A sailboat is a vessel that derives its power from wind through its sails. Whether it’s a two-person rowboat, a large three-masted schooner or a modern catamaran with room for families to live aboard, the hull and deck are central to sailing’s design and performance. It’s here that the physics of wind-acting on sails comes into play, and where the skills of sailors are needed to master tacking and jibing.
The hull and deck of a sailboat are made of fiberglass laminating. After the laminating is complete, the thoroughly cured sections are removed from their molds by driving a wooden wedge between them or immersing the molds in water and using water pressure to pop out the fiberglass section. The sections are then moved to a fabrication shop, where the seams are joined together and additional pieces of hardware are added.
If the sailboat has an engine, it is fitted into a mounting system installed on stringers, which are structural parts of the hull. Plumbing is also added, including hoses from freshwater tanks that supply onboard toilets and showers (called heads on boats), and return hoses to return dirty water to the boat’s onboard sewage tank.
The last piece of major hardware added is the mast, which is seated in a wooden block called a tabernacle installed on one end of the hull. Wires called stays are then coiled around the mast to hold it in place. Once the rigging is in place, the sailboat is ready to set sails.
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