Stress cracks or gel coat damage? see attachment

Is this considered a stress crack or just gel coat damage? Can anyone advise me on how i would go about repairing this kind of damage or a way to keep it from getting worse. I want to re-paint the boat also so if that makes it any easier than let me know. see attachment. click paperclip. if it doesnt work ignore this post for now. thanks anyways.

 

I assume its at the starboard corner of a transon?

I'd say stress crack for sure. Tough to say if these cracks are limited to just the gel coat, or if they involve the laminate under. For certain, they reflect the parts flexing to a greater degree than the material can take without cracking. If the gel coat is thick in this corner as is often the case, the gel coat is more prone to cracking. Just grinding out the surface and laying up light cloth may do the trick. If the underside is accessible, laying up heavy glass to a well ground surface is the surest path to a repair which will not re-crack. In this case taper layup onto flat panels out from corner & shoot for ~1/4" of glass on corner. Grind out face by cutting into layup about 1/8" in corner and along path of cracks. Cut tapers onto surface out ~2". Layup glass and fill the 'valley' you cut. Lay down some mat first and use an epoxy such as West Systems or Mas. A bit of cabosil in the epoxy helps to get a good bond to surface. Sand and fair with 3m poly filler and prime before paint.

T

 

Stress

These must be stress cracks, sharp corners in a design concentrate the stress so this is a logical place. You can also see hairline cracks radiating from the main crack, a sure sign of stress a crack. As Bntii said, laying up heavy glass on the underside is the best solution.