Avid sportsmen, Mark Castlow and Jimbo Meador grew up on the water—Castlow on Florida’s east coast and Meador in Alabama. Several years ago, both men started discussing how they could develop personal watercraft for use in shallow water.
In July 2007, the duo formed Dragonfly Boatworks LLC. They hired engineers and craftsmen, and began designing and constructing kayaks, shallow water attention terminal boats (used in gulf oil spill wildlife rescue), and Dragonfly stand-up paddle boards.
The stand-up paddle board posed the greatest design challenge, as it had to be stable enough to let a person simultane-ously boat and fish. After much trial and error, the board was finalized. The paddle board consists of a deck and hull with a V-shaped bottom. The lines of the bow curve back into the hull and the bottom.
As someone paddles or fishes, nearly all water sheds down the sides of the board rather than splashes over the top. Any water that does come over the front of the board drains off quickly. This design not only keeps the user dry, it lets him move the board with very little effort.
To prevent water from entering the board’s internal section, the hull and deck are joined with Scigrip SG200 methacry-late adhesive in a 0.25-inch bond line. The adhesive’s rheology eliminates the need for Dragonfly Boatworks to seal the hull after assembly.
Available in 10- and 13.6-foot lengths, the Dragonfly paddle boards are used for fishing, exercise and recreation. Standard features on both models include a 32-inch beam, beaded foam core, front and rear leash plugs, a hard vinyl rub rail, centrally located hand grab, and a vented plug for storage and shipping.
The 10-foot paddle boat weighs 35 pounds, floats 300 pounds and has a non-skid yacht finish. The 13.6-foot paddle boat weighs 45 pounds, floats 420 pounds and has a centrally located hand grab.
Scigrip SG200 adhesives are two-component products designed for bonding composites, thermoplastics, metals and combinations thereof. They have a 10-to-1 mix ratio, require minimal surface preparation, and offer a choice of 10-, 20- and 40-minute working times.
SG200 adhesives have a tensile strength of 2,000 to 2,500 psi; a lap shear strength of 2,400 to 2,800 psi; and tensile modulus of 60,000 to 75,000 psi measured
at 75 F. Packaging options include 490-mililiter cartridges and 5- or 50-gallon bulk containers for application with meter-mix dispense equipment.
“The adhesive is ideal for our paddle boards because of how it creates a lightweight, yet strong bond,” says Castlow. “SG200-40 has improved our paddle boards’ performance and reduced labor and production cycle times. We also use it to bond other personal watercraft.”
For more information about methacrylate adhesives, call 919-598-2400 or visit www.scigrip.com.
