Hugo du Plessis. Fibreglass Boats. 4th edition
Adlard Coles Nautical, London, 2006


CONTENTS

Introduction vi
Section A - General principles
1 Principlesof fibreglass boatbuilding..................1
2 Materials.............................................11
3 Tools and working conditions..........................24
4 Health and safety.....................................27
Section B - Understanding how fibreglass can fail
5 Physical failure......................................35
6 Destructive influences................................41
7 Fatigue...............................................47
8 Factors of safety.....................................49
9 Effects of heat.......................................53
10 Fire.................................................55
Section C - Turning a bare moulding into a boat
11 Glassing-in..........................................63
12 Joins................................................68
13 Stiffening...........................................75
14 Bulkheads............................................94
15 Attaching fittings...................................98
16 Sealants.............................................107
17 Hardspots and stress concentrations..................113
18 Double shell mouldings...............................121
19 Sandwich or cored mouldings..........................125
20 Wood and fibreglass..................................145
21 Fibreglass and other materials.......................149
22 Access...............................................151
23 Weathering...........................................153
Section D - The gel coat - that shiny fibreglass look
24 Gel coat.............................................155
25 Nasty little lumps...................................163
26 Can the gel coat be saved ?..........................184
27 Replacing a gel coat.................................190
Section E - In the beginning-moulding
28 Conditions for moulding..............................201
29 Moulding.............................................204
30 Moulding faults......................................210
31 Mouldless construction...............................214
32 Thickness............................................217
33 Mechanisation........................................226
34 Inspection and quality...............................229
Section F - Maintenance and use
35 Design for low maintenance...........................234
36 Maintenance and cleaning.............................247
37 Overloading..........................................251
38 Painting.............................................256
Section G - Repair
39 Temporary repair.....................................259
40 Minor repair.........................................264
41 Major repair.........................................267
42 Every crack tells a story............................270
43 Testing..............................................274
Appendix - Equivalents..................................280
Index...................................................283