Structural Damage Advice

Hello all.

Once again I come to seek advice from your expertise.
Although many should doubt is this the right forum to pose such questions, I personally think the best people to help you repair, are actually the ones who are indeed capable of building and designing.

I came across this boat, which is damaged. I haven't been to the spot to check on it yet. Attached you'll find some pictures.

How bad is it? Is it possible to fix? How difficult is to fix? Will it come out structurally sound? The owner has also said there is gelcoat damaged to the bottom. He has covered it with this unknown grey paste, so I suspect it could be even deeper than the gelcoat. How does it look?

Thanks again for your attention.

 

You can grind the damaged area and laminate a repair. There are many books that explain the specifics.

 

Well you can fix anything given enough time and money. The question is whether the boat in question is worth putting the effort in or whether you'd be better looking elsewhere. Its difficult to evaluate too much without seeing the whole boat, knowing what it is, knowing how good the foils, sails, mast, rigging gear and so on are, but my gut feeling is its not a project I'd want to take on unless the boat has some quite special provenance.

 

That appears to be the mast partners on a daysailor, where the damage occurred. It's likely the mast hit something and then was pushed to starboard, ripping out the partner area and what appears to be a molded in coming.

This is easy enough to fix, but as has been mentioned, is it worth it. Without sails and spars, most daysailors are nearly worthless.

 

looks like a seahorse glider!

 

This is why I love you people...

Susho, right on the spot. Where can I get more information on the Sea Horse? It really seems like a fast piece of boat... Or?

 

I've never sailed one. It is a more sporty version of the sail/seahorse. It was build using minimal shell thickness, clamped together in a mould with an expanding polyurethane foam providing some stiffness. Fast and cheap building method, but over time the PU foam can soak up quite some water. Some sailhorses where cut open, the foam was removed and extra glass and framing was place to get it up to today's standard.

here is a site about the glider in dutch:
http://www.tjapko.dds.nl/seahorseglider/gliderverhaal.htm

here a short translation:

About 30 years ago the last glider was made, from a total of about 300. A large portion of that is being degraded to hold flowers and plants, others are seriously neglected. About 68 gliders have been localised thusfar.

I had some correspondence with the owner of the site. It seemed a nice boat to build, unfortunately moulds seem to have been destroyed, and no one knows who holds the rights. Parts where available from demolished boats, but I don't know if they still are. gliders are for sale once in a while, ranging from 300 to around 1500 euro's. No matter what the price, the need a lot of work to get up to what I want.

 

Separate the deck cap from the hull shell and see what you have to work with.

 

You can fix anything. The question is it worth it. The simplest fix is to reuse the old structure (to preserve the shape) and simply fill and glass-over the damaged area, to make is strong enough you will add a lot of weight, and it will not look pretty (with faring it in it will not look too bad if you do not look too close). The other alternative is to rebuild the whole panel from scratch. Without a mold that will be a lot of work, and expensive.

If you get it cheap, or free, with some rigging, it might be worth it with crude but effective repairs, and go have fun with it. Without the rigging, you will likely put way more into it than it will be worth.

 

Thank you all very much for your replies.
I think Petros' advice was quite the thing, and my kudos to Susho - as the boat has been out in the open with the blemished hull, it's probably full of humidity by now, so I haven't made the trip to see it. Instead I'm looking for other options.

I came across this very old wooden Snipe, a class I know well, but also in a deplorable state, although I have to admit she's a true beauty.

Could I possibly ask again for your opinion? Although I have sailed quite a bit, I have no experience whatsoever in boat repair, or even woodworks. How difficult do you think it can be? Is it worth it? Salvageable?

 

No repair!

I would not consider any small "day sailor" that needed ANY repair. There are too many decent boats available for far less than the value of their equipment and trailer that need almost nothing. Many small "class" designs are obsolete and were not built all that well originally- at least not very durable. Find a decent boat, go sailing, and if you really like it, maybe give it a coat of paint next year. No "basket cases"! B

 

bruce does make a lot of sence you know, with the world economy as it is right now, many good boats can be had for a song, so why take on someones problems....you will be surprised just how much it costs even doing it yourself mate, and getting parts will be expensive if you ever have to actually go to a chandlery!