Grady White’s Use of Wood In Transoms and Stringers

[usmm1234]

I finally heard back from my friend at Grady. This info comes direct from their archives. Grady White switched from exterior grade plywood to XL Treated plywood called Greenwood in 1997 in the transoms and 1998 in the stringers and bulkheads.
Grady went to complete use of composites in 2014. This move was done mostly for marketing. I was told The structural strength of the Greenwood exceeds any of the new composites Made today.
Fountain Powerboats also favored Greenwood for its extreme high strength and resistance to rot.

 

[Punch53]

My beef with Grady is that for a minimal investment all the wood problems would not exist. My Seafarer's deck drain transom fittings were installed by drilling 2.5" holes through the plywood transom and installing a cheap plastic fitting that is below the waterline in most cases. The holes for my rigging, steering, trim tabs are all done the same way. How can the transom not get wet?

 

[Karim]

How old is your boat? 25 years ago they thought what they were doing was cutting edge ... they were stoked about their seaV2 hull and they couldn’t imagine that 1/4 century later people would repower and keep their boats

 

[Punch53]

Karim, when it comes to boats we don't look at them as disposable, even though we probably should. I don't own a television or a vacuum cleaner or a car for that matter that is 30 years old but I do own a boat that almost is. In 1992 Grady probably thought that their boats would end up in a landfill in 10 years. Never the less, from a seakeeping point of view Grady makes a good boat. Quality and construction not so good. If I bought my boat new I would have taken the trip to the factory and ponied up the extra $50 to have it built right.

 

[blindmullet]

I finally heard back from my friend at Grady. This info comes direct from their archives. Grady White switched from exterior grade plywood to XL Treated plywood called Greenwood in 1997 in the transoms and 1998 in the stringers and bulkheads.
Grady went to complete use of composites in 2014. This move was done mostly for marketing. I was told The structural strength of the Greenwood exceeds any of the new composites Made today.
Fountain Powerboats also favored Greenwood for its extreme high strength and resistance to rot.

I have a 1977 Mako----there isn't a 17' foot boat built today that rivals it. Some of the Grady's I feel are the same way. There is nothing wrong with wood construction if the end user protects it. They still use balsa in high end boats today. If you're not building a race boat wood is still a fine core.

 

[Punch53]

The big Grady's have balsa cored hulls. Not their finest idea. Change that to not the finest execution.

 

[Punch53]

Blindmullet, I have to agree that wood is probably the strongest core material there is.