Honeycomb or foam sandwich hulls have now become standard for rowing boat construction. The method of construction used throughout the industry is surprisingly similar. A selection of carbon, kevlar and fiberglass cloths are bonded to a core material, usually honeycomb or coremat, these are then heat-cured under vacuum at high temperatures. The standard method used by the majority of high quality boat builders, is however labor intensive. China has adopted all the recent technological advances, and benefits from both a history of experience, and low labor costs. For these simple reasons, China is rising to the top in the boat building industry.
A core material is used to make a sandwich structure in order to increase hull thickness. Hull thickness is related directly to an increase in boat stiffness. As honeycomb is so light, it makes an ideal core material. Coremat can also be used as an alternate core material, but because of its greater density, it results in a heavier boat. Coremat does however have better impact resistance, and is easier to repair than honeycomb.
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