New style hull, no screws holding anything...

One of the kids came back from out on the water with his new to the family Sunfish. Nice looking fish with what I learned was recently repainted before they bought it. It looks like a nice paint job.

The problem is the loop that holds the halyard came off from the deck. The sheet metal screws just came out. Now I have not had one of those off of a new style hull so I did not know how they are attached, aluminium plate or wood. But then I noticed the cleat was loose and the glass was flexible. I pulled some and it came out. It also had sheet metal screws which were too big for the cleat holes.

After a bit I realized that the guy painted under the cleat and the loop. So he took them off. So I am thinking he took them off and the backing plate fell off both of them.

So lets check the two bridle loops at the rear. One was loose and the screws had not bite. All were sheet metal screws in glass, no backer plates.

So the guy basically screwed them over. Nice paint job and an unsafe boat.

He is going to buy two inspection plates and go fishing for the backing plates likely on the bottom of the hull.

shorefun said:

One of the kids came back from out on the water with his new to the family Sunfish. Nice looking fish with what I learned was recently repainted before they bought it. It looks like a nice paint job.

The problem is the loop that holds the halyard came off from the deck. The sheet metal screws just came out. Now I have not had one of those off of a new style hull so I did not know how they are attached, aluminium plate or wood. But then I noticed the cleat was loose and the glass was flexible. I pulled some and it came out. It also had sheet metal screws which were too big for the cleat holes.

After a bit I realized that the guy painted under the cleat and the loop. So he took them off. So I am thinking he took them off and the backing plate fell off both of them.

So lets check the two bridle loops at the rear. One was loose and the screws had not bite. All were sheet metal screws in glass, no backer plates.

So the guy basically screwed them over. Nice paint job and an unsafe boat.

He is going to buy two inspection plates and go fishing for the backing plates likely on the bottom of the hull.

Click to expand...

Man, that totally sucks but once you get those problems fixed you can trust the boat much more. Maybe.

Follow up.

I helped the father with it. He cut in the holes.

There clearly were aluminum plates at one time, but nothing was moving around inside the hull to be found.

We made a trip to ACE hardware. We got a 2" by 48" 3/8" aluminum stock and a bunch of stainless screws and self locking nuts. Now it has backing plates and will likely last a very long time as is. The bridle loops were a bit more of a challange. There is some middle foam that needs to be cut and then 2 holes in the side foam for arm access.

While working on this one I am looking at the bridle loops of an aluminum edge trim hull and noticing they are coming out. So another kids boat needs to be fixed. The screws go into nothing and someone already put some glue in the hole and larger screws.

The work is never done at the club it seems.

What year is the boat?

shorefun said:

The bridle loops were a bit more of a challenge. There is some middle foam that needs to be cut and then 2 holes in the side foam for arm access.

While working on this one I am looking at the bridle loops of an aluminum edge trim hull and noticing they are coming out. So another kids boat needs to be fixed. The screws go into nothing and someone already put some glue in the hole and larger screws.

The work is never done at the club it seems.

Click to expand...

A member here (Mixmkr) advocates for cutting through the bottom of the hull.

A proper closing will make for less flexing of the hull bottom--and eliminate the cost, need, Styrofoam-dig-out mess, and the trouble of installing an inspection port.