Cracking The Hull?

[DayCruiser]

I have a 18 foot Celebrity. I was just wondering has anyone ever cracked the hull of a boat with wave action? Just curious about how thick the hull is and how much punishment one can take?(fiberglass). I have had boats most of my life and never had one to crack. Lucky or they are built to never crack under harsh conditions?

 

[tommays]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

luck is more like it many boats are built to meet a price point NOT be the best possible quality but good enough to meet the needs of normal use


but in general i find the boat can take more than my lower back


Tommays

 

[ziggy]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

when i was lookin to buy a boat last fall. i found a cobalt with a crack in the bottom of it. maybe a foot and a half long. no idea how it got there and there didn't seem to be damage around the crack. just the crack.

i don't get the feelin hulls are ususally to thick really. though i don't know anything for a fact. as for how much punishment they take. i don't know. but my boat shoulda cracked along time ago. i think i've hit waves so hard that my fillings in my teeth fell out....just kiddin, but ya get the idea....still no cracks for me either.......

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

Never cracked a hull but I bought one that had all the rivets holding hull and deck together pulled out from bow to past windshield by wave action. Didn't know it until I got into some waves. Had to drill out rivets and bolt it back together.

 

[Coors]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

I,m with Ziggy; have thought we all lost fillings, but no damage.
Except for the dog pee.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

Yes hulls can be cracked from hitting waves. I've seen boats with large holes blown in the hull from high speed runs and the famous "the wave (or wake) came out of nowhere" explanation was used. At lower speeds (less than 45 or 50 mph) most hulls can handle the beating they receive.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

The hull on my SeaRay cracked on me one day. I was out in the bay, it was a bit rough, but I have been in worse many times. A 8-12inch crack opened in the hull right in the strake under where the pasenger would sit. Luckily the bilge pump could keep up with it.

Since strakes are a strong point, there is no stringers supporting them. The foam is the only support. My theory is that either the foam was not installed in this area, or it compressed. This allowed the fiberglass to flex until it failed. My fix was to double the stringers in that area and I ran a diagnal support over the cracked area. I doubled the glass on the stringer as well as added new foam.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Cracking The Hull?

I've seen a few sport or speed type boats that have had abuse damage from hitting waves too hard or jumping wakes. Most were just cracks, but I have seen plenty of boats with deck separation caused by rivets or screws pulling out whether from abuse or just poor assembly.
I've seen far more damaged from either hitting object in or under the water, or trailer damage. I just fixed one for a buddy that had a 4 inch hole punched through the hull from a failed roller. (The bad part was the it probably didn't happen while loading, the roller split and slid off while on the way home and the roller stand and shaft got driven up into the hull while driving. Luckily it was in a spot where I could get to the back side fairly easy and made a solid repair.

I saw one boat split open up from along the keel, a 4' section peeled back acting like a shovel, the owner beached the boat in reverse in a hurry, that boat was brand new and on it's first time out.

The only one that I saw actually smashed or severely damaged by pounding was one of those twin engine jet boats, I don't recall the brand. But it looked pretty well beat and it did make it back under it's own power, only due to it's flotation. It never sunk but was pretty badly shattered across the lower bow area. I didn't see it happen, but saw it after it was on the trailer right after it came out of the water.

I've put a few boats though some serious punishment over the years, none ever failed, but from what I have been told it was more luck and the fact that older boats tend to have heavier glass and more wood supports than do many newer boats. I had a few trihulls that probably should have broken, but never did.