How do I fix, paint, repair my Laser hull?

Tucker

New Member
:eek:
I dropped my hull attempting to get it off the top of my truck! Actually, the bow just landed hard unloading (from about 5 feet). There is no hole but it pushed the glass in along the bottom front by the bow. It popped right back out but the gel coat cracked and you can see all the places that the fiberglass flexed. I can remove the gel coat with my finger exposing the fiberglass webbing underneath. It still has its shape minus the flaky gel coat. I have experience with Epoxy and I know I can get it sailing again but I am afraid I have totaled my 87 race ready hull. Is a repaired painted laser hull legal for racing? Has anybody painted and or repaired hull damage on a Laser? Can I paint goofy stuff on it and still race? It just makes me sick, but at least it wasn’t a 2006 hull!
 
Tucker said:
:eek:
Is a repaired painted laser hull legal for racing? Has anybody painted and or repaired hull damage on a Laser? Can I paint goofy stuff on it and still race?

Answers:
Yes, as long as you don't make it better then new.
Plenty of people have painted and/or had to repair hull damage. S@#t happens
You can paint whatever you want on it..

If you need suggestions on fixes, post a pic or two here so we can see the damage..
 
yah its sad when it happens to a new boat. that happened at orange bowl when they were unloading a charter 2006 laser from the trailer when anna tunnicliff was looking to get one and they dropped the back corner onto the pavement and the fiberglass where the deck meets the hull just split right along the edge. but back to the real subject i dont know how you fix that.
 
Cool. (Except for the time and money for the repair) It will be just like my other boat, multiple cars and house. Broken, Fixed, patched, working and functional. How does one paint bullet holes? Maybe killer whale spots? I'll take pictures of my progress.
Thanks,
 
We just went through out laser and repainted it. We sanded with 60 grit sandpaper, filled the holes with bondo, sanded again, then stepped down sandpaper grits until 600... they we sprayed a primer coat, sanded with 600 grit, masked the top, sprayed the bottom, sanded 600 grit, put on second coat, sanded 600, put on third coat, put on 4th coat, then called it done... then repeated the process for the top... we didnt sand the nubbly stuff on the top as severely.

The paint we used was automotive paint that they mix at cetrain NAPA stores... I think our color was called "2006 Buick Regal Blue" or something...

it was somewhat of a real pain, but the boat needed it, no more scratches, no more fiberglass bubbles... there's some mistakes, but... it's a boat.
 
5 coats of paint is probably a bit of over kill but as long as you sand between coats and spray light coats each time the overall weight gain for a laser is less than a pound. as a painter i wouldn't choose to use automotive products, i would go with marine coatings, but auto products offer a lot more color choices and it should hold up just fine since laser for the most part aren't stored in the water.:)
 
Tub-O-Lard said:
pez:
Did all that paining significantly add weight to your boat? It seems a bit excessive.

I dont have enough info to know... we only used 3 quarts of paint, counting the primer... we didnt weigh the boat before and after, so ... ::: shrug::: it probably did add some weight, but not sure how much...

No kidding about smelling the paint... it was pretty toxic stuff... even with the respirators it would get to you after a while.

The sanding after the initial coats took a considerable amount of paint off, the goal being that it would build up paint in the scratches. The later coats had lighter sandings in between... We didnt actually plan on so many coats, but we had some mistakes in the initial coats where we were putting the paint on too thick.
 
if the bow is smashed...fix the structure WITH POLYESTER and tehn match and patch the gelcoat. painting the entire hull for a smashed bow seems like a lot of work for no reason.

says me.
 
I have used fiberglass and epoxy. Auto paint and epoxy based marine paint, but what is gel coat? Why don't people just re gel coat their boat instead of paint? I have a hard time matching socks. How do you go about matching gel coat? Is it easier then 5 coats of paint? I can't even spell polyester...
 
Epoxy and polyester are just different types of resin. Polyester is actually easier to mix than epoxy (get the ratios incorrect on epoxy and it doesn't cure)

Gel coat in simple terms is colored polyester resin. There are two types, one that only cures w/o the presence of air, the other will cure with or without. Gel coat is a harder finish than paint, and it's easy to build up thickness with it (such as filling scratches). It can be a PIA to apply compared to paint, and color matching is tough. The reason most people don't re-gel coat an entire boat, but instead paint it, is the amount of time needed to sand out the "orange peel" in sprayed on gel coat and then buff the finish back to gloss. (You don't have this problem when you spray gel coat in a mold). Also most of the two part urathane paints today have better gloss and require little or no upkeep as opposed to having to polish/wax gel coat to keep it shiny.
 
Tucker said:
I have used fiberglass and epoxy. Auto paint and epoxy based marine paint, but what is gel coat? Why don't people just re gel coat their boat instead of paint? I have a hard time matching socks. How do you go about matching gel coat? Is it easier then 5 coats of paint? I can't even spell polyester...

Nobody is twisting your arm. You can use whatever materials you like using and understand. Most paints have instructions for use on plastic surfaces.

I have always wanted to use the following phrase::::

Just do whatever floats your boat ....









cc








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