Spray Rails

[Ironworker]

I came across what is a fairly boring video of Sportsfishing boats running an inlet but its very interesting watching the effect of spray rails.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxywhI14sBM

While I don't have a lot of time in my 31 without spray rails, I do have several hundred hours in it with spray rails or perhaps I should say widen chines. I've always heard these are "wet" boats but I have not seen that with mine. Also they are fairly easy to install.

[Carl]

Earley Bird is one of our SandBox Members. Crazy hours each season with that boat…


I ran my first run of the season a couple weeks ago….got to boat n 2 foggy to venture out so I cleaned n organized till The Boat started shaking. Fog was gone but blow-N hard…so I Took A Ride.

It didn’t take long to remember to duck when coming off a crest…unfortunately I took a couple too many as I came back in cold n drenched. Kinda fun, kinda exhilarating, but not feeling the enjoyment like I used to. Widening chines may be in my future.

[Tony Meola]

On the Carolina style boats, that big upfront flair helps a lot also. If the 31 had some of that flair it would be a lot dryer.

[Yannis]

Tony,

It would be a 28!!

[Ironworker]

The guy running the 35 Bertram named the Pepper used to own my boat which was named the Pepper at the time.

I'll try to did up some photos on how I made my spray rails along with a description in case anyone is interested.

[Carl]

If the 31 had some of that flair it would be a lot dryer.

Tony our 31's have tons of "Flair", but no flare! However, I do carry the required amount of flares.

Tony,
It would be a 28!!

..now talk about a boat without Flair.

[Tony Meola]

..now talk about a boat without Flair.

Now that is classic. Deserved for those with Hyena boats that make fun of the 31.

[Yannis]

Science is still unable to explain why jealousy so vividly manifests itself each time the unique benefits of Bertram's all-time best seller are brought forward...
The accompanying use of pejoratives such as "Hyena", combined with dubious games of eloquence, further complicate this psychological condition and renders a solution all the more distant for scientists ! LOL !!

[Ironworker]

A local boat yard had a 28' that was being restored. Last time I saw the boat it was two years in the yard and the bill had exceeded $600K and counting for the renovation. The owner wanted a "New" 28' Bertram.

[Carl]

I think Tony meant Hyena boat in a complimentary way, you know...seeing how it stands out in a pack.

The 28 is Bertrams Best Seller, you got that going for you. I just read the Corolla is not only Toyota s best selling car, but the Corolla is the best selling car in the world, ever...I still don't want on.

A local boat yard had a 28' that was being restored. Last time I saw the boat it was two years in the yard and the bill had exceeded $600K and counting for the renovation. The owner wanted a "New" 28' Bertram.

It is amazing what people will spend money on.


A friend of mine restored an old orange BMW, put stupid money and time into it. I think he said its not worth much but has value to him...so I guess I get it. Whatever put a smile on your face and doesn't hurt anyone is a good thing.

Enough of that, lets get back to picking on the 28 and Yannis...lol. I'm laughing, but he's the one spending weeks out on the boat enjoying time on the water. And Doug...

[Ironworker]

Its a rainy day in the Bahamas so I've got a little time to post a couple of pics.







In this photo you can see the first part of the two part rail. I used 3/4" BW 26 coosa. It was cut at 1 1/2" width and the outside was routed. We epoxied and screwed the rail onto the hull. We had to pre drill the holes. After curing we backed out the screws.



[imghttps://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gqxrn46kx4ggi5q9 ... sn4e&raw=1][/img]

Here you can see part two of the rail. Its simply a 30 degree cut (if I remember correctly) which becomes a filler on the top side to minimize the amount of fairing. It two was epoxied to the hull and part one. The rail is flush on the bottom side of the chine. While I keep referring to it as a spray rail we actually just widened the outside chine. It's actually the same width as the outside chine of the Bertram 20.


After rough sanding the fairing and forming the shape we added two layers of 1708 on top of the hull and coosa. After curing we faired and sanded the final shape. Please not that we started tapering the spray rail about 2/3s up from the full 1.5" to nothing around the bow.

I'll post some picks of that in the next post.

[Carl]

Great, another item on my To Do List. I can see it making a big difference on some days....like the days I go out. Appreciate the pictures.

[Ironworker]

Well I can't find a pic of the stuff being glassed but you can imagine the parts rough sanded, faired for shape, then rough sanded again. We added two layers of 1708 alternating the seams. IIRC, I extended the glass about 4 to 5 inches above and 4 to 5 inches below the unit.

Here are a couple of additional pics that may be helpful


Notice the angle on the hull side of the coosa. This pulled down the coosa to "roll" the spray off chine. I then added the filler piece to the top.



This are the rails after glassing and fairing. I added this photo so you see where I terminated the rail at the bow.



Finished Version

[Ironworker]

I got the idea of the spray rails from Reel Cowboy and I'm most appreciative of the pictures that he sent me. Apparently there is a glass guy in Texas that has done this to several B31 hulls. I spoke with him about purchasing some pre-made units but he never followed up.

Frankly adding the two part coosa rails was pretty easy as glass projects go. I figured they were going to get some abuse due to the location and they do but being made of the Coosa, epoxy and glass they are pretty tough.

The finished pics were just from a two weeks ago so they have held up pretty dang well.

I have seen some more aggressive spray rails and here is a pic of one that I came across. I opted to go a more middle of the road approach and minimized the rails at the bow to eliminate any possibility of the bow being pulled down by the rail.



If anyone ever has an interest in this project and would like a ride to see the difference the rails make before tackling it on your boat, I'm more than happy to oblige. You guys certainly have helped me out and I'm most thankful.