The construction is extremely heavy, which appeals to many prospective cruisers. The hull is made of hand-laid fibreglass, in 12 layers, alternating woven roving with chopped strand mat, set in polyester resin. This results in a solid hull whose thickness ranges from half an inch at minimum to almost an inch. This is considerably more than most equivalent boats. The deck is half-inch plywood sheathed in GRP; the bulkheads are also plywood, tabbed to the hull with fibreglass cloth. The ballast is , either lead and iron (earlier boats) or all lead, installed inside the keel (which is part of the hull shape) and set in resin.