Gelcoat Crack...

[KaGee]

Posting this for a friend....

i was under the boat just doing a routine inspection of my hull and i found a crack about a foot long in the gel coating. it is on the bottom where the trailer bunks ride. it runs from the front to the back along the bunk. how concerned should i be and is the a problem i need to get repaired? i can tell it is only on the surface and i am not taking on any water.. i know anything that has a crack in it, is only going to crack more

im looking into more support for the boat when on the trailer in the shape of keel rollers. anyone have this problem or any ideas? ill try to get a photo. the boat is a 97 and i do see a lot of spider web like ones, but i see there just on the gel coat. this one seemes a little deeper.

It's a '97 Trophy walk around w/outboard.

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Gelcoat Crack...

From the pic it's hard to tell where in the hulll the cracks are. I would take a careful look at where the bunks are supporting the hull. Ideally you want the bunks under the stringers. Make sure that the transom is supported by the bunks. If they are stress cracks then the FB is flexing for some reason i.e bunk placement. With stress cracks you have to find out "why", else they will just re-appear. If they are gelcoat spider cracks that's not so bad. Either way they should be fixed. Post some more pics I'm sure some one will chime in and help.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Gelcoat Crack...

Only one opinion... gees, you guys are slacking! Normally there are more opinions than members!

I can only go by the picture as well, but that definetly looks like a stress crack to me too.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Gelcoat Crack...

Wanna ge ti right PM Ondarvr

 

[KaGee]

Re: Gelcoat Crack...

^^^^

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Gelcoat Crack...

The cracks may, or may not be from the bunks, it's hard to tell from the pic. If he can get to it from the inside then he'll be able to tell if there's any real damage, or if it's just a gel coat crack. Most of the time a crack that looks like that doesn't indicate it needs to be delt with immediately, but it should be checked when he can get to it.

I frequently see cracks like that from loading on the trailer, as the boat gets pulled or powered onto the trailer, it can create a great deal of stress on small areas of the hull if the trailer's not set up correctly and/or the trailers not deep enough.