Hairline Cracks

195 boat. Used a maybe 6 months. Plenty of hairline cracks around CB case. Normal?
 

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No. Not normal. If it is a boat you are considering buying I would pass. It is to new for that sort of cracking.

It looks to be on only one side and appears to radiate out for a greater distance than you normally see with cracking in that area. It may be the consequence of some kind of loading or impact rather than just wear and tear that occurs with a well used boat.

Does the rest of boat also look tired? i.e worn rim of mast step, big groove cut into front of centerboard case etc.
 
No my boat. Only used for championships. Bought new as radial fall of 09. Cracks must come from the sidewards pressure from the centreboard, most likely during righting after capsize.
 
I doubt that the sideways pressure you can exert on the centreboard case when righting the boat would do that. It is under far higher loads just being sailed.

That sort of cracking is usually caused by the hull deforming inwards around the case. The case is very rigid in a vertical plane so any movement in the hull causes cracking to form. This is why you sometimes see it on older well used boats.

Imagine forceful repetitive movement in the large flat surfaces adjacent to the case. The hull has to bend and give but it has a rigid area created by the case/slot that will not bend. It point loads the hulls along the area that is reinforced by the case.

The only other way this could have possibly occurred is if it was stored in a less than ideal way on some sort of cradle that placed weight in the wrong place.

The other explanation and without seeing it, this is just a possibility. Sometimes boats come out of the mould with defects. What seem to be cracks in the hull are just the lines and ridges that can occur when the boat was laid up poorly or mould release that was not applied well or any number of things. Essentially a manufacturing defect. Is it possible that they were there already and you just never noticed them?

How deep are they? If it is serious cracking due to failure the cracks usually run right through the gel.

If you push on the hull there do the cracks open slightly and is the hull very soft there?
 
The hull does not feel soft, and the cracks were not noticed when the boat was new. I have seen that the CB case is very badly aligned at the joint inside the centreboard case i.e. +1 cm of filler on one side and very little on the other side. Have tried dremelling the cracks and refill as recommended here , but they have reappeared. Have always used a LP stacking trolley. Stored indoors during winter.
 
Has it been towed on the water much, particularly at high speeds? I thought that was comething that contributed to cracks in gelcoat.
 

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