Hugo, if it really was a 19 Bowrider originally, that would explain some wood in the stringers. This article from a 1966 Boating magazine test
http://www.moeslyseacraft.com/upload...oating-6pp.jpg on Carla's Moesly SeaCraft website (a great website you should check out if you haven't already done so!) indicates that spruce was used in the stringers. Carl also used spruce for the 21 stringers because of it's light weight. I knew he used a grid system for stringers and bulkheads in the Bowrider, but he evidently didn't start using the premolded hollow stringers until he started building the 20's, which also included a separate inner liner that was bonded to the top of the stringers. He once told me that even if the wood rotted out it wouldn't matter because there is so much strength in the glass wrapped over the stringers. Not much was known about fiberglass in the early 60's, so his approach was to build the boats as light as he thought he could get away with, and then go beat the hell out of it in the ocean races and beef up anything that broke. SeaCrafts absolutely dominated the outboard offshore powerboat classes in the mid 60's and nothing ever broke despite racing in some extremely rough seas, so Carl definitely knows what he's talking about!
Just make sure the glass around the stringers is in good shape and that none of the bulkheads were removed during the CC conversion! When the deck is bonded to the top of the stringers, it basically creates a big I-beam with 4 vertical ribs that is extremely stiff. I'd recommend using epoxy resin to maximize the bond strength with the old polyester. The 19 hull is basically identical to the 20 below the chines, but it doesn't have as much flair or the 1" wide flat at the chines in the forward sections, so it tends to be a bit wet in a chop. You might want to consider adding some spray rails at the chines. Carla's husband Skip (alias Old Timer) can give you some info on a spray rail design for the Bowrider. Denny
10-04-2012, 11:25 PM
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