Here is an interesting video that I shot with my new video camera of the opening up of a Trigon 1591 which is basically a Boston Whaler knock off. Unless you're doing major repairs it's is not often that we get a chance to cut into boat like this so this video is really interesting. What you will see towards the end of the video you may find hard to believe. When the starboard side is cut open you'll see it is filled with foam as you would expect, but when the port side is cut open it is totally devoid of any foam. It is apparent that the boat was constructed this way so it is clearly a mixture of poor quality control and poor workmanship.
I am certain that when this boat was new the salesman assured the buyer that it was the best money could buy, was built to the highest standard and that the builder would stand by the quality of their product. Well now 19 years later that salesman has long since forgotten about this boat, the builder is out of business and can't stand by their product and now that we've cut the boat open it's clear it is in fact NOT built to a high standard.
Not only was the foam missing on the port side, but the laminate on this boat was very thin as well. Foam is used not only for flotation but, just as in the Boston Whaler, it is there to add support to the inner and outer skins. Without foam the boat flexes, is very noisy and has very little structural strength. The lesson to be learned here is that you don't always get what you think you see, so be a smart and educated boat buyer.
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