I've been doing a bit of research on use of asbestos in Westsail construction as I plan to purchase a project boat in the near future. I found a couple of your very helpful replies on westsail.info. In one you talk about all the places in the boat where asbestos is likely to be found (useful) and in another you mention that you changed the W43 rudder design in mid '73 because of a restriction on using asbestos. On another forum, I saw someone post that asbestos use probably stopped when you moved factory in 1976.

What I'd really like to find out is a confirmation of the date(s) when asbestos stopped being used in construction, so I know which boats need to be treated with caution when working on the interior.

Thanks!

http://westsail.info/index.php?action=posts&thread_id=1370

"Asbestos was used whenever we needed to make a resin putty. Used to smooth over the top of the ballast, and fill in any deep fiberglass cracks.
It was used to attach the plywood cabinsides to the fiberglass, on top of the ballast, and anywhere there was a fiberglass putty needed. It was not used in the basic fiberglass layup of the hull and deck, however it was used to stick the plywood reinforcement on the underside of the deck and cabintop before the last layer of fiberglass was applied. Also used on the edges of the plywood to make a smooth transition between the plywood and the fiberglass layup."


http://www.westsail.org/intheyardforum?mode=MessageList&eid=762305&mlpg=2147483647

"We made the new (W43) rudder design about mid 1973. The old one had mishmash fill (asbestos powder and polyester resin). There was now a restriction on using asbestos, so we made a deal with Foss Foam in Costa Mesa to make a new rudder mold, using fiberglass skins and foam injected into the mold."