spider cracks in gel coat

[hadd]

Hi all, just noticed some little cracks in the hull where the rear wheel,s on the trailer run on both side,s of the hull, i,v taken the boat back to the dealer to see what they had to say about it, he told me not to worry about it as they are only spider crack,s , the boat as only been out about 7 time,s from new , any advice please.

[martini]

Spider cracks are usually caused by stress or flex in the fibreglass but can also be caused by impact damage, exposure to hot sun (allegedly), gelcoat being applied too thickly or not mixed correctly.

It's usually just superficial but could be a warning of something more serious underneath.

There's no easy proper fix I'm afraid, it's a case of grinding out and reapplying flocoat then sand, flat and polish.

If it's a new boat I'd be a bit pee'd off. If you are concerned about it, one course of action would be to have it all or part repaired by a specialist. When they dig it all out they might have a better idea of the damage and the cause. If they reckon it's a fault in the original laying up of the hull then that's a bit of ammo to go back to the dealer with.

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by hadd

Hi all, just noticed some little cracks in the hull where the rear wheel,s on the trailer run on both side,s of the hull, i,v taken the boat back to the dealer to see what they had to say about it, he told me not to worry about it as they are only spider crack,s , the boat as only been out about 7 time,s from new , any advice please.

Seapro? so you are dealing with the budget end of the market.... ...still not really an acceptable answer from the dealer and hardly going to help the good marketing / press coverage he's been getting in the mags recently.

you probably need the opinion of a real builder or surveyor (like Biffer or Searider on here respectively) as to whether (a) this needs fixed for long term structural reasons (b) how it should be fixed (I suspect with that attitude if your stealer fixes it he's just going to put some filler over it - which won't stop it recurring.

[whisper]

Hi, If it’s cracked around where the rollers meet the hull it could be caused by your trailer setup, have you got any pics?

[kerny]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Seapro? so you are dealing with the budget end of the market.... ...still not really an acceptable answer from the dealer and hardly going to help the good marketing / press coverage he's been getting in the mags recently.

you probably need the opinion of a real builder or surveyor (like Biffer or Searider on here respectively) as to whether (a) this needs fixed for long term structural reasons (b) how it should be fixed (I suspect with that attitude if your stealer fixes it he's just going to put some filler over it - which won't stop it recurring.

Not just the budget end of the market .




http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?...on+hull+damage

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by whisper

Hi, If it’s cracked around where the rollers meet the hull it could be caused by your trailer setup, have you got any pics?

A fellow I know had a similar problem on his hard boat. The repair guy chalked it up to too much weight on the trailer rollers. They replaced all of the rollers with carpeted bunks and he has had no problems since...

[biffer]

all the posts have valid points, if you grind out and gell again the cracks will come back, better to grind a little deeper and put a layer or two of matt then gell and finish, put a straight edge across the crack and see if there's a dent there, this could mean that the layup is very light and you're roller is on it's way through the bottom of you're boat.
these boat are made to a price not a standard and a bunk trailer would make sense as it spreads the load over a larger area, should be easy enough to convert the trailer you have

[Searider]

^^^^^^^

What Biffer said.

BUT, if you're having no joy with the dealer at the moment have a Surveyor look at the bottom and document the cracks.

You can use this in discussions over repairs with the dealer. If the dealer supplied the trailer then he should sort the cracks.

If you supplied the trailer and it's fitted incorrectly you might be in a slightly less strong position.

Don't whatever you do get it repaired and present the bill to the dealer.

He'll be none too happy and will probably tell you that you have no warranty - as you've carried out an unauthorised repair to the hull.

Hope this helps.

[hadd]

Originally Posted by Searider

^^^^^^^

What Biffer said.

BUT, if you're having no joy with the dealer at the moment have a Surveyor look at the bottom and document the cracks.

You can use this in discussions over repairs with the dealer. If the dealer supplied the trailer then he should sort the cracks.

If you supplied the trailer and it's fitted incorrectly you might be in a slightly less strong position.

Don't whatever you do get it repaired and present the bill to the dealer.

He'll be none too happy and will probably tell you that you have no warranty - as you've carried out an unauthorised repair to the hull.

Hope this helps.

Thank for all the info,i will take some pic,s of the trailer setup over weekend & put them on here, some of you on here might know better than me whether the trailers setup right or wrong.

[hadd]

Originally Posted by hadd

Thank for all the info,i will take some pic,s of the trailer setup over weekend & put them on here, some of you on here might know better than me whether the trailers setup right or wrong.

A few pic,s of trailer setup .