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hello, this may have been answered already but I could not find anything on it. I am playing around with the idea of building the James Cook or a sail boat of similar size (between 28-33ish). Well I have built a few boats with plywood and am very comfortable with that and I believe I at least "understand" the concept for foam/balsa core. My question is which is better to use a s a core material, balsa or foam. Also which specific type would be better to use and why? Also where can I find a reasonably priced foam or balsa core online (preferably in the US). I found a few suppliers but they were way off of what I estimated the plywood version of the ships to be, is this common. I did expect the price to be a little more but not in the order of 2-3grand difference.

Thanks for the Help!, Jake

Well we need your approximate location if you are concerned about locating a vendor close to you. There are numerous advantages of using foam cores over balsa core for sure . But that being said, you need to understand the basics of sitting up your jig and the process of even vacumn bagging, which will be to your advantage too when using the core materials. I would not build a hull of this type with that type of materials without first becoming accustomed to the process.

Balsa is better for polyester. The poly resin dissolves foam faster than a bucket of water on the wicked witch of the west

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Some plan to stroll through Saint Peter's Gates, I plan to go through them at 150mph... backwards... in a screaming ball of flame, with a glimmer belt wrapped around my head, and a NOx button in my hand.

Vinylester resins is used with many of the foam core materials and a preferred resin. Coupled with the proper fiberglass and some of the composite builds that also incorporate Kevlar skins for liteweight and increased strength, vacumn bagging is a technigue that is incorporated in the layups.