1969 Yacht Mega Build - Part 2, the original boat build
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- The owner of this ferrocrete yacht has some pictures of the original build from 1969, and thought it would be great to share with you all.
Please feel free to ask any questions that you want me to put to the owner, or the boat builders. - Авто та транспорт
Just found your channel, I have often wondered how a retro concrete boat was constructed, now I know, pit there where only a few photos that survived, looked like a interesting build.
Thank you for watching the video. Wait until the next video next week when you'll see the next update (episode 3), it is gathering a lot of momentum as it get towards the end of its restoration.
Ferro boat construction was quite popular in Australia back in the day. You could get a lot of boat for your money if you were willing to put in the work. The downside was that they tended to break up easily if grounded. For some reason they fell out of fashion and were overtaken by steel plate boats as a building medium preferred by backyard builders.
I'd never seen one before this build by a friend, and the state of the hull from the photos, you can see how rough it was. In the latest video you can see how much work has gone into making the finish so much better. I can tell you the hull has also now had its first layer of colour and it looks brilliant.
I use to kayak around in the local reservoir because they didn't let people sail afraid that they would capsize
So made a model sailboat and let it tow me around
The 3 1/2 foot hull had a massive keel was gaff rigged with a 4' bowsprit, 6' main boom, 3' gaff, 5' mainmast and 3' top mast; huge sails, main top stay and jib, of wind blew it would heel over, sails almost flat on the water
It never took on water and the keel would bring right up. It was old tech mast hoops and reef points and I would pull it back by the tow line so l could reset the sails when changing course. When I did this I would almost get whiplash when the model and the kayak's hulls touched (as the hull speed is so much greater for a 12 ' than a 3 1/2')
So now for the point of this story.
I wanted to experiment with a Ferro concrete hull
I used the same set of sails . The hull was all concrete with metal imbedded in the concrete full keel instead of wood hull with metal keel attached.
Any way the result was a lumbering, hard to control, even dangerous
Basically the weight in the concrete boat was spread out so it wasn't as much leverage like all the weight opposite side of a bouyant hull from wind force on the sails,
Just found you. I built a 52f ferro ketch with my brother. It took 22 years of Saturdays, and we launched in Jan 2005. We are still sailing it. it currently weighs 33 tons. It is called Finnally. As it was built by Finns, and it was finally finished
Excellent. If you want to share any pictures or video I am happy to share it for you to show as a comparison.
Hi there. I thought they were building a mould to then use it for a fibreglass hull , didn’t realise it was the actual boat . I’m definitely no expert , so I’ve never heard of such a method of construction . Just out of curiosity has there been any sign of corrosion of the steel structure . Which can definitely occur on dry land buildings , as I say I know very little in this regard . Best wishes and kind regards 👍
Thank you for the feedback. From what I could see there was no corrosion of the steel structure, but I am due to go back soon for more filming so I will take a look.
How will he ever get boat insurance for this boat???? If anyone will insure it it’s gonna cost a fortune!!! Please tell me I’m wrong!!!😩
Well it is currently insured I believed by 2 companies, but the owner has confirmed that the list of insurers is small but he has found one that will continue to cover during both the build process and also when completed.