Fibreglass Crack Repair

[Gone Ballistic]

Hi,

I've had a bit of an accident on my sailing boat.

The boat is a Cork 1720 sportsboat solid GRP laminate about 10mm thick although i can't measure the exact thickness.

The damage is a crack/tear in the topsides about 8" long and in crescent shaped curve. The inside edge of the curve has been pushed inboard so the rough edge lies behind the outside of the tear. No material has been lost so if there isn't really a hole to bridge. The access behind is good and the gellcoat is white.

Can anyone give me any advice on the best procedure for fixing this and is it something that i might attempt on my own as a fib reglass novice?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Cheers

[PAR]

There are many previous threads about these types of repairs.

Points to consider are: grind back all the damaged and delaminated material, until you're back into good mat. - use a very wide, gradually tapered transition from good to damaged area, so you'll have plenty of room for new fabric and resin to grab onto - build up the thickness until just below the surrounding areas - then apply filer to make it flush. Gel coat can be a real bear to match perfectly, particularly by a novice. Paint is a better and much easier solution for a back yard repair. Epoxy is easier to work with and much stronger then polyester (which is what you boat is made out of). If using epoxy you don't need mat, just cloth.

Use the search tool and read up on the methods and procedures in this repair.

[rwatson]

Just one little trick - dont be too keen on getting the filler flush with the hull. I would be getting a Router, with about 2-3mm of exposed tool to make the whole thing 2-3mm lower than the hull surface.
Then mix up your best match in some kind of gelcoat goo, and apply that slightly overheight. Then sand and fair it back to the hull surface, with finer and finer abrasives (described in detail by experts in serveral other threads), then cut and polish the rest of the hull.
Par is right, matching aged colours is going to be a PITA.
I would avoid painting the hull if you can - just makes for a whole new world of maintenance.