It is not only the molds, but also the plugs. You can't build a mold for fiberglass layup by not doing the hull master (plug) first. The plug is important when the first mold wears out. That occurs when the mold starts to crack and the cost of repairing the layup is too great. From what I hear a typical mold lasts around 200 layups. Then you just make another hull mold (or whatever the product is) and you have the same shape still. Also this is the time to "edit" the new resulting mold to make it either fit better to mating components as was done when Westsail Corp. built the second set or make "engineering changes". To me it is interesting, did they build another hull plug?
Here is the story: When I bought the first W32, I was introduced by some people to a guy who was building a "Westsail32" in a backyard in Lomita, Ca, not too far from where I was working in Torrance (halfway between San Pedro and Redondo Beach at the foot of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. - This guy rented a part of a property and had this hull and deck under construction. The hull he created by buying the plug second hand and figured that he would just lay up a hull on the outside of the plug.and then resell the plug. Well, as it sometimes happens, it does not always work out this way. The epoxy he used instead polyesther resin did not work with the mold release and instead of popping it off (there is a simple trick with a water hose and a lot of mallet work) he had to chip the plug away. The rest is history - no plug.
If you see "La Independencia" say Hi to Hector for me.
Mike
