Am I missing anything?

SuperSam19

New Member
In the fall I bought a 2006 laser and after sailing for a few hours it had at least a gallon of water in the hull. This spring I am resealing most of the hardware and I want to make sure I don't miss anything that could still be leaking. The hull-deck joint is very solid all the way around, so I don't think that could be an issue. there is some bare fiberglass in the centerboard trunk, but not any cracking other than gelcoat. I've resealed the mainsheet screws, the control blocks, the metal bushing and the autobailer screw, the lower gudgeon, and the plug. These are the only places I can think would be leaking so much water, but is there anywhere else that could be responsible for so much water coming in?
 
Fill the mast step with water and see if it goes down. Also do an air test with soapy water. Cover hull and deck with soapy water and pump air into the hull through the bung hole. Use a hand pump only. Take the bailer out to check the brass fitting during the air test.
 
My money is on cracks at the lower end of the mast step tube, or the seams where hull and dagger well meet... those can leak more than one would expect when the hull is "working" or flexing in strong winds & plenty of surface chop. Every time I refurbished Laser #2069 (usually every winter), I would check those seams closely, as they were problematic in an older boat. The mast step too, that could easily be the culprit... if you sail all day, or even for hours at a time, the cumulative effect of a leak (or multiple leaks) will show when ya drain the hull. :confused:
 
An update:
After I sailed the boat last week again I finally found the leak. I was dragging it out of the water and found where water was running before I opened any plugs. There is a small hole right at the bottom of the leading edge in the centerboard trunk. Over the course of a few hours a few gallons were in the boat so I'd like to get it fixed. I think I have two options, so I'd like to know what you guys think is the best option.
1. Mix up some epoxy, reach in and fill the hole and keep doing that until the hole is filled.
2. cut an inspection port on one side of the trunk and fiberglass the inside to make sure it doesn't leak again.
IMG_20200701_160932.jpg

(I had a hard time getting a good shot of the inside, but the leak is at the front edge towards the bottom, pretty hard to reach)
I'm pretty sure I know what would be the better option long term, but there are a few things that make me question what to do.
  • I'm not sure I feel confident enough to cut into the hull myself
  • I'm 17 and put a big chunk of my money into this boat and don't want to spend too much more having a professional fix it(and possibly make a mistake)
  • I want this issue to go away and don't want to fix it every year (and I need a dry hull if I want to race it)
  • I'm almost positive this is the last thing keeping me from having a dry hull(no leaks in the mast step, fittings)
  • I plan to keep this boat for a while, but I'm a little worried that cutting an inspection port would hurt the resale value (its a 2006 vanguard)
Any suggestions as to how I should fix this?
 
An update:
After I sailed the boat last week again I finally found the leak. I was dragging it out of the water and found where water was running before I opened any plugs. There is a small hole right at the bottom of the leading edge in the centerboard trunk. Over the course of a few hours a few gallons were in the boat so I'd like to get it fixed. I think I have two options, so I'd like to know what you guys think is the best option.
1. Mix up some epoxy, reach in and fill the hole and keep doing that until the hole is filled.
2. cut an inspection port on one side of the trunk and fiberglass the inside to make sure it doesn't leak again.View attachment 39392
(I had a hard time getting a good shot of the inside, but the leak is at the front edge towards the bottom, pretty hard to reach)
I'm pretty sure I know what would be the better option long term, but there are a few things that make me question what to do.
  • I'm not sure I feel confident enough to cut into the hull myself
  • I'm 17 and put a big chunk of my money into this boat and don't want to spend too much more having a professional fix it(and possibly make a mistake)
  • I want this issue to go away and don't want to fix it every year (and I need a dry hull if I want to race it)
  • I'm almost positive this is the last thing keeping me from having a dry hull(no leaks in the mast step, fittings)
  • I plan to keep this boat for a while, but I'm a little worried that cutting an inspection port would hurt the resale value (its a 2006 vanguard)
Any suggestions as to how I should fix this?
You don’t need to cut an inspection port for this repair.
1. I would just put a small piece of glass cloth over the hole. If you can’t reach the hole with your fingers you can tape some sand paper on a paint stir stick to rough up the area. Clean with acetone then make the repair. You couldn’t brush on some epoxy, then put the cloth in place, then brush on more epoxy to wet the cloth. After it is slightly tacky you could fix up some fairing filler in epoxy and pull it right over the repair without dragging the cloth. Just keep the repair as tight and fair as possible .i use west system epoxy.
 
If you are trying to save money and you don’t have epoxy on hand you can find some small tubes of west system G flex. It’s thickened so easier to work with any way less expensive than buying the cans and pumps. Then maybe skip the fairing filler part to save money since you won’t see the repair anyway. You can put your board in to check, but you should have plenty of space between the board and the wall of the trunk. So maybe I would put two pieces of cloth on. The second piece larger than the first so it tapers down at the edges of the repair. Make sense?
 
Thanks for the advice.
I work at a sailing school so I have access to west system epoxy/resin, but I would need to buy fiberglass. It seems like it would be very difficult to get the cloth to lay down, what thickness do you think would work?
 
Really just depends on how big the hole is and what’s behind it. If it has something behind it that will catch the repair material then you could just mix up thickened epoxy ( like peanut butter) an plug the hole without using cloth. Turn the hull over so you can access it easier.
 
A "Flex Seal" product (liquid, spray, glue, tape) would work too! This stuff is amazing and easier to work with than glass/epoxy. It does have a rubber like feel to it when it is dry, so if your daggerboard rubs up against it, there might be a friction issue. But man, this stuff does work as advertised. If the hole is recessed under the gel coat (I cannot see any hole in your picture by the way) where the daggerboard fits it might be an option. Relatively cheap, little to no prep (acetone to clean surface) easy to apply and then you are sailing. I actually added thickened epoxy all along the underside edge using my gloved finger to apply and a Dremel to sand rough edges once cured. I found it interesting that there was quite a step and not a smooth transition all along, but my boat is from 1973. Good luck and let us know what you did. I would like to see a better pic of the hole, it seems odd that "a few gallons" of water would get in this way, but I could be wrong.
 
Hi
Alex had this problem with her boat. It took 3 years to find.
We repaired by putting boat on transom against fence with forward edge of centre board case close to but not quite horizontal. Build a small 'dam' on hull and pour in fibreglass mix. We did not use any matt.

It worked

Steve
 
IMG_20200712_104109.jpg
IMG_20200712_104134.jpg

Wanted to wait until I sailed to make an update, but it's now almost completely dry inside. The second picture shows the bow end of the centerboard trunk, somewhere I had never even thought to look. I put one piece of mat down and a few layers of epoxy and sanded. On the back side I just made a thick layer of epoxy and then sanded.
 
The wear at the bow end of the daggerboard slot seems pretty typical. One can put some sticky foam insert there (class legal, although I don't think that matters here).
Hopefully, your repairs made the hull 'waterproof'.
 
Did you do your repair on the outside of the boat or from the inside? Im trying to nail down some leaks in my boat.

Thanks.
 
One can put some sticky foam insert there (class legal, although I don't think that matters here)
Well... you actually can't put anything (besides whatever resin/glass is needed for a repair) in the centreboard opening except a 30 x 30 x 2 mm piece of anything at the top forward corner, which is a place that wears very easily. (Is that what you meant?)

_
 

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