Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Needless to say I am only asking this question as the result of a trailering 'incident' that happened a couple weeks ago. The boat is a 2000 Z272 Shabah SS.

While driving over a railroad track and immediate steep decline, the trailer support under the 'V' of the boat was shoved up and thru the bottom of the 'V' causing a 2" deep by 6" x 8" hole in addition to bending up the frame of the trailer. Insurance covered the entire incident and the repair was started yesterday.

The only issue I have now is that the repair shop called and said the stringer was completely destroyed in the immediate area. They think it may be wood, but are unsure without cutting a bigger section in the hull - which will cost even more money to fix.

If it's a fiberglass stringer, it will cost an additional $3,000 to repair, if it's a wood stringer it will cost upwards of $13,000 because the entire top of the boat must be removed to repair. All the literature that I have been able to find only indicates that the strakes are fiberglass and that the hull is fiberglass and foam - nothing about the stringer, which concerns me.

So, the $10,000 question is - is the stringer fiberglass or wood?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Sean

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Ouch, sorry to hear about your trailering accident. From everything I've been able to see, the "fiberglass stringers" are actually wood stringers made with XL CCA Marine Grade Douglas Fir Plywood that are glassed into the hull to create a one piece system. See the attached JPG from the 99 brochure. I do have a higher resolution version if you need it for your insurance company, just email me and I'll shoot it over your way.

Sounds like you've got a HUGE repair job on the horizon... Good luck with it, and keep us updated!

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Thanks for the info.

All the patents I read on the hull do not indicate the use of wood in the out or inner hull stringers in that specific area - which if the section on the data sheet is correct - it looks like wood is not in that area. In any event, it looks like the wood is just used as a cheap filler rather than as a structural component in that area. Which is good.

The insurance company had the shop cut the keel wide open so they could get a better look at what is going on. We'll see how it goes.

Can you email the high res data sheet to [email protected]?

Thanks again.

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Emailed you the diagram. Let us know what the shop finds out!

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Will do - thanks again.

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Hi Chris,

Would you also e-mail me the Hi-Res diagram as well? [email protected]

Thanks!

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

Just so everyone knows what happened - the front 4' of the "V" had to be replaced. This includes stringer, inner hull and outer hull. Everything was covered by insurance because the damage was a direct result of the trailering incident.

The stringer is made out of fiberglass but the design utilizes 1" thick squares of pressure treated plywood as a cheap, but solid filler between the inner and outer hulls. The squares are just off to the side of the stringer. So, for the record, the stringer is fiberglass, but does maintain a wood component.

...and yes, the wood can rot and weaken the hull if exposed to water long enough.

Re: Fiberglass or wood stringer?
 

I bet that was expensive. I would have guessed an insurance company to try and total the boat.