Hull Damage Resistance

[sub2010ss]

I was out on the lake this weekend and turned into my own wake pulling a tube. I wasn't going very fast but the hull sure came down hard with a big crashing sound. So my question is, how strong are these fiberglass hull? Not that I plan on hitting any more of these but I suppose accidents happen.

 

[SDSeville]

I don't know exactly how much they will take, but I do that all the time when pulling tubes. The kids love it when I go in a complete circle and they fly off the wake at the end (if they can stay on that long). If you back of the throttle for a split second before you hit the wake it makes for a much smoother landing.

 

[dwco5051]

They are a lot stronger than you may think. It is a lot like turbulance with an airplane, it seems a lot worse when you are in side the craft than it really is. In my younger days (translate as stupider) I used to get bass boats completely airborne by jumping the wakes of large sightseeing boats. Never had one break in half. That said constant pounding can be hard on battery boxes, seat brackets, etc. I wouldn't worry about the hard slam that gets you now and then.

 

[sub2010ss]

Probably more damage to the occupants than the boat itself? Good to know!!

 

[H20Rat]

I'm frequently airborne in my fiberglass jetboat! And if you have ever ridden in a mid '70s trihull in whitecaps, you will soon realize the hull is stronger than the bones of the people inside the hull!

 

[shrew]

Repeated hard hits will start to loosen things. This is why rub rails and hatches start to leak slightly over time. The hull, stringers and transom should be able to handle wake traffic.

 

[southkogs]

They're not designed to fly ... and consequently not designed to land smoothly

That said, I've gone airborne in some of our boats over the years and they'll take quite a pounding. Chances are the hull get's hit by waves almost as hard without flying sometimes.

 

[cptrick3]

In my younger days I had an old Larson tri hull. Tere were some days I had more air time than time in the water. What a ride.

 

[Frank Acampora]

In the early 1970s Wellcraft used to advertise how rugged they were with "egg crate" stringer construction. They used to lift the hull a couple of hundred feet with a helicopter and drop it into the water. Then they attached an engine and ran the boat. And I seem to remember a cigarette type boat falling out of a lifting sling with only minor scratches to the hull.

 

[JimS123]

If a FG boat breaks because it hit its own wake there is something structurally wrong....like rotten to the core.

If a boat is over 10 years old +- and wasn't kept snug and dry year round, rotten stringers are a strong possibility.

 

[sublauxation]

I'm frequently airborne in my fiberglass jetboat! And if you have ever ridden in a mid '70s trihull in whitecaps, you will soon realize the hull is stronger than the bones of the people inside the hull!

That's the truth. We used to pound lots of big waves with an old Chrysler TriHull at WOT. FOr some reason that's fun when you're 16, now it would probably kill me. The guy who bought it from us pounded it even harder and it's still going. That said my uncle had a newer glass boat and we were heading out in some big rollers and we came down hard in a trough and the front seat mount broke through the deck.

 

[sub2010ss]

Wow. I guess I've definitely reached the age that it isn't fun! Of course with my youngest being 3 and oldest 12, I'm more worried about them than anything else.