Hi Bkay,
I had a cold molded lobsterboat built. So I've looked at the issue pretty closely.
Me too, although mine was a Doug Peterson-designed, Charles Didham-built half-tonner, back in the heyday of my International Offshore Rule sailing days. And, as you say, I looked at the issue pretty closely as well!
I'm a fan of cold molding as long as the boat you choose doesn't already exist in another material. If you can get it out of a mold, it's much more cost effective to do so. But I feel a cold molded boat is superior than fiberglass in many respects. But it is much less cost effective (and this includes resale value).
Right on. And, to my knowledge, other than perhaps Vicem, there simply aren't any production, or even semi-production boatbuilders building large "trawler-like" cold-molded boats ANYWHERE. The market has spoken-cold moulding as a boat building process for these boats is simply not viable. In my opinion, this is due to the extraordinary labor costs involved in cold moulding, and the extraordinary attention to detail in the process required to produce a satisfactory product.
I like the idea of stitch and glue but have never owned one. As long as the hull design you choose lends itself to working with sheet material I think this is also a great choice. With either of these methods, the boat will be lighter and stiffer than glass.
I've built several stitch and glue boats, ranging from kayaks to sailing skiffs. But (with the rare exception of Sam Devlin), I also believe that stitch and glue for "trawler-like" boats (after all, this is a trawler forum!) is also simply not viable. In part due to the inherent limitations sheet products add to the design, but mostly in the (again) extraordinary labor costs inherent in building a yacht-quality stitch and glue product. In particular, finish sanding of a composite (fiberglass over plywood) stitch and glue boat of any size is enough to bring almost anyone to their knees and beg for another job (ANY job, but please, please, oh please don't make me run a RO sander again....".
...but if money was no object for me, I'd go with composite construction on a one off hull vs. a fiberglass boat any day. That's primarily because you can produce a truly unique hull design and you have fewer design limitations.
Minor difference of opinion here. One-off fiberglass (or kevlar, or carbon fiber) are commonplace in the custom boat marketplace today. Multiple builders exist that can generate some "truly unique hull designs" in advanced composites well beyond that achievable in cold moulding. But, as you point out, JUST BRING MONEY!!!!
But quality wood, epoxy, and the labor to do it aren't cheap! Also, places that can do repair on these types of boats aren't in every port.
Again, right on.
Regards,
Pete