covering up the woven material in a few spots.

[waterboy222]

I have a very light layup offshore raceboat that I'm needing to make some repairs on. In a few area, you can see the woven material through the black gel.

I was told that since it was a factory raceboat that they put a race finish on it instead of a pleasure finish. So there's a few areas in the corners that have been gelled and you can still see the bumpy glass underneath it. The deck has been painted over and seems to be in pretty good shape, Ive not found any areas that I can see the mat. The hull is another story.

Is it just from a lack of thickness on the gel? I was going to have the hull painted (not the running surface though) and have the tunnel and running surface wetsanded back to a nice finish. But painting over these areas will make them stand out even worse.

What should I do? Is it as simple as laying down a heavier coat of gel to cover these areas?

Thanks for your help, in advance!

The boat is a 1985 24' Skater

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Welcome to iboats. Can we get some pictures of the areas in question?

When you say have the hull painted -- do you mean strip off the gel and re-gel or re-paint? or paint over the gel?

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

I dont have any pictures of the areas right now. I guess I should have done that to help out with the thread. The interior of the boat looks the same way. It was a 2 man driver/throttleman cockpit that was converted to a pleasure boat in the 90's and the floor is the same way. You can see all the little squares where the mat is woven together. The interior doesnt concern me because I'm installing loncoin rubber flooring over it, but the hull will need some attention.
Yes I plan on painting over the gel. This is what my painter advised anyways because it will have a custom paintjob and designs down the side. Here are a few pictures of the boat. I will update the thread with some upclose pics of the gel tomorrow morning.

Im doing all the prepwork on the hull before he lays down the paint. Its had 4 different sets of engines on it and racers rarely do much cosmetic work to fix anything. Most of the old rigging holes were just squirted full of silicone and left.

edit: Forgot to mention that it is a black gelled hull with a painted white deck. It has a wrap on it right now just to get it through its first poker run season..

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Those are some COOL GO FASTS!!! How fast does that go?

Depending on how deep it is, I would build it up with either gel or thickened gel then fair sand and buff

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Those are some COOL GO FASTS!!! How fast does that go?

Depending on how deep it is, I would build it up with either gel or thickened gel then fair sand and buff

The thickened gel is what I was thinking too.. Unfortunately its in a corner so Im concerned about having it bump out. Ill get a better look at it tonight and get a little more info on it. Most of this stuff was covered by the wrap when I bought it so I didnt really pay much attention.

I got it in April this year so with only one poker run season, I still need a little seat time to find out what she likes. It came from the factory with 2.4s that were 240hp and SIGNIFICANTLY lighter. So now it runs really heavy in the rear and really light in the front. She absolutely hates smooth water. It suctioncups itself to the surface if theres not a little chop and porpoises like crazy between 50 and 80 on glass-like water. If theres a chop, you can run it from 0-110 without even spilling your drink, rides like a cadillac if you can keep feeding the tunnel enough air.

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Does it have trim tabs or smart tabs? Don't mean to go off topic but it's a cool boat!!

A pic would definitely help, but I would imagine that you could build it up with thickened gel then slap on 3 layers of regular thinner gel and sand it all even

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Does it have trim tabs or smart tabs? Don't mean to go off topic but it's a cool boat!!

A pic would definitely help, but I would imagine that you could build it up with thickened gel then slap on 3 layers of regular thinner gel and sand it all even

Since its a cat, it doesnt have (or need) trim tabs. To cure the porpoise they will install a tunnel tab to increase pressure and lift within the tunnel. Though on a 24, if you have to turn or make an evasive manuever and you have the tunnel tab down, you're going over. No ifs ands or buts about it. They weren't designed for 600 HP so the porpoise is just an inherent "benefit" that you learn to live with. Its a raceboat, they arent meant to be driven on smooth water at 55mph, lol!

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

EDIT

I asked him a few questions because I liked his rig... My fault if anyone's. I also asked for pics and he said he would get them soon but hasn't been able to get them yet...
I'm sorry if it upset you that this thread digressed, but I'm sure the OP will get pics up as soon as he can.

(EDIT: I agree with the OP below.)

