Post by PhilPost by cymro76Post by PhilPost by cymro76Hi
Could someone give me some advice on which decking material to use
please? After persual of the internet and various posts in this group,
it seems that the US favour heat-shrink Dacron, the UK use a mixture
of Dacron and manually tensioned Terylene but here in AU I've never
seen anything other than white PVC.
In order to try and comply with Rowing Victoria's mandate that all
pre-2007 boats must comply with the FISA regs as well I'm going to
make a start by rebuilding the canvas sections to be fully enclosed
(as they currently aren't; but really should be, regulations or not).
I'm therefore looking for the strongest and least vulnerable material.
I'm very much liking the finished look and ease of installation of
Dacron as shown here:-http://www.pocockclassic.org/HOH2.html
But does anyone know why all the AU boats I've seen use PVC? Was it
just local preference or are there UV resistance issues...? And does
anyone know where to get Dacron in AU please?
Thanks
If you want some puncture resistance and quite a bit more stiffness,
consider covering with a thin multi-ply (such as 1.2mm 3 ply birch,
used mostly in the aircraft industry).
Looks nice too.
Phil.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Thanks - that had crossed my mind. One of the boats I need to do is an
eight with quite short bow and stern sections. Once I've added a ply
section to locate the hatch there's not much 'canvas' left so I might
just do the whole thing in ply. Maybe not so practical for the big
regulation fours though given the extra weight.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I shouldn't think the extra weight would be significant in the grand
scheme of things!
Are 'regulation' fours similar to what we called 'restricted' fours,
ie/ built to specifc rather ample dimensions?
Think how much weight is saved by keeping the under-deck dry!
Phil.
Phil -
You know that, in rowers' minds, however much water a boat takes on, its
weight for competition purposes remains, magically, just the same as
when it's dry, inverted & on the rack. If it feels, no, even if it just
looks heavier before it goes afloat, then it's bound to be a slow boat.
But if it is carrying 50kg of excess water at the end of a race or an
outing, which has been sloshing up & down inside & soaking up energy
from every stroke, that's completely irrelevant. All that matters is
that when it went afloat it was thought to be a light boat. ;)
I was talking with a coach whose crew asked him to cox them in a head
race. He wanted to know if I thought his quite a few extra kg of weight
would have slowed the girls down. Knowing he'd have steered well
(despite the limitations of typical rudder systems), & knowing that a
bot of extra cox weight has minimal effect on performance (another of
those popular myths needing to be destroyed) I said I thought he'd
probably have been an advantage. And, yes, they did win their division
quite well.
Stuart -
I'm delighted that Rowing Victoria is taking flotation so seriously.
They are almost the only governing body to do so, & showing great
responsibility 7 maturity in so doing. It will make your boats not just
safer in all those outings taken far from meaningful support, but also
make them faster & more competitive at every regatta in which you take
on more than about 1kg of water.
My only concern is that folk still get almost no guidance on what it may
take to meet the FISA standard. With fours it is usually enough to
enclose the ends, insert sealed bulkheads there & at each end of every
slide-bed (& cover slide-beds which were formerly lattice construction -
Phil's aircraft ply is a good solution) & provide every such compartment
with a moderately effective hatch or vent bung.
What is not necessary or even desirable, but I know is not always
understood by those asked to check performance, is for the hatches &
bungs to be airtight. If you completely seal any compartment, then
there will be substantial & possibly damaging changes in internal
pressure as the boat goes from hot sunlight into cool water, or back, &
this you don't want. Boats are not designed to be pressure vessels! A
stream of bubbles past a hatch in a swamp test may look serious, but I
very much doubt that more than a cupful of water will ever enter through
such a trivial leak as water passes so much slower than air at the same
pressure differential.
Cheers -
Carl
--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells -
Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing Low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: Harris Boatyard, Laleham Reach, Chertsey KT16 8RP, UK
Find: http://tinyurl.com/2tqujf
Email: ***@carldouglas.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1932-570946 Fax: -563682
URLs: www.carldouglas.co.uk (boats) & www.aerowing.co.uk (riggers)
