You would think that at the rate I’m posting these items about boatbuilding that these things actually happen this fast but, they do not. I have taken the liberty of shortening the process so that it’s more fun to read. In reality from drawings to frames and on to the plug stage takes months. You’re seeing it happen in "fast forward".

Once the plug has been milled to a reasonably close finish, the plug is taken off the router table and hand finishing begins. This is really important because the finish in the mold determines the appearance of the boats hull and deck in production. If we don’t spend time and effort here our boats don’t look great and our hulls and decks are regarded as some of the best finished in the production boat building business. If you’re paying attention you’ll notice that the image of this hull plug (the Sabreline 34 Express by the way) is upside down. I just showed it this way so it would like right to the viewers eye

Once the wire frame has been laid over the top of the wooden frames of the "plug" the tooling shop sprays a tooling foam on to the form. This is the first rough step in creating the mold surface.

At this point the plug is located on the bed of a very large router. The router "table" measures 6o feet in length by 30 feet in width and has a vertical axis of almost 14 feet. Tooling reference points on the part and the frame allow the operators to locate the part exactly where it needs to be for the routing operation. The machines computer is loaded with the designers detailed drawings of the part. In this case it’s the deck plug they are working on.

Once everything is in place the routing operation can begin. Here’s a picture of the milling head with a bull nosed router bit in place beginning the first cut on the bow of the deck plug.

Fiberglass boat building started in the mid 1900’s and today fiberglass is the first choice of production boat builders. If a company plans to build multiple copies of a boat design then fiberglass or FRP (Fiber reinforced plastic) is the way to go. If someone wanted to build a custom one design they might consider cold molded epoxy or one of the other methods available to one-off builders.

But I want to talk about building a production design so I thought it would be fun to show how a design gets from the designer’s desk top to the boat show. I’ll post a series of images over the next few weeks that will give an overview of how the process is managed.

Once a designer has made all of the basic decisions on length, beam and general styling cues, the drawing files are refined to add every detail from radii to curves: essentially the boat is drawn in the smallest detail. Once that has happened the process of building molds can begin.

Last Monday I traveled to Ft Myers, Florida to see the hull and deck plugs of the new Sabreline 34 Hard Top Express. While I was there I captured some images to show how marine grade FRP tooling is built.

Step one is to cut and stand the "sections" of the design. Imagine taking a loaf of bread and slicing it at equal intervals along it’s length. The shop then takes those "slices" and stands them up so that the skeleton of the hull (or deck) is then framed. Here’s a typical powerboat mold at this stage.

Yesterday I attended a meeting in Southwest Harbor, Maine. The group I met with is the Maine Boat Builders Organization and it has been formed to tell the story of Maine Built Boats to the world’s boating community.

Maine’s first boats were built by the Popham Colony in the mid 1600’s and the tradition of boat building in Maine has continued since that time.

I am looking forward to helping tell the story of Maine’s boats and the yards that build them. You can see more at http://www.mainebuiltboats.com/

There’s nothing quite like a mid-winter break for mid-western sailors who are dreaming about the spring and the ritual spring launching of their boat. That’s what is happening February 3rd to 6th at Navy Pier in Chicago. Strictly Sail Chicago is the place to see the latest in boats and gear and to take in a seminar or two as well. See you there!

You can get tickets on line at http://www.strictlysail.com/shows/chicago.asp?show=chicago

Chicago is such a great city located on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. And down at McCormick Place this weekend you can throw off the winter coat and dream of warm summer days on the water by visiting the Chicago Boat Show.

However, I think many of the locals will be more focused on how their beloved Bears are doing.

The show opens at 10:00 am on Saturday and Sunday. You can meet Brenda Collins, Sabre’s National Sales Manager who will be working there with the good folks from dealer Cal-Marine.

Bentley Collins

Growing up in Montreal we always referred to Toronto as "Toronto the good". That’s because we all thought we were having more fun than they were.

Well as I came to travel to Toronto over the years I realized that it was indeed "Toronto the good" but it was good because they were having as much fun as my neighbors in Montreal.

Now I am headed that way this week for the Toronto International Boat Show. Our company will have the Sabreline 36 Sedan on display in space S1 and I am looking forward to the reaction of the Ontario boating community to our offerings.

The show starts on the 13th with a sneak preview at 4:00PM and then gets rolling in earnest on Saturday from 10:00 AM. I’ll be there myself on the 20th and 21st.

Bentley Collins

When I visited the show last weekend I took this shot of the Sabreline 36 on display

We’re looking forward to the Mid America Boat Show this weekend in Cleveland. The award winning Sabre 386 will be on display as well as our Sabreline 38 Hard Top Express.

Bob Macaulay and the staff from RCR Yachts will be there to greet you. I plan to be there on the 18th and 19th and would love to meet fellow boaters who want to talk about sailing and motor yachts. The show opens today (the 13th of January) at 3:00PM. You can get tickets online here.

Hey, look at this! The Mid America Boat Show has its own blog!

See you there!
Bentley Collins

Hey, my dealer just sent me this image from the show.