Radford 415 Design—Continued 4

Masala’s Additional Design Features—Continued

Paint System

A steel yacht’s paint system is one of its most important attributes. A good paint system protects the steel from rusting, helps prevent electrolysis, keeps the boat looking nice, and stays on for a long time. An undocumented and/or poorly applied paint system is one of the biggest risks in buying any steel yacht.

It is commonly known that steel boats rust from the inside. There are two reasons. The first is that external rust is easily visible and repaired, while internal rust is not. The second is that moisture from condensation or leaks can collect in crevices and remain for long periods in the interior, thus promoting rust.

In Masala this potential problem is tackled in four different ways, regardless of the cost.

Firstly, all sharp edges of frames, stringers and floor beams have been rounded off to ensure good adhesion of the paint. This represents many hours of work and is something not normally done due to cost considerations.

Secondly, the interior of the boat is painted to an exceptionally high standard – the primary defense. High quality Sigma marine two-pack paints have been used throughout, both inside and outside. These paints are readily available and in Australia are distributed and sold by Wattyl.

Thirdly, crevices where the frames, stringers and floor beams intersect the hull plates have been sealed with Sikaflex – this keeps small quantities of moisture from becoming trapped.

Fourthly, every stringer and frame join has a “limber” hole, a hole through the stringer cut flush with the hull plate designed to allow moisture to drain down the inside of the hull into the bilge. Each floor beam also has a limber hole, allowing the collected moisture to flow from either end of the boat into the central bilge well.

This kind of attention to detail in construction and painting gives the potential purchaser a lot of confidence and peace of mind that they are not buying one of the many dud steel boats on the market.

The Steel Kit Construction section of Graham Radford’s website has an excellent discussion of the design philosophy of the R1000 Series hulls (includes 415).