Enterprise dinghy construction

[biddy_boy]

Hi, I have an all GRP enterprise dinghy built in the late 70's.

The boat hasn't been used for a long time. I am thinking about doing some work to it ready for next year.

Someone has recently suggested to me that even though it is a full GRP boat, not a composite, it might still have a wooden keelson, and that this could potentially be rotten.

This is worrying me as it sounds pretty terminal. I don't really know how to find out without removing the centreboard and its casing. Something I don't really want to do!

Has anyone got information about GRP enterprises of this period?

Thanks

[gonzo]

Send me a text and I can help you with it.

[wet feet]

The grp Enterprises of the seventies were not the finest examples of dinghy building and are not in the same league as the more recent versions.If memory serves,the keel section had a wooden infill for the screws that attached the keelband to bite into.Or it may have been microballoon paste.If there is definitely rot,you may have a problem.I would not regard it as a particularly serious one as the quick fix would involve a local placing of something that a few screws would be retained by.The depth of the centreboard case provides a lot of vertical stiffness and the grp boats used to have a centreboard mounted on a stirrup arrangement,rather than a bolt.This would not be affected by some local rot in a wooden insert.Good luck with the boat.