So you purchased the plans? good show
I'm a beginner in this boat building malarky so have a couple of questions:
What are the real world advantages of vac bagging the hulls, how much weight do you really save and what strength gain is there?
Hello Ed, I can't give you any figures and it depends probably on the laminating skills as well. It might save up to 25% in weight compared to a really wet layup.
What about carbon... pro and cons, I guess you save a bunch of weight in using a lighter cloth(much more than vac bagging by my estimate). Whats the down side, I've seen something about poorer collision durability, a little bit more egg shell like, would this be fair? Would you use carbon for the hulls and not vac bag?
As for Carbon fibre, you will not find consensus on it. Some people swear by carbon. Others say it's not worth the cost. It certainly is lighter. But the laminate is also thinner and more prone to dents. For a racer the first point is important. For a cruiser you might be concerned about the second. I know one
F-32 builder who uses carbon without vacuumbagging. It is more difficult to see if you have the laminate saturated with epoxy though.
For my boat the hulls are in (E)glass. Rudder, daggerboard and beams will be in carbon. For the mast and the wingnet beams I am thinking about carbon iso aluminium.
I've got a lot of reading to do!
Handlayup (glass) F-22
Menno Vacuum bagging and infusion (glass) F-82R
Martin Vacuumbagging (carbon) F-22
Andrew Vacuumbagging (carbon) F-22
Tor Handlayup (glass) F-22
Jay Handlayup (glass) F-44SC
Allen Infusion (glass) F-39
Henny 
