Hull bottom repair near centerboard-delam issue

[Eric Cordis]

My 78 laser has cracking in the hull bottom, likely caused in the past by a sailing club that let the boat sit on it's bottom on a hard surface (a guess on my part). Ofter several years of ownership, it is gettling a little worse, and I am looking for ideas to stem the rate of decline or better yet reverse the raviges of time.

I attached some photos.

Sice the hull is a laminate sandwitch of gell coat, fiberglass, foam and inner fiberglass. I am assuming the inner fiberglass bond to the outer core is deteriorated due to excessive pressure to the hull, causing cracking. I have sailed it hard (I use a dolly or trailer to move the boat) to the current rate of deterioration cannot be stoped without only sailing on lite wind days (boring) or some type of repair.

Easiest is to overlay the gellcoat on the exterior with a alternating layers of mat and woven fiberglass. Not exactly fast, (have you seen my latest race results, someone has to fill out the field).

Other than that, I am puzzled. Any thoughts, just sail it,

Any help will be considered.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Eric Cordis]

I forgot to post the pictures, let me see if I can figure it out?
Eric

 

[Eric Cordis]

Got it, thanks

 

[49208]

Hi Eric,

The hull/daggerboard case area does not have a foam core - is just a multiple layup of glass/resin with gelocoat on the outside.

If it's not leaking in that area, I would grind the gelcoat down to the first layer of glass and then evaluate from there. If the glass doesn't look fractured, I would just apply new gelcoat or something like Marine Tex and sand it smooth and go sailing...

If the glass is fractured, I would attack it from inside the hull (inspection port at the cockpit slope) and lay in a few more layers of mat/resin. Finish the outside as above