Question - RibCraft transom, small crack

[quaoar]

I would really appreciate it if someone here with some experience could take a look at this and make a comment...

I just bought a used RibCraft.
I did not have the opportunity to go and look at it in person, but had several people check it out/try it before I bought it. After having it transported to where I live, I did a quick scan of the boat. Everything seems to be in tip-top shape, except one thing! There is a small crack at the top of the transom
How my friends managed to miss it is a mystery, but it's my fault for not taking the time to go and look at it myself. In my defense, the seller reported nothing wrong with the boat. If this is something major, we have laws which protects the buyer if there is details which should be known by the seller, but it is not reported to the buyer.


After reading some threads in rib.net about cracks in the transom, I'm more or less petrified right now. Some of the solutions seems quite expensive.

However... Looking at the last image, you can see that there is a small spacing between was seems to be some kind of "top layer" with "paint" (is this what you call gel coat?) around. It looks like it might be only the "top layer" of the transom which has kind of separated a little from the "main" transom. If that is the case, could I get away with just adding some gel coat/paint?
Another thing. If I take hold of the engine shaft and jerk it up/down, there is absolutely no movement in the transom/crack - instead the whole boat "jiggles". So there does not seem to be any weakness in the transom. The transom is quite massive, with 3 supporting "beams" going out from it at the center (2 of these can be seen left side of the "birds view" image).
At last, the hull seems to be in perfect condition except for the small crack.

I would really appreciate if someone could tell me if this could be serious or not?

Boat details:
RibCraft 6,5 meter - 2005 mod
Engine : 150HP Honda - 2005 mod
Boat + engine was fitted at producer in UK.



PS.
From Norway and English is not my main language, so please excuse any spelling and/or grammatical errors

[slimtim]

The transom is more than likely plywood sheathed in GRP. The outside (back of the transom/boat) layer would have been laid into the mould, then the plywood would have been bonded in followed by sheathing with glass over the top.

It look to me like they have sheathed up the inside of the transom then wrapped it over the top but did not then continue to wrap it over the back of the transom resulting in little or no join between the glass on the back and the glass on the top of the transom...which is where the crack is.

There are far better qualified people on this forum than me to tell you the best method to fix this but I would say you need to whip the engine off, pull back the glass on the top and perhaps 2-3inches down each side of the transom, and then (after making sure its all dry and in good condition underneath) re-glass it over the back/top/front.

I wouldn't leave it as water will get in and make the problem a lot worse and I wouldn't just paint over it and hope for the best! Spend a bit of time sorting it now and it'll be worth it. Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Good luck.

[jwalker]

Firstly, welcome. Secondly, your english is fine. Your transom does need a proper repair. The engine will need to come off first. The top of the transom needs to be removed to inspect the condition of the plywood core. If it's sound and dry then each side of the transom will need to be ground back and an overlapping repair performed. If the core is spoiled, the extent of that needs to be investigated and a repair undertaken. It does look as though it may be a build problem. If the transom hasn't been lowered by cutting it down then it's an original build problem.

Let's hope it's superficial and easily corrected.

Edit: slimtim can type faster that me and beat me to it!

[slimtim]

Yeah listen to jw, he knows what he is talking about

Forgot to say welcome and your english is better than mine.

From what you have described, it doesn't sound like it is a structural problem, yet. If you leave it however it will quickly become one with the water doing its nasty work. Are there "squelching" or "cracking" sounds, can you see water pushing through the crack and/or does the crack get bigger/smaller when you jerk the engine up and down? If you get none of these it is likely the damage is just superficial at this stage and problem won't run too deep. However you will still need to strip it back like JW said to inspect it.

[doggypaddle]

Your english is fine
I would say looking at the photographs its difficult to tell whether water has gotten into the transom and caused damage, if not repair is relatively straightforward, however if water has gotten into the plywood it will be more expensive and a bit more involved.
If you bought the boat as all good then my first choice would be to take the issue up with the vendor, and either get some money refunded to cover the cost of the repair, or get a full refund for the cost of the boat and shipping. if neither of these options is viable then its a repair job as described by JW funded by yourself. one thing for sure is thet left as it is it will only get worse as water seeps in. at the very least as a temporary measure to stop any more decay seal the crack with sikaflex before you use the boat.

[quaoar]

Thanks for the many replies

Feeling a bit let down right now... As the boat was advertised as "Ready to go!".

From the information I've got, no work has been done on the transom after the boat was bought new from the factory. So if this is a fault with the construction, it was done this way by those who built the boat.
Going to contact the seller today. I think this is something that should have been pointed out to me, since you can't really not notice it.
Hopefully this will be solved in a friendly way.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by quaoar

I would really appreciate it if someone here with some experience could take a look at this and make a comment...

I would suggest that you contact Ribcraft directly for them to comment and advise

[quaoar]

Good ide, Leapy. Just sent RibCraft an email.

For the record, not expecting anything from them. This is a second hand rib and they are in now way responsible for it, but it would be nice to get a comment from them on how to go about fixing this.

And... This is the coolest looking RIB I've ever seen, well, at least touched. Props to RibCraft!

I'm crossing my fingers for this to go well

[chewy]

Could it not had have an alloy capping like the seariders do and some one had glassed over this, hence the crack along the top?

[Kernow Buoy]

I've got a much older Rib with almost identical damage although not quite as bad, I thought it had had its transom cut down but in view of what you've said perhaps not, its being looked at in the next few days so hopefully I'll be able to give you a cause.