The Vice President of the United States is the ex officio President of the Senate, with authority to preside over the Senate's sessions, although he can vote only to break a tie. For decades the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties.
However, because they ride atop the water, rather than cutting through it as other hulls do, flat-bottom boats are usually limited in the size of their motors. The flat surface may also give a spine-jarring ride in anything less than calm weather.
Hull thickness may vary from boat to. boat. Older boats were often laid up with a solid glass laminate thickness of 1Â½ (3.8 cm) to as. much as 5 (12.7 cm) in the keel areas of the more heavily-built boats. Today, however, the. trend is toward thinner, lighter laminates, making the structural integrity of each of the. laminate components all the more critical.