I've recently purchased a Laser 1 and upon rigging for the first time discovered a big crack in the centreboard casing, making it a real challenge to insert the centreboard.Also worried it may leak. I'm not sure whether this can be repaired but want to try, any advice on what glue would bond this plastic split back together? Or can this be professionally fixed and at what cost?
That looks weird... and I'm not talking about the crack, but the material that the crack is in. I don't think there should be stuff like that inside a Laser centreboard case. What is the boat's sail number, and who built it?
Post a picture of the back wall of the cockpit (for identification of builder and year), and more pictures of the centreboard area, specifically the forward end of the top opening, and all of the bottom opening.
I might go to my club tomorrow and check out if any of our boats have something similar in there, but I seriously doubt they do. You have quite possibly a significantly larger repair job at hand than a simple crack in a tough place.
Does the previous owner know anything about this?
Awful weather today and worse to come, so I'll be going to the club the day after tomorrow. I'm pretty sure though that the white material that's cracked is something that some earlier owner has applied, and shouldn't be there in the first place. Do NOT try to "repair" it, as you may have to remove it all anyway.
What is the maximum width of the opening at the bottom?
My own boat is only about six months newer (and from the same builder)
That's what yours should look like as well, with a plain brown fibreglass surface. If you look at other Lasers at your club, this should become even clearer.
As said, your problem is not the crack in the white stuff (whatever that is; looks like plain gelcoat), but the stuff itself. Get rid of it. The crack is actually good news if it means that the material isn't very firmly attached!
The worst-case scenario is that there's some kind of damage to the case itself hiding underneath... but that's another story.