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    Core Principles

    by Don Casey Jun 15, 2017 4 minutes
    Source: Various types of closed-cell foam, and end-grain balsa: your boat is almost certain to have one or more of these cores in its layup

    Does your boat suffer from CD? A multitude of aging sailboats do, and it can be ruinous. If you are a sailboat owner, you need to know how to prevent CD and perhaps how to treat it. What the heck is CD? I just made it up (influenced no doubt by incessant pharmaceutical ads). It stands for core dysfunction. It means something is going on that has compromised the stiffness and strength of a laminate reinforced with a core material. However, before addressing CD, let’s get up to speed on core construction.

    The use of cored laminate has undeniable appeal for sailboat construction. Compared to solid fiberglass, core construction is lighter and/or stronger. That translates into a boat

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