youngbarnacles

Shayne and Anna Young aka the youngbarnacles.
Creating a space for fellow boat nerds interested in performance sailing and improving their sailing experience.

Modifying Boat Bulkheads: The Engineering Behind Increasing Headroom

Topic Overview: This post details the process and engineering rationale behind cutting down a structural bulkhead to improve livability. We explain the load path disruption, the calculations for reinforcement, and the practical execution using unidirectional carbon fiber to restore and enhance structural integrity. Author: Shayne and Anna A boat refit often involves a trade-off between structural integrity […]

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Bulkhead Reinforcement: Unidirectional Fibreglass and Edge Capping

Restoring structural integrity and finishing a cut composite panel. Author: Shayne Key Message: Cutting into a cored panel necessitates a two-stage process to restore its structural integrity: first, reintroducing in-plane stiffness and strength along the cut edge with a strategic reinforcement (like unidirectional glass); and second, re-establishing the critical load path between the skins and sealing the core with

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Weight, Performance, and Payload: The Logic Behind Our Catamaran Refit

Topics: An engineering analysis of weight reduction in a catamaran refit, covering the strategic goals of increasing payload capacity and the critical considerations of balance, center of gravity, and structural integrity. Author: Shayne & Anna The systematic replacement of Paikea’s timber interior with composite structures continues with the installation of a new bunk and bulkhead. This work is part

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Weight Saving & Structural Integrity: Rebuilding a Catamaran Cabin

Author: Shayne & Anna Topic: Follow the transformation of our forward port cabin, where we replace heavy original parts with lightweight composite structures while maintaining and improving the critical structural integrity of the hull. The refit of Paikea’s forward port hull represents a perfect convergence of our goals: significant weight reduction without compromising—and often enhancing—structural strength. In this phase,

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Custom Cabin Floor: An Advanced Vinyl Ester Infusion

Topic: A look at the meticulous process of vacuum infusing a custom cabin floor, highlighting the switch to a low-viscosity vinyl ester resin and the advanced “envelope bagging” technique that ensures a perfect, void-free laminate. Author: Shayne and Anna What happens when a standard boat-building task meets a professional’s desire for perfection? You get an advanced vacuum

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