Full carbon and impact resistance

What is the future of composites in surf ski?
I found this an interesting read.
Pretty much all of it is transferable from the aerospace industry directly to our speed machines.

Interesting paper for those of you with an engineering bent

Great article - thanks for posting...

(I must say, it gives me a real buzz that we have so many knowledgeable and talented people on this forum!)

Available here if anybody wants a play with it.....

here as well

Continuing on with the new composites theme.

Basalt fibre may also have a role to play in our future.
Seems to be slightly better overall characteristics than glass, but at a lower cost.
May play a part in future mid range and cheaper models?

Comparison of basalt to glass

Seems that it is readily available now, being offered in hybrids with various other fibres or by itself.
Can use all the same methods as glass etc.

A little bit denser, but also stronger and more resilient, so a thinner wall would would probably offer the same weight/ strength/ impact resistance at a lower cost?

So looking forward to my new ski made out of 'rock'.

Who would have thought that common basalt rock could be a lightweight composite, strange world we live in.....

A boat that "floats" like a rock ????????

This is no joke... This boat is made of stone (altough it is granit, not basalt) jymenez.free.fr/

the UC (University of California) system has an informal competition among the engineering programs for designing , building and then racing in a regatta....concrete canoes !

Unless there is a lot of boat under the water that cannot be seen, there is no way that is granite.

please check his website... the building of the boat is well documented, literally hundreds of pictures from a block of stone, to a boat...

There is less than a quarter of the boat above the water line like I suspected.
Wish I could read whatever language, but the 80 odd pages of photos was sort of self evident as to what went on.

Rightarmbad wrote:

There is less than a quarter of the boat above the water line like I suspected.
Wish I could read whatever language, but the 80 odd pages of photos was sort of self evident as to what went on.

Well it doesnt look like a dwarf playing the harp in Hiro's picture!

more tech stuff for those interested...

Double bagging for higher fibre to resin ratios