Unless IM was blowing smoke up my skirts, I believe that the only reason the
tubes were in the early IM boats was to carry the load of the boat when it
was on the trailer. I think it was Scott who told me that the newer boats
have a thicker (stronger) hull lamination so don't need the tubes.
Larry
>Egads, I think the senility I've joked about for decades may be real!
>I forgot to mention that my feeling all along has been that the
>stiffener tubes are there to defeat the flexing stress on the bottom
>panels which would be induced by force applied to the bottom of the
>keel. With that nice long lever arm, any such force (but especially
>sidewards) would place some serious torque on the panels, applied from
>the edge, no less.
>
>Regards,
>
>Bill Combs
>WWP 19 #439 (Aug 1987)
>"Ursa Minor"
>Fort Walton Beach FL
>ttursine@gnt.net
>