The Fiberglass Shoe has a Stainless Backbone

The LNVT's fiberglass shoe has a stainless steel backbone.  In a telephone conversation with Tommy Chen today he told me that for every foot the stainless steel backbone extends beyond the keel, there are two feet of stainless inside the hull.  The backbone is fiberglassed in place inside the keel, while in the shoe a mixture of sand and resin holds it in palce.   When I told Tommy of Fram #72's rusty water leak from the shoe he said, "It shouldn't do that." ;-) He confirmed that there are no ferrous metals anywhere near the shoeand agreed that the ballast is the likely culprit.