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The first Continental Cruising Barge, SWEETIE, was designed to be to be made in GRP, (glass reinforced plastic). This came about largely because the designer and builders were very familiar with the material, having over fifty years experience in the industry between them. Working on projects ranging from one-off multihulls, in carbon fibre and kevlar, to production sailing and motor yachts has given them a wide knowledge of manufacturing techniques.

The main disadvantage of one-off construction in GRP is that it is usually expensive to get any kind of finish on the product. This is because it is necessary to make a mould to get a smooth exterior finish or spend many hours working on the outer surface, filling and fairing. This is not a task to be undertaken lightly on a 38 foot boat.

Making moulds allows a superior finish but if done in the conventional manner involves making first a plug then the mould and finally moulding the finished product. This is almost like making three hulls to get one.

Making a one-off hull in the conventional manner involves setting up frames and building the hull over them. This usually results in a rough external finish requiring an enormous amount of effort to reduce to a smooth, fair finish. It is possible to circumvent much of this effort using a flat panel construction method that only leaves the areas in way of the joins to be filled. This method however requires the building of a large laying up table.

After looking at the alternatives the answer arrived at was to lay up the hull and decks in temporary moulds made from MDF. The moulds would require framing in the same way that the one-off hull would so the only extra materials required would be the MDF mould surface. The surface, using PVA release materials, would be more than acceptable for the painted finish that was planned.

SWEETIE is moulded using chopped strand mat with balsa core in the deck areas. The lay up throughout the hull was solid csm, backed up with top hat section stiffeners. Scantlings used are in excess of those required by Lloyds for a vessel of this size, were it to be built under their survey. There is an increased risk of collisions and grounding in canal systems so it is important to make the hulls extremely strong.

The surfaces are two pack epoxy coated and painted after moulding. This gives added protection from osmosis below the waterline and leaves a more traditional look to the topsides.