Is this a common problem, no glass behind the gel coat?

[shorefun]

The 1996 Sunfish I have which is a Peterson built hull.
I noticed today a small gel coat fill that had an edge to it. So with my knife I flick it away. Much to my surprise there seems to be a void in the area. That is the larger spot. One the same side I found 4 more cracks in what is the original gel coat with voids behind them.

I am just looking at all the issues with this hull while playing ball with the dog.

I looked closer at 2 'cracks' of some sort on the keel. they do not go through but affect the first layer or two of glass. One area of cracks on the chine where it must have got hit hard. A pinky sized hole in the bow point.

Just have to wait till there is warm enough weather. Going to be a long winter knowing I wont be able to fix them till spring.

 

[L&VW]

I'm not familiar with Pierson-made Sunfish; however, Sunfish from the 1970s have one layer of fiberglass roving everywhere—including the keel.

 

[beldar boathead]

Pearson made Sunfish only up til 1991, so your boat must be a few years older than you think. http://www.sunfishklasse.nl/documenten/Sunfish Timeline.pdf

They were not the best made boats, so It isn’t surprising that your boat has a fair number of voids. It isn’t uncommon for Sunfish to have 2 or 3 voids, but yours has a lot. Pearsons had issues with the seams separating, so if your boat is holding together 30 years later it’ll probably keep holding together!

 

[shorefun]

Opps,
Too many sunfish.

It is an 89.

 

[Alan S. Glos]

As usual, Beldar "knows of what he speaks." These small voids behind the gelcoat are pretty common on fiberglass sailboats. They are easy to repair with a marine putty and a dab of new gelcoat, wetsanded when cured but in most cases they are not a structural or leak concern. The Pearson Sunfish did seem to have more than their share of these and other problems. For some reason,these voids seem to be more common on tight curves in the hull or cockpit tub where, perhaps, it was harder to squeegee out the resin during construction.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

 

[shorefun]

I am figuring some tapering back in the area, fill, gel coat. Keep it simple.

The are some areas where the epoxy has separated a bit, more accurately cracked. In all those areas there is some gel coat cracking too so I believe it just had a hit. Keep in mind this fish has been used quite a bit. There is an area on the bottom of the hull at the chine where it took some sort of a hit and has cracked gel coat. Seem fairly stiff.

My plan with this boat is to fix the obvious holes and do a leak test. Fix the 2 tears in the sail and use it this summer. I may also allow the club to use it for the youth program as they tend to be short on sunfish. At the very least, there are 3 sunfish sized people in the house so we can all go out together.

 

[L&VW]

I looked closer at 2 'cracks' of some sort on the keel. they do not go through but affect the first layer or two of glass. One area of cracks on the chine where it must have got hit hard. A pinky sized hole in the bow point.

Just have to wait till there is warm enough weather. Going to be a long winter knowing I wont be able to fix them till spring.

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