STRENGTH, PERFORMANCE & SAFETY
So we’ve built a great hull using the best materials and practices, but even the best hull shell requires a robust framing plan to support the loads that power and sailboats experience. In a sailboat, the loads from a heavy keel, the bending, twisting and compression loads caused by the rig and sea conditions and on a powerboat, the slamming loads when running at speed and the torque loading caused by large engines all must be considered and accounted for. Proper framing, structural bulkheads, engine beds, keel floors and attachment points are the key elements that complete the structural plan that assures that a boat maintains its strength, performance and safety over its long life span.
STRUCTURE & FOUNDATION
Both Tartan and Legacy yachts use a grid of athwartship structural floors and longitudinal members strongly adhered to the inside of the hull skin to reinforce the hull. In a sailboat, supporting the keel requires an extensive grid of frames that spread the load of the keel over a large section of the bottom of the boat. Tartan’s keel floors are deep and fiberglass taped directly to the hull using 45/45 degree double bias knit fabrics and modified epoxy resin. The double bias material takes maximum advantage of the fibers, with a fiber orientation of 45 degrees, all of the structural fibers span and cross the joint (conversely taping using a fabric with a 0/90 degree fiber orientation only produces 50% of the fibers spanning the joint). Legacy power boats use a heavy, molded fiberglass grid that is bonded into the hull using very high strength adhesives. This forms the engine foundation and the grid reinforces the slamming areas when running at high speeds. Structural bulkheads and fore and aft risers for bunks and cabinetry are also fiberglass taped or attached with high strength methyl methacrylate structural adhesive directly to the hull and the deck completing the framing and hull reinforcements.
DESIGNED FOR A HARSH ENVIRONMENT
Sailboats and powerboats live and perform in a very harsh environment and both are subjected to very high loads. How the internal framing and structure is built and structurally attached to the hull and deck is critical in how well they withstand punishment when offshore, your safety on board is dependent on this important phase of building your boat. At Tartan and Legacy, we give it our top priority.