Flexing Seats

[prig0026]

How much flex should there be in the seats? I crawled into my boat for the first time while it was on the trailer and the seats seam to flex alot. If I push down in the middle of them it maybe only takes 30 pounds of force or so to flex them quite a bit. There are also alot of cracks on the backside of the seat (where your lower back would be). Is this normal? I have never owned a fiberglass boat so I have no idea how solid things should feel. The whole boat seems like it flexes quite a bit when you get in it. It is a 1990 mod 2. One of the seats has an access port in it, I took some pictures. Everything looks ok, I'm just surprised there isn't any wood supports or anything along the length of the seat. Is this normal?

 

[ross ellena]

flexing

I also have a mod 2. My seats do not flex at all, but the foredeck does flex a little and shows some microcracking on the gelcoat. I weigh 190 lbs. so I try not to step in the middle of the deck! Your excellent photos are the first info. I have seen re: the inside of the hull. The existence of the inspection port may indicate that the prior owner was investigating the flexing?
I am anxious to see if anyone has a nifty fix for your problem.
Good Luck, RRE

 

[RC14A]

I currently have a '86 14.2 and the seats flex on her but has very little gel coat cracking. Her previous owner kept her garaged.

My previous boat, also a mid 80's version, seats flexed also and had much more gel coat cracking. She was stored outdoors, unused for 10 years before I rescued her .

Keep her waxed and dry when stored , water and freezing weather equal bigger cracks.

The 14.2 is a great boat, have fun.

Rob

C14.2 #1174

 

[prig0026]

Added some pics of the gelcoat cracking. I didn't realize it was this bad before I bought it. These are probably 18-24 inches long where the seat curves up. I'm probably worrying too much, but does this still fall within the range of 'normal' gelcoat cracking on a 20 year old boat. I'm guessing it would come right back if I tried to repair it or have it repaired since the structure of the boat just doesn't seem stiff enough to prevent it. Thankfully there isn't anything on the hull that looks like this.