Source for Spray Rails

[Cricket]

The aft bumper rails from Slane had some some type of foam core in the middle, lots of glass on the outside to be able to bump into poles and docks.....
Our 50c never had any rails so we finally added them 4 or 5 years ago, should have done it sooner.
Only thing I would do different is to make them 50% longer or so.

Not sure why there are issues painting PVC, we've painted lots of it always starting with a good sanding and then Awlgrip 545 primer.

[riverrandy]

Thanks for the responses. As usual, I learned something. Aft Quarter Fenders is a much better name for these things. I'll check with Lookout Boat Window, but they look much thinner than what I have. If they are truly a "fender", then PVC makes some sense to me. I assume the old school engineers at Hatteras made them of something more giving (Wood) for some reason, Lord knows there was not a lack of fiberglass at that time. I wonder If they made it more flexible so it could handle repeated impacts, and not crack the hull gelcoat? Thoughts?

[Boatsb]

paint is fine on the PVC. Not starboard.

[Cricket]

My guess is they used wood because it was easy.
I will take repairing a once in awhile fiberglass crack from a hard hit over replacing crushed wood and or constantly chasing rotten wood any day.
Btw, don't think our Slane bumper rails will be cracking between the way they were built and how we installed them.

Also, I would agree our rails would probably be too small for a big MY.

[MadHatter53]

Does anyone here have a set of spray rails up front? I thought about adding a set on my boat to keep the windy side drier.

[jim rosenthal]

Up front spray rails add nothing at all. They are a waste of time and money. IMHO

I could not get paint to stick to my PVC rail, but, to be fair, I knew I was going to replace it with FRP ones, so I didn't try all that many times.

[SKYCHENEY]

Our 1975 had mahogany aft quarter rails that were painted. Our 1985 came with fiberglass rails. So, apparently Hatteras moved to frp sometime between those years.

[johnjen50]

My 1981 Yachtfish has mahogany rails aft, as well as spray rails on the bow. I somewhat agree with Jim, however I do think they cushion the landing and provide some boyancy when coming off steep waves.

[riverrandy]

Our 1975 had mahogany aft quarter rails that were painted. Our 1985 came with fiberglass rails. So, apparently Hatteras moved to frp sometime between those years.

That is some good info. Exactly what I was looking for. mine is a 1975, and they are mahogany.

I wish I could find the molds for the 1985 AQF's (Aft Quarter Fenders) so I could lay some up...

[davidwigler]

Any idea how much the fiberglass aft quarterfenders cost?