I got to visit Jim Betts boatyard last Friday, and also find out the foil story. Richard was right in an earlier note. After they strip plank the plug, instead of spreading resin on the strip and sanding it, they foil it. The foil is squeegied down like laminate would be, then mold release is added.
At first I thought this part was one of the Perry monohulls. Joel had to explain to me that it was the topsides and deck of the stretched 37 that I designed for him. With the reverse bows.  Notice the foiled lower part of the hull in the lowest picture, to the right.

I just read of his passing in Pro Boat. Am I the only person who didn’t know?
I met him at one of the multihull design conferences held in Southampton back in the early 90s. He was a monohull designer who did his first trimaran, a Formula 40 tri, that was faster than any of its competition. I remember him as light hearted and unassuming. Godspeed.

Guys, make sure you believe and follow your mission statement before you build the hulls. Once again, the hulls were built before the mission statement was final. This 39′ power cat ferry is now required to have 36 seats and a perfectly flat floor. 3 years ago it was designed on almost no budget for far fewer passengers and no comment on the floor.  It needs 5′ more length to carry the weight.  Two studies on locating the cabin.

Piece of a 787 hull at Future of Flight. Visited with the kids Saturday. All carbon fiber. Compared to the thousands of rivets on the metal hull, I wondered what took them so long.
Probably if I had taken the Boeing tour I would know, but the stringers looked small compared to the hull thickness.
The hull is too large to co-cure, so the stringers probably help joining the sections. And help with global loads. I doubt if they help much with the pressure vessel.
This is interesting as my builders are facing rapidly increasing core costs, and decreasing shear strength. Stringers and frames are looking more attractive. Is interesting to see what unlimited funds for structure analysis came up with. My builder Terry Neilson uses glass over a pvc pipe half round.

I just got this picture of Joel’s stretched 37 cruising cat being built up at Betts’ shop.  The plug is covered with aluminum foil prior to applying mold release and laminating inner face. I have not seen this before.  Layups should start in a week or so.  I want to see this.

It looks like my 44 powercat design in Estonia might actually get launched this summer. I see from the wheeled luggage note that it was 6 years ago when I was last there.  Foam/glass.  Steyr hybrid engines.  I will get more reports from the guys.

Visited my 34 x 14 daycharter powercat on Kauai’s north shore today. He carries 16 passengers per trip. Everybody rides it both into the water and out, every trip, as there is no dock.   It’s more narrow than I like, but he must launch down a 16′ wide ramp with lava sides every day. Overriding design requirement.   http://napaliseabreezetours.com/