Laser Cockpit repair

L

lasersailer

Member
I just bought a 1991 laser a few weeks ago with a lot of nice accessories and felt I got the whole package for a good deal, however, the cockpit floor is soft. It didn’t seem too bad to me until I actually got it wet and realized how much it flexed under pressure. The deck of the boat, gunnel, and front of the cockpit are completely solid, the only effected area is the rear of the cockpit. How/should I go about this repair to stiffen it again (I fear using it this way will make it worse).

Thank you for any and all advice
 
This is a common problem with older boats (mine is a 1990 :D ). The floor is cored, and the core material may have been crushed by repeated stepping on it. (It’s actually a bit strange if it’s the aft end that’s gone soft - usually it’s the opposite one.) Once it has happened, it doesn’t necessarily get any worse or spread very fast, but of course it’s annoying.

I got mine fixed by taking the boat to a professional fibreglass repairer, who injected some resin/chopped fibreglass mix into the delaminated areas. This was many years ago, and the floor still feels like new.

However, the above isn’t relevant if the floor flexes at the centreline; then it’s a case of the spine between the cockpit and the bottom having broken, which means a much larger repair job is needed. Test it by pushing from both sides, and in any case, find the affected area by knocking on the floor - the unaffected part will give a higher-pitched sound.

_
 
LaLi said:
This is a common problem with older boats (mine is a 1990 :D ). The floor is cored, and the core material may have been crushed by repeated stepping on it. (It’s actually a bit strange if it’s the aft end that’s gone soft - usually it’s the opposite one.) Once it has happened, it doesn’t necessarily get any worse or spread very fast, but of course it’s annoying.

I got mine fixed by taking the boat to a professional fibreglass repairer, who injected some resin/chopped fibreglass mix into the delaminated areas. This was many years ago, and the floor still feels like new.

However, the above isn’t relevant if the floor flexes at the centreline; then it’s a case of the spine between the cockpit and the bottom having broken, which means a much larger repair job is needed. Test it by pushing from both sides, and in any case, find the affected area by knocking on the floor - the unaffected part will give a higher-pitched sound.

_
Click to expand...
I had a similar developing issue on my previous 86 laser, however the travel lift ran that one over before I got to repairing it . Based on the wear on the sides of the deck and the cockpit floor, it seems the previous owner sat very far back in the cockpit, which is interesting because it was raced very seriously for most of its life. Guess the guy was getting passed on the downwind legs. Out of curiosity, if you don’t mind sharing, how much did the work cost you to have done to your boat? I was just going to diy it, but the idea of covering up the repair to make the holes drilled not visible is a daunting task to me considering the deck is nonskid in those areas.

Thanks so much for your insight!
 
Also I suppose it’s relevant to reaffirm that the centerline and edges of the cockpit floor are still solid, it’s purely the centers of the two nonskid areas towards the rear that have significant wear, and a bit on the deck right on the side near there.
 
lasersailer said:
I had a similar developing issue on my previous 86 laser, however the travel lift ran that one over before I got to repairing it .
Click to expand...
:eek: :confused:

lasersailer said:
it seems the previous owner sat very far back in the cockpit, which is interesting because it was raced very seriously for most of its life. Guess the guy was getting passed on the downwind legs.
Click to expand...
It was only when my own cockpit floor went soft that I realized how hard I push down on it going downwind... with my forward foot :D

lasersailer said:
how much did the work cost you to have done to your boat?
Click to expand...
Oh, I don’t remember... that was about 15 years ago (and in euros). But not a large enough fraction of the resale value of the complete boat to not have done it. A few hundred € I think.

The actual work was done through multiple small holes, which didn’t leave much of a mark in the non-skid pattern. I could take and post some pictures next week.

_
 
LaLi said:
:eek: :confused:


It was only when my own cockpit floor went soft that I realized how hard I push down on it going downwind... with my forward foot :D


Oh, I don’t remember... that was about 15 years ago (and in euros). But not a large enough fraction of the resale value of the complete boat to not have done it. A few hundred € I think.

The actual work was done through multiple small holes, which didn’t leave much of a mark in the non-skid pattern. I could take and post some pictures next week.

_
Click to expand...
Yeah I was planning on using small holes as well, I’d seen it done on a beach catamaran and the result wasn’t pretty so I was a bit worried.
 
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