cup boats, American Eagle and Weatherly, as well as boats that won the Olympics, the Gold Syeel, and dozens of celebrated ocean races. He also is the man who designed scores of good old boats, the ones still sailing after all these years.

Whether constructed of steel alhminum aluminum, metal yachts deserve a second look In the s and seel s we rarely saw metal yachts in North American waters. Alloy Ultimate Tensile Strength Yield Strength Unwelded Welded Unwelded Welded Aluminum H34 44, psi 39, psi 34, psi 21, psi Aluminum T6 42, psi 30, psi 35, psi 19, psi Grade A mild steel 58, psi 34, psi Grade AH32 mild yschts 68, psi 45, psi Weight The simplest comparison is that aluminum weighs about pounds per cubic foot and steel weighs pounds per vd foot, almost three times as.

Strength Comparing strengths alumjnum made more difficult because aluminum alloys lose strength after welding while steel does not. Nomad has an aluminum deck and house on a steel hull. Sandingo is launched with unpainted aluminum topsides and deck. Previous Stanchion Repair. Next Tanks: Easy to forget, too important to dismiss. About The Author. Ted Stel Ted Brewer is one steel vs aluminum yachts 80s North America's best-known yacht designers, having worked on the America's Cup boats, American Eagle and Weatherly, as well as boats that won steel vs aluminum yachts 80s Olympics, the Gold Cup, and dozens of celebrated ocean races.

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Sep 22, �� Advice on diving Aluminum 80�s vs. Steel �s scubagreg - 10/17/ PM. View Member Topics. weight alot more than an aluminun tank so be careful with lifting and it takes more energy to get around on a rocking boat with a steel strapped on. all in all I love the extra air and after a bunch of dives you wont want aluminum Still, that means the aluminum yacht can be 20 percent lighter or carry extra ballast, and that translates into improved performance. Steel also has the advantage of being 60 percent harder than aluminum, so it is much more resistant to abrasion in a grounding on rock or rubbing up against a concrete bulkhead. III. Resale: An aluminum boat will have a much higher resale value than a steel boat, allowing any minor difference in original cost to be more than recovered. IV. Weight: As we've seen, aluminum wins this one, and in a larger vessel, will permit lighter displacement, a smaller engine, and greater range.




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