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Boat Info - History of Fiberglass The following information was posted on the FiberGlassics message board and typed by Dan Walters, an avid FiberGlassics Supporting Member. The Birth of Fiberglass Boats Despite the popular notion today, fiberglass and plastic resins were not "new" technology in the mid-1950s. According to Dan Spurr, editor of Practical Sailor, and the author of a forthcoming book on the history of fiberglass sailboats, Heart of Glass, "It probably was a fellow named Ray Greene in Toledo, Ohio. He built a fiberglass and polyester sailboat in 1942, probably a Snipe. So a sailing dinghy was the first fiberglass sailboat." After a pause he adds, "But you have to watch your terms." It turns out there were several earlier boats made of fiberglass and various plastic resins, but most of them were too brittle for practical use. Dan says it was the development of polyester resin that started the fiberglass boat revolution. In part, this problem of terms revolves around the separate, but parallel, developments of fiberglass and plastic resins. The ancient Phoenicians and Egyptians made glass, and are said to have used glass fibers as decorations and to reinforce pottery. (To add to the many coincidences of the history of fiberglass boats, the Phoenicians were the master shipbuilders of their day. One can only imagine what they could have done with fiberglass construction.) Through time, many other civilizations made glass strands, primarily for decoration. In 1870, John Player developed a process of mass-producing glass strands with a steam-jet process to make what was called mineral wool for insulation. A patent was awarded to an American named Herman Hammesfahr in 1880 for a type of fiberglass cloth also woven with silk. Fiberglass experimentation continued into the 1920s, with the first actual fiberglass fibers we know today being made in 1932 — by accident. A young researcher for Corning Glass named Dale Kleist was trying to weld together two glass blocks to make a vacuum-tight seal when a jet of compressed air inadvertently hit a stream of molten glass. The resulting spray of fine glass fibers turned out to be what researchers had been trying to make for years. In 1935, Corning Glass joined forces with Owens-Illinois, which also had been experimenting with fiberglass, to develop the product further. The word "Fiberglas" (note only one "s") was patented in January 1936, and the two companies merged to become Owens-Corning in 1938. Research showed the glass fibers to be light, yet very strong. On an equal weight basis, a strand of fiberglass is actually stronger than a strand of steel. Development of plastics began in the mid-1800s, in part due to a challenge from a billiard ball company to find a new material to replace ivory for its chief product. Patents were awarded for a variety of plastics by the late 1800s. Research speeded up in the 1920s, and again with the approach of World War II, due to the shortage of many natural products. Carlton Ellis of DuPont was awarded a patent for polyester resin in 1936. The Germans furthered the manufacturing process of this early polyester by refining its curing process. Early in World War II, British Intelligence stole these secrets and turned them over to American firms. American Cyanamid produced the direct forerunner of today’s polyester resin in 1942. This early polyester resin quickly ended up in a number of manufacturing hands. Owens-Corning had been experimenting with fiberglass cloth and resin combinations to create structural elements for airplanes. By 1942, the company was turning out fiberglass and polyester airplane parts for the war effort. Back in Toledo, Ray Greene, who had studied plastics while a student at Ohio State, had been working with Owens-Corning on fiberglass composites. He had made composite boats as early as 1937, but was searching for just the right plastic to use for boats. He received a shipment of the polyester resin in 1942 and produced a daysailer. Others followed suit. Dan says, "B.B. Swan made a small fiberglass catboat in 1947. Carl Beetle built fiberglass boats at a GE plant in Pittsfield, Mass. He exhibited his fiberglass boat at a show in January 1947." HOME |  New Visitors |  Boat Info |  Galleries |  Community Center |  Other Info |  Membership |  Chapter Info