The Epoxy Hull Advantage
 Hanse's
innovative epoxy hull design makes these fast yachts even faster.
Strength, in combination with low weight gives the epoxy hull unbeatable
advantages compared to Polyester in marine composite structures.
Epoxy resins have performance advantages over polyester and vinyl
esters in five major areas:
- Better adhesive properties (the ability to bond to the reinforcement
or core)
- Superior mechanical properties (particularly strength and stiffness)
- Improved resistance to fatigue and micro cracking
- Reduced degradation from water ingress (diminution of properties
due to water penetration)
- Increased resistance to osmosis (surface degradation due to
water permeability)
Download more information: The
Advantages of Epoxy Resin versus Polyester in Marine Composite Structures
How is the Epoxy Hull Built? Hanse is one of few production
sailboat manufacturers offering high-tech epoxy hulls. The hull
is built in two sections. One starboard side and one port side.
- First, the gelcoat is applied in each hull side.
- A specially manufactured unidirectional fiberglass matt ( 7
layers ) is saturated with epoxy resin and applied on top of the
gelcoat.
- The Corecell material is placed on top of the epoxy saturated
fiberglass matt. The Corecell material will increase the strength
of the hull and add insulation. The Corcell material will prevent
much of the condensation that is prevalent in solid fiberglass
hulls.
- The last layer of (7 layer) unidirectional fiberglass is then
applied to create the inside surface of the hull.
- When all the material is placed in the hull sections and inspected,
an inside mold is installed creating a closed chamber for the
next step.
- A sophisticated vacuum pump system is attached to the closed
chamber mold to extract any air in the material at the same time
Epoxy resin is injected. The vacuum system monitors very closely
the flow of epoxy into the mold eliminating any air void that
can weaken the hull construction.
- Each hull section will then cure to 50-60%
- The last step is for the hull sections to be the placed in a
curing oven and heated up to about 300 degrees F. This will cure
the resin 100%.
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