Cracked Gelcoat around Transom.

[willk]

There's no scale on those pictures but if they are as big as they seem:

(1) Potential buyers would be put off. Bearing in mind that any future potential buyer is liable to find this thread I'd be looking to get a professional fix on that now and then slip me a couple of quid and I'll "moderate" the thread a bit so that the "right" history gets saved for posterity

(2) Personally i'd be reluctant to take it to sea, especially in heavy conditions or with a driver with a heavy throttle hand. Whilst your insurance might pay out* if the transom were to fail catastrophically, it could be a rather rescue. Although it would make a great write up on here...


Of course it could just be that you have really good macro focus on your camera, and these are much smaller than they seem.

(*although they might not if they believed you were aware of a significant fault and went negligently to sea anyway).

[Poly]

Originally Posted by gotchiguy

Yesterday I came back from the Ribnet Alderney floptilla. The final leg from Jersey down to St. Malo where I was based were the roughest conditions we had experienced all trip. Don't get me wrong there were not exactly walls of water towering over us, but most people in our boat would have throttled back down to 20knts or so and enjoyed a markedly comfortable ride. Those who know me however understand that I am not like that and I managed to average over 30knts, completing the 34 mile crossing in 1hr 7mins. Most of the time we were going along at 35knts to do that. At no stage did I feel that the boat was going to fall apart, sure we had loads of hard landings and everything gets thrown about, but nothing broke, nothing got bent, and the whole thing always felt sturdy and imperious. Fact is, I would hedge a safe bet that over the same trip in a Vanguard 720 or whatever the closest length would be to mine, something would break or fall off, let along repeating a crossing like this most likely causing cracks in the transom from what would probably be a hugely heavy verado compared to my light etec.

Its funny how a few years can make a difference!

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Poly

Its funny how a few years can make a difference!

Ahaaa

[Erin]

Well dredged that man

[nugent]

must admit, that i would think twice of buying a boat showing these scars,

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by gotchiguy

The black bit at the top of each picture is the engine saddle, one taken from each side. As I said though, they don't extend "inside" the saddle as it were.

Why don't you ask your dad's composite stress specialist to have a look

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by nugent

must admit, that i would think twice of buying a boat showing these scars,

Only Twice!??...Like Chris said Gotchy(as a matter of Priority!!)...That Should NOT Happen!..So what if you were doing a few Knots faster than the rest!
Hope you get it sorted.

[spareribs]

Originally Posted by Chris

I need to repair the gelcoat where it has craked due to vibration where the transom boxes are attached the transom of Pigs Ear. There are no structural issues and thre transom is solid however I understand that there is a compound that can be added to Gelcoat to make it slightly flexible and prevent it cracking again...

Any suggestions?

Check the people who say "dont do it yourself ! It'll be a disaster ! " there normally in the trade or convieniently have a shop that does just that. Not all , but some , be carefull. I'd sand that back , see whats below and take it from there, I'm not a boat expert but its mainly common sense anyway. Depends on how important the finish is really, if its going to seriously knock money off your boat having it slighly unglasslike, pay the money , if not , DIY all the way on that mate. If the transom is cracked , it should be in the centre of the cracked gellcoat , when you've removed it, have a look , put some pressure on the engine prop end when its tilted and see if the transom gives or a crack opens up in the timber , if not gell it and have fun mate.

[gotchiguy]

Well having inspected them closely with the professional guy at the boatyard where she is kept we are of the opinion that they are simply superficial, and less than a milimetre deep. The rest of the transom has been inspected, and there are no other signs of cracks or flexing of any kind. I think perhaps the pictures make them look worse than they are. the distance from the engine saddle to the end of the cracking each side is only about 1.5 inches. here is a slightly blurry picture I've found with my finger in for scale. Not that it helps much because the finger is closer..

I think Chris's idea that the engine bolts were over tightened is a good one, we will grind it out and see if they go deeper than we think. It is interesting to see how strong and yet brittle gel is though that it can craze like that.

[biffer]

The only time Gell cracks is when something moves. To do them properly you should grind out. Lay in some fresh matt and then fresh gel coat

[Poly]

Originally Posted by spareribs

Check the people who say "dont do it yourself ! It'll be a disaster ! " there normally in the trade or convieniently have a shop that does just that. Not all , but some , be carefull.

really at the point you posted that I don't think a single 'trade' person had posted on the thread.

I'd sand that back , see whats below and take it from there, I'm not a boat expert but its mainly common sense anyway.

but unless you get to the root cause you will be doing it again and again.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by biffer

The only time Gell cracks is when something moves. To do them properly you should grind out. Lay in some fresh matt and then fresh gel coat

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by bedajim

Why don't you ask your dad's composite stress specialist to have a look

OR...Why not try Beefing it up a LITTLE!.. eh Jim