This Fiberglass Boat Folds Away in Seconds

A 12-foot fiberglass boat weighing just 121.25 lbs (55 kg) folds for transport in as little as 45 seconds, according to developers Cobra International and Quickboats. The boat, called a Quickboat, can be stowed in two storage bags, one for the hull and the other for the seats and other components. Both bags can easily be carried on a roof rack. The Quickboat uses a PVC foam core and glass fiber-reinforced epoxy thermoset construction. As flat panels are bent into the hull shape, their sandwich structure is pre-stressed. This gives the boat the required rigidity without having to increase the thickness of the laminated skins or core. Further, one of the key patents of the Quickboat is the composite hinge, consisting of a strip of Kevlar fiber impregnated with a soft epoxy resin and trapped between a fiberglass flange. The hinge is especially designed to flex in such a manner that the Kevlar is always under tension. The hinge has been tested for more than 1500 openings, which presents more than 10 years of usage. Hinge flex also provides the specific shape needed for the keel, which moves from a flat section at the bow to a V where the boat cuts into the waves to an inverted V towards the stern that gives the boat the proper directional stability. Finally, the fiberglass flanges also flex when hitting waves, dampening wave impact and avoiding overstressing of the panels.