Having raced Lasers in the Annapolis region years ago, I was excited to pick up a (heavily) used 1973 Laser recently. As you look at the photos, I would appreciate advice on what to do about the condition of the hull. Specifically, would you (guys and gals) recommend sanding the hull down and reapplying new gelcoat?
I will definitely be glassing the bad patch just forward of the auto-bailer inset where the fiberglass is exposed and the similar damage closer to the bow (see the attached "Laser hull damage.jpg"). From what I understand, the prior owner (who died of COVID) dragged the boat over a rocky beach in Coronado, over time scraping the hull through the gel coat. I will be repairing these two areas first, but given I can't match the color of the repair (the fiberglass and resin) to the original 1973 green gelcoat, I want advice on whether I should sand it down and have it re-gelcoated.
For $300 for the boat and all parts (minus a sail), you get what you pay for. I almost want to clean and wax the hull and paint an band-aid graphic on the forward area and call it a day.
So what do you think? Sand and re-gelcoat the whole bottom? Recoat/paint with urethane instead? Or just patch the two areas and sail it as is or ______________? Thanks in advance for the advice!!
I will definitely be glassing the bad patch just forward of the auto-bailer inset where the fiberglass is exposed and the similar damage closer to the bow (see the attached "Laser hull damage.jpg"). From what I understand, the prior owner (who died of COVID) dragged the boat over a rocky beach in Coronado, over time scraping the hull through the gel coat. I will be repairing these two areas first, but given I can't match the color of the repair (the fiberglass and resin) to the original 1973 green gelcoat, I want advice on whether I should sand it down and have it re-gelcoated.
For $300 for the boat and all parts (minus a sail), you get what you pay for. I almost want to clean and wax the hull and paint an band-aid graphic on the forward area and call it a day.
So what do you think? Sand and re-gelcoat the whole bottom? Recoat/paint with urethane instead? Or just patch the two areas and sail it as is or ______________? Thanks in advance for the advice!!
? If you get some gelcoat color tint, you can get pretty close to the matching the same color to patch and fill in the deep groves so it won't look that bad compared to just filling with white. I had dremeled out the bigger grooves a little bit prior to floating in gelcoat. The small grooves will buff out and shouldn't be a problem.