Old Fibreglass Kayak

Hi All,
I have recently picked up an old fibreglass kayak from a garage sale.
It looks to be in fairly good condition, however quite a bit of the gelcoat has cracked and I think this might have to do with the excessive flex in the fibreglass.

I don't want to repair the gelcoat if it is just going to crack again because of the flex.

How much flex should the fibreglass have? (when I sit in the seat it flexes down until it touches the hull)

How should I stiffen up the glass?

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Bush

 

Can you post a picture ot two or 3 . could simply add a coulpe of stringers inside and glass over them . or even add some foam core to the inside bottom and glass over it and remount the seat on top of the new core !. Its the type of foam you use and the shape you could make before you glass over it that will give strength and not add a lot odf weight !!

 

Some photos,
Cheers

 

A couple of timber stringers glassed over completely could do wonders and just behinh the seat a half a ring frame put in after stringers are done .
Glass double bias and take at least 60 mm to 80 mm out onto the hull each side plus a coat of epoxy resin or two all over the inside of the hull glass up to the gunnel level could help a lot . Its bound to be made of polyester i would say so epoxy will stick that best !! The higher the stringer the stiffer it would be and taking the glass out a long way eachside , everything is adding strength . you han buy glass tape that you could simply cut to length and wet out on a bench or board and roll up and place inside the boat and roll down with a small paint roller with resin on it !!