K2LSS

New Member
How does one go about resurfacing the older foam foils?

Recently started a project with an older Laser, the foam foils had been exposed to the elements for years, the rudder is in a fairly good condition given the exposure, but the daggerboard has cracks appearing on the surface.

The leading and trailing edges are exposed and the side finish is cracking, can I just sand this back to the foam and repaint? Does anyone have experience as to the finish you should use on foam, is it the same gelcoat you put on a fibreglass foil?

Any help appreciated!
 
cracks appearing on the surface.
How deep and long? Any rust visible? Please post pictures!
can I just sand this back to the foam and repaint?
Fundamentally yes, if it’s just the paint that’s the problem.
is it the same gelcoat you put on a fibreglass foil?
No, there’s no gelcoat on the foam foils. I don’t know the type of paint that was used (others on this forum may), but it’s not very critical, and the original layer is very thin anyway, as you may have noticed.

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How deep and long? Any rust visible? Please post pictures!

Fundamentally yes, if it’s just the paint that’s the problem.

No, there’s no gelcoat on the foam foils. I don’t know the type of paint that was used (others on this forum may), but it’s not very critical, and the original layer is very thin anyway, as you may have noticed.

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In the daggerboard they look like cracks in the finish to me, photos below.

The rudder is very orange where the white finish is missing, although the rest of it seems to be in good condition (I have removed the pin so I can separate it and clean it easier), photos below.
 

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White (semi-gloss) spray paint (from a can) will work fine to cover up blemishes after minor repairs.
Repeat as needed.
 
That centreboard certainly looks a bit rough :confused: Some previous owner has apparently applied a second, rather thick paint layer, which clearly hasn’t stood the test of time :oops: Remove all of it.

The rudder blade does look much nicer and needs only a light sanding before painting. Both foils have a few rust spots though, so you need to drill those out (they go deep so sanding isn’t enough) and use something like Plastic Padding Marine Filler to fill the resulting cavities.

I just watched a Roostersailing video where they recommended PlastiKote Super (primer and Satin) spray for the finish.

Hope this helps :)

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That centreboard certainly looks a bit rough :confused: Some previous owner has apparently applied a second, rather thick paint layer, which clearly hasn’t stood the test of time :oops: Remove all of it.

The rudder blade does look much nicer and needs only a light sanding before painting. Both foils have a few rust spots though, so you need to drill those out (they go deep so sanding isn’t enough) and use something like Plastic Padding Marine Filler to fill the resulting cavities.

I just watched a Roostersailing video where they recommended PlastiKote Super (primer and Satin) spray for the finish.

Hope this helps :)

_
This helps immensely, thank you so much! I will post pictures of it once it's finished. Thanks again.
 
My 2 cents is that you should scrub those two blades with detergent, then give them a diluted bleach solution, which you scrub and rinse off after 15 minutes. Dry them and sand with 150-220 grit sandpaper, finishing with 220. They'll look like a hundred bucks! Clean them with detergent and rinse them again. After they dry, paint them with the spray paint. Scotchbrite pads are great scrubbers.

I'm assuming here that you're not planning to qualify for the worlds with these. If later the cracking shows through and you care, you could give them a layer of 0.75 oz fiberglass in epoxy, then fair and paint them again. But I'm guessing that's beyond your level of experience and not worth the trouble.

Good luck! They can be made perfectly useable without too much trouble.
-V
 
My 2 cents is that you should scrub those two blades with detergent, then give them a diluted bleach solution, which you scrub and rinse off after 15 minutes. Dry them and sand with 150-220 grit sandpaper, finishing with 220. They'll look like a hundred bucks! Clean them with detergent and rinse them again. After they dry, paint them with the spray paint. Scotchbrite pads are great scrubbers.

I'm assuming here that you're not planning to qualify for the worlds with these. If later the cracking shows through and you care, you could give them a layer of 0.75 oz fiberglass in epoxy, then fair and paint them again. But I'm guessing that's beyond your level of experience and not worth the trouble.

Good luck! They can be made perfectly useable without too much trouble.
-V
Thank you! Would you recommend hand sanding or using an electric sander with those grit paper?
 
Either way, but you'll have to sand the front edge with it's sharp curve by hand. I always use rubber sanding blocks for hand sanding. That's what I had envisioned, but the daggerboard is large enough that I might be tempted to use a random orbital sander. You want to get rid of all the loose paint and do a bit of smoothing of anything that's left; knocking down the edges between remaining paint and no-paint areas. BTW, this is NOT a 3-day project. A couple of hours of work, at the most.
 

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