Daggerboard Trunk Repair Advice?

Downing

New Member
Help? My magical afternoon sail in our 2019 sunfish quickly ended after dinging Coral so sorry for the reef! The daggerboard banged into the aft end of the trunk. We took on quite a bit of water in the hull. Would gladly welcome suggestions on how to repair. Thank you!
 

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Do you have a Dealer nearby? If so I'd ask them for help finding a repair place. If not The Usual Visitors will have some ideas.

An option is an inspection port on the deck or forward cockpit bulkhead to get inside the hull.
 
Here's a link to a similar repair issue (and a solution):

PS: that repair was on the leading edge of the trunk, but it should give you some ideas of what to try.
 
Damn, that's a bad crack... you must have been sailing at a good speed to cause that sort of damage. It's ugly, but it can be repaired, and I reckon an inspection port may help, since it looks like the crack goes through the hull? If so, you'll want to put some backing behind the crack, if only tape, to hold in the resin as you effect the repair. :confused:

You can start by filing or grinding away all that trash: the gelcoat chips, the torn-up glass, etc., using a round file, Dremel tool, maybe those little grinding wheel drill bits one can buy at the Depot or a hardware store. Use a nail or awl to help clean out thin cracks. You'll want to fair out the areas immediately around the damage, not too far, just enough for fresh resin and glass to bond well. :rolleyes:

You may not need the inspection port, it's hard to tell from those photos just how deep & wide the cracks run, but either way, port or no port, you're eventually going to fill that crack as best you can with catalyzed resin & chopped-up glass. Resin first, then you'll use a popsicle stick or some such item to push chopped-up glass down into the crack. Wet everything up well, the crack first and then the glass. :D

Once that's done, you'll lay glass cloth over the crack and on the surrounding faired-out areas, building the area up a bit... you can always sand it down a tad later. The idea is for the cloth layers to hold everything in place... you might start with thin strips or ovals of cloth, then graduate to slightly larger strips or ovals as you build up the area, effectively filling that "valley" created by your prep work (filing, grinding, sanding). :)

Looking at the pics again, you may have to cut an irregularly-shaped piece or two of cloth to ultimately cover as much of the damaged area as possible, wrapping that piece from the hull into the trunk. Again, it'll be important to wet everything up thoroughly, that will be the key to a good bond in this area. Get rid of all that worthless gelcoat and shredded glass, prep the area, and rebuild what's missing, starting with chopped-up glass and graduating to cloth pieces. :cool:

If you do this correctly, the hull and trunk shouldn't be any larger than they originally were, though you can build the hull up a tad without affecting performance. If you fill the crack as directed, then rebuild the damaged areas with bits of lightweight cloth, it should be strong enough to not need any additional buildup. Oh, and I would definitely use resin & glass to repair the crack, not some filler, you'll get a better & longer-lasting bond that way. ;)

As for gelcoat, well, you'll have to decide whether you want to bother with it... personally, I'd focus more on structural strength, using resin & glass to fill that crack and repair the hull & trunk. Those thinner cracks have to be filled with resin, even if you can't get any glass into 'em. Do the glasswork in steps: fill the crack and let it cure, apply initial cloth patches and let 'em cure, apply larger cloth patches and let 'em cure, etc. :rolleyes:

A razor knife may come in handy to trim cloth patches after curing (if necessary). Cut the cloth patches the right size to begin with, and you shouldn't have to use the razor knife, sanding will ultimately smoothen out all surfaces. Again, be sure to wet everything up thoroughly, no air bubbles in your repair. Rags stuffed in the trunk will help catch drips, otherwise use a rag and some acetone to clean up drips as they form. :confused:

Prop the boat up whichever way necessary in order to let gravity help you. For instance, when first tackling that crack in the trunk itself, you might prop the boat up on her stern, leaning against a wall or fence or whatever, so the initial work is aided by gravity (and there are less drips). Like I said, effect the repair in steps and allow curing, don't try to do everything at once. :eek:

Good news is that this damage isn't really that bad: it only extends so far, and the surrounding areas of trunk & hull are still structurally strong. Just make sure to fill every crack with catalyzed resin, even those hairline cracks, to prevent further problems, aye? More good news: even if you skip the gelcoat and just touch up the area with paint, nobody will ever see it when you're under way, LOL. Bourgeois philosophy, to be sure, but out of sight, out of mind, LOL. ;)

