My 8 yr old homebuilt MiniCup sailboats may have reached their end of
life. The plans emphasize that they are intended to last only maybe
3-4 years so mine have done well. Both have been repaired at least
once to get rid of rot but the rain and humidity here in N. Fl makes
it a losing battle. #1 has been sitting upside down for a year
waiting for me to re-do her topsides and #2 has been sitting out where
I always bail her out. Last night I looked inside #2 and found her
insides filled with water so I pumped out the compartments. Still she
seems very heavy and I think the 3/16 ply is saturated. I did epoxy
and glass her on the outside and part of the interior but the ply ion
the inside is like a sponge. Am not sure what to do with her.
Back to #1 whose bottom is still good along with much of her
structure. I am considering using corecell foam to replace the
decking and saturating the remaining wood with epoxy.
I'd like to totally re-design the MiniCups to use modern materials so
they are not disposable boats but I do not want to use ply for such a
small boat because it is then too heavy.
Can anybody suggest any guides on using corecell as the forms for
glassed over structural parts and then using sheet corecell glassed
for the hull? How do you glass both sides of something that is so
enclosed like the interior of a small boat?