V20 Hull Construction

7

76GMC1500

Junior Member
Is the hull of a V20 cored?  I see a lot of talk of replacing stringers, but never anything on the coring material of the hull.

I am asking this question because I own a 1968 Seabird V21.  There isn't that much information about the Seabirds.  Then, I saw a Wellcraft V20 on a ship I was working on.  Tonight, I saw the pictures of one being rolled in the repair forum.  After seeing the bottom of the hull, I have come to the conclusion that the Seabird V21 and the Wellcraft V20 had to have come from the same mold.  The only difference I have seen so far is that the Seabird hull and sides are cored with balsa wood as well as the deck and portions of the cap.  The Wellcrafts seem to share a similar construction except plywood is used instead of balsa.  The Seabird does have some stringers that run about 2/3rds the length of the hull, but seem to be primarily there to support the deck and provide a mounting location for the engine.  I would swear my boat was a Wellcraft if I didn't have the Seabird nameplate that states capacity and such as well as the shadow of the Seabird logo in the gelcoat.

The Seabird may have more deadrise. I haven't measured it yet, but I know the later models had 24 degrees.

Here are some pictures of the boat.

Same bow flare:
DSCF1117.jpg


Same "step" and chine setup:
DSCF1119.jpg


Very similar lines.  You may notice the rub rail is straighter on the Seabird, but everything else seems to be shared.  Even the outward bulge of the sides towards the stern.
DSCF1180.jpg
 
One thing I'm noticing on this Seabird is the hieght of the roof over the cuddy and height of steering collumn. Those are 2 complaints I have on the V20. Well, not really complaints ;)

So, does this Seabird actually have enough headroom to sit straight up in the cuddy? Or am I seeing things?

Beautiful boat you have there. You are welcome to call it a V20 and hang out here as long as you like! Set up a gallery and put lots of pics! I want to see the inside!

Blue
 
It does have enough headroom to sit up towards the console.  I'm not a big fan of the cuddy, though.  It has a bubble top and no walkaround access.  It's pretty hairy trying to work up there in a swell.  I would like to cut it off and build a new, flat cuddy out of plywood and glass one of these days. It would still be raised, it just wouldn't be curved so one could stand on it. It would also allow me to put a hatch up there for access.
 
Seabird is a fine hull . I have a friend who had one a few years ago. He had a center console ,heavy boat with a great ride !
 
Even flat it won't be a walk around, none of the cuddies are. It's an older classic style and there are 700 members here who fish the bejeezus out of them with no hardship.
Can you walk thru that windshield and drop an anchor, or use the bow pulpit to do so without climbing on the cuddy top. On the V20's you can and thats all I need to go up there for. I made a solid piece of wood to put on the foot well area in the cuddy and I can store a potti under it and it gives me a solid floor to stand on. I open the sliding hatch all the way stand up there like the Master and Commander and can reach all my anchor equipment and drop it and haul it like a galley slave on the bow pulpit.
 
willy said:
I made a solid piece of wood to put on the foot well area in the cuddy and I can store a potti under it and it gives me a solid floor to stand on. I open the sliding hatch all the way stand up there like the Master and Commander and can reach all my anchor equipment and drop it and haul it like a galley slave on the bow pulpit.
Click to expand...

.....and I thought it was a dance floor was for the SM's. ;)
 
76GMC1500, that hull looks just like a v20, weird. All Seairds I've seen don't look like yours. They look more like Bertrams and have 24 degree deadrise. Is 68 the first year? The earliest I remember seeing is 69, I think. Are the Seabirds a Ray Hunt design? The 69's and newer look like Bertrams and your 68 looks like a V20.

I was going to suggest you got to boardnation.com but I see you're already there :) Hopefgully someone over there can shed some light...I'm curious too....let us know what you find out...Good Luck! :)
 
Is the hull of a V20 cored? I see a lot of talk of replacing stringers, but never anything on the coring material of the hull.

I don't think we ever answered his question, I don't think it is but that is not a for sure answer. Anyone? Bill Mc ;D
 
My understanding of cored hull refers to a hull built in a laminated manner with a sandwhich of so called rigid foam of one kind or another, Franco's boat is a cored hull and that is why he could not use the volvo trim tabs he had bought earlier.
The V20 hulls are the solid fiberglass hulls and not cored
 
The only thing "cored" back when my ol' '74 was laid up was APPLES!!... ;D...Wellcraft did add flotation later, but when I think of the term ''cored'', I belive that refers to a hull that contains flotation actually LAMINATED between the hull and the deck/ cap...like the Pubah's McKee... ;)...
 
I BELIEVE THAT A "CORED" HULL IS WHEN MATERIAL IS LAMINATED BETWEEN FIBERGLASS CLOTH, USUALLY ON BIGGER BOATS, IT ALSO IS THE PLYWOOD OR WHATEVER MATERIAL IS USED FOR DECKS, ETC.......
 
The V20 doesn't have a cored hull. The hatches and stringers are cored with plywood, but the sides and hull are all glass.

I looked a seabird 27 or 28. It looked like a big v20. The hull and sides were cored with Thick Balsa. The balsa core around the thru-hulls had rotted out, but the hull was very solid still after 35+ years.

The 24ft seabirds have the 24 degree deadrise!! I think they made a 21 with a 24 degree deadrise too, but I'm not totally sure.
 
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