Alcantra Seats in the New 2013 Skaters!
Jun 29, 2012 | 06:53 PM
#52
Teamspeed Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 361
From: SJ Michigan, North Palm FL
Also if you pop your head in any compartment in a Skater you will see yellow "tape". The tape Skater uses is something called Kevlar. It is the WORST material you can use on a boat. When they first started using this product everyone thought it would be great because it is strong and flexible. It maybe strong BUT has very poor characteristics. Kevlar does not take well with epoxy. The fibers are not able to absorb the resin like E-Glass or Carbon. What this means the bonding surface is all that adheres. For example, If you take two pieces of pre-preg carbon and vacuum bag them together and stick them in a autoclave and let it cure, you get a laminate that is bonded together. If you were able to split a corner and try to pull the two layers of cloth apart it would be impossible. If you did the same thing to Kevlar (pre-preg takes about 1/3 more resin to impregnate) and did the same test, what you would find is that they are easy to separate. That's just one reason why it is a poor choice in boat that Skater seems to favor. Also if you have been to skater and see the people cutting the laminate schedules and see them not wearing gloves and see exposed Kevlar, Carbon, and E-Glass rolls in the racks you would just laugh. This is a big "no no" because rolls will pick up dust and oils in the air and be cause for concern with lamination. Reason why not wearing rubber gloves is kinda the same. Oils from you hand impregnate into the fibers and cause weak points where resin can't adhere. All seems so "anal retentive" but when you are talking about 160+ mph boats it does matter. De-lamination at these speeds can be catastrophic.
Jun 30, 2012 | 01:17 PM
#53
Teamspeed Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,830
i know the 46' above has been running hard for a very long time! there are a lot of old race boats that have been made into pleasure boats because they last. im not in this pissing contest, but i dont see too many mystics around. (the interwebs) ill get back to this thread when i can make some plans.
Jun 30, 2012 | 01:31 PM
#54
Teamspeed Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 120
From: Texas
Also if you pop your head in any compartment in a Skater you will see yellow "tape". The tape Skater uses is something called Kevlar. It is the WORST material you can use on a boat. When they first started using this product everyone thought it would be great because it is strong and flexible. It maybe strong BUT has very poor characteristics. Kevlar does not take well with epoxy. The fibers are not able to absorb the resin like E-Glass or Carbon. What this means the bonding surface is all that adheres. For example, If you take two pieces of pre-preg carbon and vacuum bag them together and stick them in a autoclave and let it cure, you get a laminate that is bonded together. If you were able to split a corner and try to pull the two layers of cloth apart it would be impossible. If you did the same thing to Kevlar (pre-preg takes about 1/3 more resin to impregnate) and did the same test, what you would find is that they are easy to separate. That's just one reason why it is a poor choice in boat that Skater seems to favor. Also if you have been to skater and see the people cutting the laminate schedules and see them not wearing gloves and see exposed Kevlar, Carbon, and E-Glass rolls in the racks you would just laugh. This is a big "no no" because rolls will pick up dust and oils in the air and be cause for concern with lamination. Reason why not wearing rubber gloves is kinda the same. Oils from you hand impregnate into the fibers and cause weak points where resin can't adhere. All seems so "anal retentive" but when you are talking about 160+ mph boats it does matter. De-lamination at these speeds can be catastrophic.
