Plastic Hull??

My used, abused, and beaten SN hull has been bonked and pirched on a hidden concrete slab riding a beach break. Got a cute little gouge out of it.

I can crack my 400+ dollar commercial garbage can by standing on it sideways.

I admire your curiosity but this is why our boats are composites
 
Also keep in mind the Spark hulls are very well known to break on any impacts and can’t be repaired, only replaced.
I would agree with the statement “very well known to break” back in 2014 but now with the new hull, cases have vastly diminished. If they were very well known to break I don’t think they would be the best selling pwc
 
Neither I am just looking to see what people think. Which is obviously pretty negative for some reason even though no one has real evidence for that.

Spend a few years working in auto body and you'll know why plastics are a bad idea for structural components.

Hot staples, hot iron plastic welding and panel bond is what ends up being used to fix these kinds of components. It's just not the kind of material that can be beat up and fixed over and over again like steel or traditional composites.
 

eastcoastjumper

James
Site Supporter
Location
Long Island
I would agree with the statement “very well known to break” back in 2014 but now with the new hull, cases have vastly diminished. If they were very well known to break I don’t think they would be the best selling pwc
Seadoo spark. Theyre the cheapest new ski, readily available, have warranty, have financing, and have reputation. You can walk into 1000 dealers and buy one.

Jump a few waves and let me know what happens.

A new plastic composite stand up jetski. Not gonna be cheap for consumer or manufacturer, not readily available, no warranty, no financing, bad reputation, no dealers or repair shops.

Why anyone would waste their time re inventing the wheel is beyond logic at this point.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
If there was a way to have a solid non flexing it’s ass off plastic hull I’m sure FF would have nailed that. The spark it’s totally different yes it’s plastic but not hulklite. It’s also just ridden around tame compared to the things many of us do on stand ups.

Like James said it’s well marketed, cheap, financing, available at any dealer on the planet.

Like I said to re-walk the path FF already paved its a huge fail to attempt. I strongly do not believe plastic will ever work in freestyle without a frame or structure internal.

I would have molded a frame into the plastic. So it’s protected and sealed inside the plastic.
 
I would agree with the statement “very well known to break” back in 2014 but now with the new hull, cases have vastly diminished. If they were very well known to break I don’t think they would be the best selling pwc

Best selling has nothing to do with quality. They still break on impact and can’t be repaired. Doesn’t matter how many they sell.

The average person will ride a spark for years with no issues, stand ups are not ridden by your average couch shoppers.

Also McDonalds sells more hamburgers than anybody in the world but are they the best burgers you have ever had? You best selling logic don’t prove the spark is the best ski.
 
Best selling has nothing to do with quality. They still break on impact and can’t be repaired. Doesn’t matter how many they sell.

The average person will ride a spark for years with no issues, stand ups are not ridden by your average couch shoppers.

Also McDonalds sells more hamburgers than anybody in the world but are they the best burgers you have ever had? You best selling logic don’t prove the spark is the best ski.

That’s the truth my friends who have sparks don’t jump them anything like a stand up they just cruise the rivers and post up lol. If I took that thing to surf I’d probably destroy in in a season.
 

Yami-Rider

TigerCraft FV-PRO
Location
Texoma
Thanks for the great feedback! I am doing this research to decide if it is a viable business endeavor.

It's not, you could make more money doing a lot of other things, hard to make it in this niche market.

Your talking big money to get started with very little return.

Idk why you want to use plastic, faster manufacturing? It would make more sense to make the hull out of SMC, proven and can be stamped out, still not as strong a fiberglass/carbon though.
 
I absolutely appreciate the more recent feedback! Backed up with actual reason other than opinions.
It's not, you could make more money doing a lot of other things, hard to make it in this niche market.

Your talking big money to get started with very little return.

Idk why you want to use plastic, faster manufacturing? It would make more sense to make the hull out of SMC, proven and can be stamped out, still not as strong a fiberglass/carbon though.
yes, the idea was to have faster/easier production, cheaper production cost down the road and potentially a good alternative to a carbon hull (weight wise) if it was strong enough
 

Big Kahuna

Administrator
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
I absolutely appreciate the more recent feedback! Backed up with actual reason other than opinions.

yes, the idea was to have faster/easier production, cheaper production cost down the road and potentially a good alternative to a carbon hull (weight wise) if it was strong enough
There would have to be all kinds of ribs molded in to give it rigidity. By doing so, you would increase weight drastically. I would imagine ribs would have to be at least 3/8" wide and honeycombing the inside of the hull and inside of the tray areas as well.
 
Here is a better idea. Stamped aluminum hulls.. Light, strong, easy to repair. If you can gelcoat over the aluminum no one would know the difference.
This is an interesting idea for sure!

There would have to be all kinds of ribs molded in to give it rigidity. By doing so, you would increase weight drastically. I would imagine ribs would have to be at least 3/8" wide and honeycombing the inside of the hull and inside of the tray areas as well.
Will have to look into the molding in ribs idea (sounds like a good idea) but I have been told honeycombing with drastically enhance durability. Thanks for the input!
 

Big Kahuna

Administrator
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
Now, my opinion. I dont think it will work. If you have damage all you can do is buy sheets of plastic and try and heat weld them back together. Lister makes heat weld guns that we use for vinyl flooring, They are also used for autobody repairing plastic car parts, but look like crap after. Same with repairing rotomolded sailboats and kayaks . no good way to do a repair.

That said, do your research. but the molds for injection molding for something this large is going to be huge. Figure on 2 molds for top and bottom decks. Plus one for the hood, this would have to be a lid design like a Rickter otherwise you would have to have 2 molds if you were designing a baffle type......
 
I think its a bad business idea because of the aforementioned reasons. Larger industries would've used the plastic technology if it were more promising. Snowboards, wakeboards, surf boards, and boats are all fiberglass and for good reason. Reinforcing key areas can be done by altering the layup as opposed to reinvesting in tooling. Fiberglass is some amazing stuff and its in water, land, air, and space.

Every so often an enthusiast comes here with big dreams and the wisest people denounce the idea because we don't want to see someone go bankrupt over this. If you want to change the industry and get rich, then you should think of a technology that can be applied to many other industries. I don't know what that is .. If I did, then I would be rich already.
 
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