Kevlar Energized

[OhWell]

I'm curious if anyone knows where the kevlar is?
One review I read said the entire hull laminate. Another review said just the bow. 
Also, any idea the actual thickness of the laminate above and below the boot stripe?  
Thanks

[Zanshin]

My first Jeanneau was also a "Kevlar" 43DS and I have no idea at all where it was used, so I'm watching this thread to see if someone knows the answer.

[andreshs1]

Following

[eoin2020]

I stand to be corrected and am also following,

But if memory serves me correctly here I believe I read somewhere (possibly one of the UK sailing magazines, PBO or Yachting Monthly) that Jeanneau used Kevlar in some of their models can't for the life of me remember which and the years. But only where extreme stress loads were... i.e., chain plates and keel bolts.

And i believe the thought process was to increase strength and reduce both weight but more importantly from their cost purview was to reduce the amount of fiberglass and resin and hence greater profitability.

[eoin2020]

Here's another snippet I'd saved when I was researching my own SO37 before purchase in March 2020, link below. 

And scroll down to the "Construction" and paragraph 2.
I must have dumped the article I had from the magazine where they discussed the Jeanneau build as I now can't find it. But if I do eventually find it I'll scan it and share it here.




Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 - Practical Sailor
www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/used_sailboats/jeanneau-sun-odyssey-37

[fma]

Nov 5, 2022 14:57:26 GMT OhWell said:

I'm curious if anyone knows where the kevlar is?
One review I read said the entire hull laminate. Another review said just the bow. 
Also, any idea the actual thickness of the laminate above and below the boot stripe?  
Thanks

While swapping my thru hulls I measured the hull laminate at 10mm below the waterline forward head on a SO45

[OhWell]

After a few weeks of back and forth emails as the customer service representative in France did the research, this morning I received the following with respect to our 2001 43DS that has the "Kevlar Energized" logo on the transom. 

"We confirm you that at the time, Jeanneau used a mixed glass/kevlar fabric as the primary facing on the hull of the Sun Odyssey 43 DS.  This heavy 1250 gr/m² fabric was made of a 1000 gr/m² glass Roving and inserted in the weft 250 gr/m² of Kevlar interwoven in the glass Roving; that is to say in the fabric 125 gr/m² at 0° and 125 gr/m² at 90°.  A Mixed Glass/Kevlar Roving which has been developed with a French manufacturer."

[Zanshin]

Thanks for that update! Unfortunately, I heard that my Kevlarized 43DS wasn't sufficient to withstand Hurricane Irma a couple of years back and is now somewhere in a BVI landfill But it is interesting information, that is more Kevlar and more widely used than I suspected.

[OhWell]

Sorry  to hear about your 43. 

A lot of boats were lost in Irma when the boat stands punctured the hulls, allowing them to fall over.

Do you know if that's the case with your 43?  You'd think the kevlar might prevent this.       

[fma]

Very interesting and slightly different from what they told me (kevlar reinforcements were only at high load areas). Anyone know what resin was used in the layup with the "energized kevlar"?

[Zanshin]

Dec 5, 2022 13:31:18 GMT OhWell said:

Sorry  to hear about your 43. 

A lot of boats were lost in Irma when the boat stands punctured the hulls, allowing them to fall over.

Do you know if that's the case with your 43?  You'd think the kevlar might prevent this.       

My current boat was on the hardstand during Irma and got damaged, but not to the extent of 90% of the other boats. Nothing that isn't armored can withstand that kind of a storm. I believe that my old 43DS was in the water and partially sunk, making it a constructive total loss. My other old Jeanneau, a 49DS, also suffered total catastrophic loss during Irma while only a couple of boats over in the yard.