Say, did the daggerboard sustain heavy damage when this occurred? Looking at the photos, it seems like the board must have broken or something to get the angle of damage on the hull... Did the upper forward part of the trunk get dinged up? Must have been a hard hit when ya struck the reef. But no worries, you can fix this and get back on the water fairly soon... other site members might suggest filler, I'd stick with resin & glass. Just my $.02, you understand. :D

Well, good luck! BTW, you can wrap sandpaper around a dowel or round file to get into that tight corner... use a nail or awl if necessary to clean up the cracks and get that worthless junk out of 'em. If you can't reach into a crack with a file or grinder, just rough it up enough for fresh resin to stick, then do the best you can as you fill the crack with chopped-up glass. Don't install an inspection port if you don't need it! CHEERS!!! :cool:

P.S. Use Fiskars or similar sewing scissors to chop up glass cloth as needed to fill the cracks... chopped-up matt will also work. :rolleyes:
 
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yeah, what does the daggerboard look like?

And curious where you got your boat from? I might be hallucinating but it almost looks like it was repaired before, hmmm...

CE6E9799-1F04-4FFC-B74D-852A429DFF3B_1_201_a.jpeg
 
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I might be hallucinating but it almost looks like it was repaired before, hmmm...
It does, doesn't it. Those boats have a reputation for being nicely finished in the UK plant and that doesn't look up to their standards. Their no-foam-block durability in terms of hull stiffness is not known, but they are said to come from the factory looking excellent.
 
A few other tips... if you have no experience in glasswork and you're not comfortable making the necessary repairs, any good glassworker at a surf shop can do this sort of work (boatyards are more expensive). Of course, that person would still have to clean up & fair out the areas around the worst damage, so that fresh resin & layers of cloth get a good bond. Make sure any glassworker understands that... don't pay some inexperienced hand to do the job. :confused:

The work as I described it will require a number of small resin pots... you only want to mix as much resin & catalyst as you need for each step, otherwise you're throwing money away. Small plastic or paper cups work fine as resin pots, popsicle sticks make great stirrers and impromptu tools. Get yourself a box of dust-free disposable latex gloves as well, you'll go through a few pairs doing this sort of work. ;)

Looking at the photos again, particularly that one crack that runs forward where hull and trunk meet, you MAY be able to weight that area when you first apply resin and chopped-up glass. It may not need it, but if it can be pushed closer together, you might want to weight it once the resin and glass are in the crack. Throw a rag or magazine on the hull directly above that crack, then weight it with stacked pavers, metal weights, a potted plant, whatever. :rolleyes:

It may not need it, and if you can't push it closer together by hand prior to mixing up your resin, I wouldn't bother with weighting it. If there is some play, I'd tackle that area first, then address the other areas. You want the hull and trunk back to their original position or orientation, if ya catch my drift... or as close as possible. Sometimes a hard jarring impact like that will push something a little out of whack, so you want to try to get it back into place. :)

Oh, yeah, if you install an inspection port, you can also beef up the repair from the inside, using the same process of cleaning up the area, perhaps sanding a bit to rough up the surface, wetting the repair area thoroughly with resin, laying pre-cut glass cloth pieces down, and wetting those up in turn. If you sand to rough up the area, use acetone on a rag to clean up the sanding dust before you apply catalyzed resin. CHEERS!!! :cool:
 
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Beldar, it looks like one of my early MarineTex repairs and then I sprayed Rustoleum over it.

Downing, before you hack into it I'd chat with the seller or maybe even Laser Performance. Is it a China hull or UK hull number?
 
I agree with SC and BB, it does look like someone tried to repair a seam or crack in the past... this would be a good time to clean up that cr@p and make the whole area look better, LOL. ;)
 
My money is on it being a UK boat, with the hull ID starting with GB. I have seen several US-made hulls damaged by running aground (but I think they all had wood boards) and have never seen this much damage. The glass board likely has a lot less give that wood ones, perhaps compounded by however the UK people make Sunfish vs. the US made, perhaps compounded by it already having been repaired once. I don't suppose this is one of the leftover Worlds boats from last year? Someone posted a pic of one with major deck damage.
 

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