What are these cracks?

[Chris611]

I have a couple of places on the boat where I have found the cracks in the picture. They are mainly just above the rubber bumper on the side of my boat (21' I/O Conquest). Is this the gel-coat cracking or something else?<br /><br />Thanks<br />Chris<br /><br />

 

[cc lancer]

Re: What are these cracks?

Stress cracks.<br />Have you hit a dock or piling kinda hard?

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: What are these cracks?

They could aslo be from the hull flexing. I have seen this haapen from the boat taking a pounding in rough waters at high speeds also.

 

[Chris611]

Re: What are these cracks?

I haven't hit anything real hard. There are times when crossing other boats wakes on the river at 35-40MPH when there is a pretty good thud when the hull hits the wake. Is that what is causing it? Are these cracks superficial (sp?) or is there anything structural to worry about? <br /><br />Thanks<br />Chris

 

[MarkHPCA]

Re: What are these cracks?

They look like typical 'spider' stress cracks in the gel. Many performance boats get these and usually are nothing to worry about. The gel is less flexible than the glass/resine part and can develops these cracks. Just keep an eye on them and if they don't get any worse ignore it.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: What are these cracks?

Gelcoat becomes more brittle with age, and often just a moderate impact can cause the cracks. New gel is still flexible enough for several years, but stiffens as time goes by. They are purely superficial. They can be repaired, but often times the repair looks worse because instead of hairlibe cracks you end up with miss-matched gel repair. It is difficult to color match gel. I have the cracks and don't even bother with them.

 

[islandboat]

Re: What are these cracks?

I have stress cracks in my hull simularto the ones in the picture. My boat is a 230 Hydra Sport. The stress cracks run from about 3' of the bow to within 1' of the stern. They are 6 to 7 cracks about 19' long, 18" up from the keel and run paralell to the keel and they are on both sides of the keel. I have never hit anything and these cracks have developed within the last 6 months as I polished the entire boat earlier this year and they were not visible. Yes, I even polish the bottom. Hydra Sport factory said the boat is 5 months, 11 days out of the 5 year warranty. They may not be serious, but it sure is discouraging to have a good boat "cracking up".