Dear Setsail, I’m in the process of speccing out the glazing for the pilothouse on the boat I am building. I have narrowed it down to either 1/2" tempered glass or 1/2" abrasion resistant polycarbonate and am now looking for a little real world experience to tip the scale. One nagging doubt: the long-term durability of this product in the voyaging environment. I’ve read in your Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia that you recommended and used polycarbonate on your sailing vessels, but noticed that you made the switch to glass in the FPB series. After walking the docks at the boat shows and talking to designers and builders of some of the high-end custom pilothouse and raised saloon boats, it seems they all are going with toughened glass, but none seem to have any direct experience with abrasion resistant polycarbonate. What’s your experience? Best regards, Collin
Hi Collin: We have used Marguard, a coated polycarb by Lexan, for many years in our sailing designs, due to its lighter weight and impact resistance. However, the most you can expect is five years, and if any petroleum-based cleaners are ever used on it will be ruined. So, you do have to be careful with it. There are installation details in our Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia.
The FPB has larger spans, so we would have had to go to 25mm polycarb, not practical for a variety of reasons. Also, this design is not as weight- or center-of-gravity-sensitive as our sailing designs. Regards – Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
