What are new glastron's made out of?

[hrdwrkingacguy]

I just bought a 215 gt deckboat and I was wondering how much of the boat is wood?
I looked in the engine compartment and there is a bare piece of plywood going towards the bow in the middle...

I hope there is no wood anywhere...the salesman said the deck is all fiberglass...Does anyone know if this is true or not? Another guy said wood stringers make for a better ride...I want a boat that won't rot in 10 years...

 

[frank246]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

Does it read VEC (after 2000) somewhere..no, then expect wood.

 

[JRgt205]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

VEC construction ended in the 2010 model year for glastron.
from the glastron web site:
Our one-piece composite fiberglass stringer system in Runabout models 22 feet or less in length, provides unparalleled strength and rigidity which helps eliminate deck and hull twisting. It runs from bow to stern and is engineered to fit snuggly and evenly where the stringer system and hull edges meet. It is fully finished and gelcoated so the lower storage compartments are smooth, easy to wipe clean, with no absorption of mildew or odors.

but if you see wood then....

 

[hrdwrkingacguy]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

I missed a piece of info in the original post...It's a 2010 GT 215 deckboat...The 2010 glastron catalog I got from the dealer shows the VEC process and the gives a bunch of info about it...But it just talks about the Hull, not the deck or stringers...My boat doesn't have a VEC tag on it anywhere...The three other 2010 glastron's they offered all bowriders had the VEC tags...Being someone who just basically gave away a older boat that needed a floor and stringers I am just curious about the life span of this boat...

 

[flamron]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

I bought a 2005 Glastron (VEC) 205GX from a private seller a month ago.

I'm currently replacing a portion of the deck as it was rotted. The stringers are fine (I didn't check, but I'm not going to either, as there is not supposed to be any wood down there).

With any boat, the ability to care for it is key. This boat was floated hard and put away wet for sure. I am in the process of fixing it, and will fix the other couple minor issues that I was aware of when I bought it.

To sum it up, any boat can rot - take care of it and it will outlive you.

Started here:

Ended up with this:

 

[cptnmcluvin]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

In 2010 Platinum bought Glastron, Wellcraft, and Fourwinns from Genmar. Genmar did not sell VEC to Platinum. The 2011 Glastrons are manufactured in the same plant as Four Winns in Cadillac, Michigan and the new facility does not use the VEC technology. My understanding is the new Glastrons have fiberglass floors and composite stringers along with marine plywood transomes that are sealed in fiberglass.

So, new Glastrons are not wood free.

 

[nedrger]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

I don't believe that the VEC process was ever used on Glastrons 25' or larger. I had a 2010 GLS 255 and it was not a VEC hull.

 

[GXL205 Deke]

Re: What are new glastron's made out of?

Mine is a VEC hull. I thought the new boats that are not VEC were still a Fiberglass Stringer System. The Double Truss Hull Construction (DTHC) is what replaced VEC and based on the construction descriptions I read it is a lumber free technique.