Deck design and Classic boats

[Joe Swetish]

When built to plans, generally the classic designs have flat decks.  Does this cause them to be prone to rot, in practice?

Would it be difficult to add deck camber without causing other structural problems with the boats?

 

Thanks!

 

Joe

 

[Mark Hobbs]

Hi Joe,

rot is caused by fresh water finding it's way into timber.

To avoid this 2 things must be in place,

Firstly the timber must have a watertight protective membrane,typically produced by multiple coatings of  epoxy/glass or similar.

Secondly the water must be able to drain away rather than lay for extended periods.

On the classic designs the deck water is expected to drain naturally through the scuppers.

The key then is to ensure the flat areas of deck are well glassed and sealed and that the scuppers are adequate.

The latter classic designs ( mk 4's) have beam troughs included, designed for the beams to sit in.

As many have reported,  when  these beam troughs are  not carefully built, sealed and maintained water can penetrate, leading to rot.

Many builders of the classic designs, myself included, go with mounting the beams on deck to eliminate  potential future trapped water problems. Simple but effective.

Cheers,

Mark.