Hairline crack on trailing edge of centerboard?

mmadge

Member
Small hairline crack on Centerboard trailing edge,need suggestions for repair?
image.jpg
 
Sand out some of the foam a couple of centimetres both sides of the crack (and forward too), fill the resulting hollow with fibreglass, sand flush with the surface, paint, and sand smooth. You need to do it only on one side. (And forget about the paint if you don't care for the looks.)

Do it before you go sailing next time - chances are that a whole piece of the foam will break off, and it's a bigger job then.
 
Regarding the sanding etc, could there be a rod in that area?
If so, you need to be careful if you use a power sander.
 
Good point, Wavedancer. The aftmost rods are about 50 mm from the trailing edge. You don't get a sense of scale in the above picture, but the crack probably doesn't extend beyond the rods. (That's exactly why it's broken the way it is: there's no support for the foam right there.)

But the volume of material to be removed is so small (and the foam is pretty soft) that using a power tool would be overkill anyway.
 
Thanks guys for advice.So just Fiberglass one side is good?Not sure why it cracked there as It is fairly new and I am very careful with it?
 
Laminating it on one side only should make it strong enough, but I guess doing both sides wouldn't hurt, either. You'd want to use some kind of filler on the "other" side anyway.

The most common cause for breakage at that point is loading the trailing edge with your own body weight while righting the boat after a capsize. If you haven't done that, then it's open to speculation. At least in your picture it looks like the crack's aligned with the bottom of the hull (if the top of the board is to the right). It has nothing to do with age, but rather the construction. (Which BTW was discontinued some five years ago, so your board can't be newer than that. All Laser foils have had fibreglass skins since.)
 

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