This King 40 IRC racer designed by Mark Mills and built in Argentina by King Marine was surveyed in Hamble; with then further investigation using ultasound (NDT) to the hull.
Ultrasound can be useful on high tech (exotic) structures such as carbon with accurate results, it works less well on conventional FRP such as E Glass as the returns are not as clear. Thermal imaging is another technique that can be useful for less high tech boats where further investigation is called for – by gently heating the surface any voids can heat at a different rate to the laminate without voids, thus showing up clearly. The traditional methods of hammer sounding the hull for voids and/or debonding are very valid and used by all Marine Surveyors still as the first stage investigation to the structure.