pros and cons of fibreglass boats

[bulldogs195461]

ok my learned friends can someone outline the pros n cons of fibreglass boats please,cheers john

[regulated]

Pro

Great ride. Cuts through the waves very nicely usually giving a smooth, fast and dry ride.

Con

Due to the sweet ride you forget to navigate correctly driving into shallow ground, inconsiderate deckies dragging the anchour over the side, deckies not holding the boat at the ramp correctly all resulting in the hull getting scratched/damaged.

This means you need to get someone to repair the gelcoat or the fibreglass can rot.

This is one of the big deal breakers for anyone considering a glassie

[AZZA]

Pro, most glass boats ride smoother than alli but there some dog glass boats and some great riding alli boats around.

Good riding open water boats are mostly heavier boats and therefore require more ponies to get them moving.

Yes you need to be a bit more careful with a glass boat but saying that I have not hade to do any major repairs to my glass boat but had to get the cracks in my alli boat repaired twice then I got rid of it.

Be best to look at the intended use then pick the boat that suits your needs best

[sehrguht]

I like the ride of glass but i prefer how tinnies sit on top of the water and not so deep in it when at rest offshore.

[motu]

glass for me nice smooth ride sit better at anchor in bad sea. quiet at anchor no wave slop noise . i dont have trouble at the ramp as i drive the boat onto the trailer . mine is 6.5mtr with 230hp inboard and average 1.3- 1.4ks per ltr of fuel

[crazywalrus]

Pro - ride and hull noise

Con - twice the fuel cost, need o be a lot more careful

You need to look at your own personality. I personally would not be able to has a glass boat - woul damag it to much

[mick fillet]

glass is nice yes some glass boats ride excepionally well,not all glass boats ride as sweet as every one talks them up.

ally boats yes are a little noisy but i have been in ally boats that ride way better than glass.the power to weight ratio of a ally boat will blow older glass boats out of the water.smaller HP is required for a tinnie. glass boats used to be generally heavier.heavy boats ride well in sloppy conditions.in saying this glass manufactures have developed unique methods of fibreglassing and developped stronger glass using less materials and some glass boats being made these days are lighter than a tinnie.

personally i prefer ally.

if i was to choose a glass boat it would be an old haines V17c.and run massive HP :woohoo:

generally a glass boat that is a bow rider configeration or a runabout wont have full length stringers and there will be minimal bow support for tackling waves head on.the only thing that supports the bow is the moulded bunks up under the cabin.

the one thing i do really like about glass boats is that the scum line from the brissy river just washes off

in ally boats if your eletrical has a bad eletrical leak it will create electrolissis and ya boat will get a new nick name "disprin" :whistle: