We have just taken delivery of a new set of hulls, made from a new material.

We use a thermoformed Polyproylene/glass fibre material. This has the advantages of being as stiff and lightweight as the best of the current composite boats while having very much increased durability and impact resistance, similar to that of the rotomoulded boats.

This is not a new process, it has been used by some white water Kayak manufacturers and the Royal Navy RIB's, it also used on bus bumpers!, but we beleive we are the first sail boat manufacturer to use this technology. The Royal Navy claim they can't break the boat even with a sledge hammer.

Anyway sailors can be a sceptical bunch, so I want to be able to prove that the material is as good as we say therefore we are having some tests performed at the local university. What I need to know is what is a typical layup for a strong modern composite boat, like an F16, F18 etc. so we can compare like with like. Does anyone know?

All the best

Gareth
www.fourhulls.com