Forums > Sailing General

Ferro built sailboats? Thoughts and experience?

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Created by ChopesBro > 9 months ago, 25 Nov 2020
ChopesBro
350 posts
25 Nov 2020 6:58PM
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I'm intrigued by the construction but doubt if I build one I could ever obtain insurance?

Ramona
NSW, 7403 posts
26 Nov 2020 6:06AM
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ChopesBro said..
I'm intrigued by the construction but doubt if I build one I could ever obtain insurance?


No one would build one these days when the place is awash with fix her uppers. You need 3rd party property damage cover to use the slipways so they must be able to get that. The boat in the photo was fully ensured. 54 foot ferro.



The boat on the left was a 35 foot ferro.

woko
NSW, 1514 posts
26 Nov 2020 7:36AM
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Ferro is as good as any other construction method and as with any other method only as good as the builder. The good examples I've seen are epoxy glass sheathed, so you really have a glass composite with Sand steel and Portland core. Building one today would be nuts even for a skilled renderer, he would be much better of sticking mud on a wall taking the $$$ and buy a boat. For the record I like em

winkali
23 posts
26 Nov 2020 4:42AM
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Its no different to any other boat building material you get good and bad. Unfortunately ferro suffered from a lot of stigma due to backyard builders. Some thought it was just a bit reo bar and chicken wire tied together and some plaster. If built correctly and maintained properly it can be an excellent construction material. Hesal dubbed the floating footpath was a ferro yacht and won the Sydney to Hobart back in 1973. Friends of mine cruised the world and raised there children on a ferro yacht the only drama was getting insurance and that is thanks to the badly built boats out there. All materials have there pluses and minuses I heard someone say that steel is the best because it can bounce over a reef. There are plenty of wrecks out there that would argue the point and anyway you aren't supposed to hit a reef you're meant to avoid it. Its called navigation I think.
Winkali

ChopesBro
350 posts
27 Nov 2020 4:10PM
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Thanks for opinions. Much to think about

crustysailor
VIC, 869 posts
27 Nov 2020 9:12PM
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chopes if a ferro boat really floats your boat, there is one in our club that you'd be able to get pretty cheap i'd suggest, plus doing alot of people a favour.Located outside Melb.
Its a Hartley 34 of some variation (maybe a Fijian or somethign like that).
Doesnt look too bad if you close your eyes a bit and want something solid, and would be a lot of boat for next to no money.
Has been on gumtree before as owner has lost interest.

Re insurance: nope, you wont get it on a mooring from anyone normal.
I think its currently insured out of someone nonexistent in the Bahamas, but hey, you get a certificate.

Madmouse
377 posts
27 Nov 2020 6:18PM
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Sounds like the consensus is insurance will impossible

Andrew68
VIC, 394 posts
28 Nov 2020 7:02AM
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Madmouse said..
Sounds like the consensus is insurance will impossible


And impossible to sell

Trek
NSW, 1068 posts
30 Nov 2020 12:33PM
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I had a 39ft ferro that I sailed around NZ, bought it, insured it and sold it no problem. It had a QA certificate from the builder which helped. A ferro in good shape should be fine, we are talking steel reinforced!

Flatty
QLD, 239 posts
1 Dec 2020 9:03PM
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Trek said..
I had a 39ft ferro that I sailed around NZ, bought it, insured it and sold it no problem. It had a QA certificate from the builder which helped. A ferro in good shape should be fine, we are talking steel reinforced!


Did you ever need to repair it strucually? I am wondering how it is done.

woko
NSW, 1514 posts
2 Dec 2020 3:11AM
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If you manage to knock a hole in ferro you clean out the loose render and bog it with cement render or thickened epoxy,

Perry500
NSW, 62 posts
2 Dec 2020 8:20AM
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woko said..
If you manage to knock a hole in ferro you clean out the loose render and bog it with cement render or thickened epoxy,


Why would you bother with a floating foot path ? near zero resale value and so many good glass boats around cheap.

woko
NSW, 1514 posts
2 Dec 2020 9:07PM
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Perry500 said..

woko said..
If you manage to knock a hole in ferro you clean out the loose render and bog it with cement render or thickened epoxy,



Why would you bother with a floating foot path ? near zero resale value and so many good glass boats around cheap.


I was answering flattys post about repair. And yes there's heaps of good glass boats around cheap, and if you manage to knock a hole in a glass boat you bog it with thickened epoxy, it would be silly to bog a glass boat with cement render, though I've been told by a skilled boat renderer that more than a few planked vessels have had the garboards wire netted and plastered, but of course if your glass boat had a balsa or some other inferior core, foam maybe, then you have a problem waiting to happen. And guess what common boat building material is presenting the most problems for recycling.



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"Ferro built sailboats? Thoughts and experience?" started by ChopesBro