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Every picture I posted is of my boat. I was answering some questions that the previous poster asked. EDIT

Ive not had a chance to go over to my shop and take a picture of the area in question. I was providing some pics for the guys that said they liked seeing the boat

 

[oops!]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

hi waterboy

welcome to iboats.

i must apoligize for the above comment....that is not the iboats spirit.

of all the boats i have ever been in......i think the pucker factor on yours would be extreme.

since that is a race boat.......it could be made form other materials. im betting this is an epoxy boat.....so standard poly repair may not be the way to go..

getting rid of print thru is a major repair ....the areas will have to be ground down to the glass......then layers of csm then fair and fill......then re paint.

it is something that can be done in a few hours depending on the size of the area....but if this is an epoxy boat. the cure time will be 24 hours before you can touch it.

cheers my friend....and again .....welcome
oops

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

hi waterboy

welcome to iboats.

i must apoligize for the above comment....that is not the iboats spirit.

of all the boats i have ever been in......i think the pucker factor on yours would be extreme.

since that is a race boat.......it could be made form other materials. im betting this is an epoxy boat.....so standard poly repair may not be the way to go..

getting rid of print thru is a major repair ....the areas will have to be ground down to the glass......then layers of csm then fair and fill......then re paint.

it is something that can be done in a few hours depending on the size of the area....but if this is an epoxy boat. the cure time will be 24 hours before you can touch it.

cheers my friend....and again .....welcome
oops

Pardon my ignorance, but IF it were a poly boat, could he just gel over it? also, since gel won't stick to epoxy, make sure you use paint!!!

 

[oops!]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Pardon my ignorance, but IF it were a poly boat, could he just gel over it? also, since gel won't stick to epoxy, make sure you use paint!!!

yep he could zop......just fair some new gell over it.....however.....the problem would still exist and now the gellcoat would be well above the thickness for gellcoat ....allowing crazing to start.

your best bet for a one time repair, is to re glass it.....then fill and fair.....then paint or gell depending on the resin.

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Sorry for the delay in pictures. The weather took a turn here and have not had a chance to get over to the shop. Im hoping to make the trip this afternoon.

Other than talking with the manufacturer, how would I find out if its a poly or epoxy boat? I got an email this morning from a friend and he said that he thinks theres a pretty solid chance that my deck is carbon fiber and the edges and corners were done in Kevlar. Which is the reason I'm seeing the print through. I have an email into the manufacturer right now but it may be a few days...:facepalm:

 

[Coho Ghost]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Waterboy,

Contacting the manufg. is a really good idea. It should settle a lot of issues for you. I would also ask for their opinion on what you want to do the the hull in prep for a fancy paint job. They may suggest some products or process that is best matched to their construction technique, or they might say don't mess with it - it is what it is!!

FWIW
Coho Ghost

 

[zopperman]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

If it's carbon fiber, it's most likely epoxy, MAYBE VE, but I doubt it.

 

[oops!]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

Sorry for the delay in pictures. The weather took a turn here and have not had a chance to get over to the shop. Im hoping to make the trip this afternoon.

Other than talking with the manufacturer, how would I find out if its a poly or epoxy boat? I got an email this morning from a friend and he said that he thinks theres a pretty solid chance that my deck is carbon fiber and the edges and corners were done in Kevlar. Which is the reason I'm seeing the print through. I have an email into the manufacturer right now but it may be a few days...:facepalm:

as zop mentioned......it will be epoxy....(if cf or kev laminate) ve is not likely with those materials.`

the repair for that problem will be fill and fair then paint. you could add more materials but you would just be adding weight for nothing.....that boat is built for a different life style than killing fish or pulling the 8 year old on a tube.......however if an 8 year old did climb on a tube behind it.....you would have to give them credit !

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

What happend to my post ??

YD.

 

[waterboy222]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

I got confirmation it is a fiberglass hull with carbon fiber deck that is bonded with kevlar in the corners. My IMP project has overtaken my shop so I think I'm just going to let the painter deal with the print through. He said he could fix it for a few more hours of labor.. Plus he said the sides are pretty wavy because of the race finish and theres a good deal of work that needs to be done prior to the paintjob being applied.

 

[oops!]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

water.......fiberglass is a big word........did they say poly resin?...poly is a very poor choice to use with cf or kev...

kinda like stitching titainum with scotch tape.

is it too much trouble to post pics of the process?....there are boat junkies here that love this kind of stuff....

cheers
oops

 

[oops!]

Re: covering up the woven material in a few spots.

What happend to my post ??

YD.

Last edited by JB; December 6th, 2011 at 05:12 PM. Reason: quoted deleted post