Should I worry about this side deck?

[treefrog911]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a Laser and have found one I like. It's about 6 years old and the only problem I could identify is a small spot of very slight softness on the starboard side deck. (I've put some photo links below to show the size of this soft patch).

I'm not familiar with the Laser at all so don't know whether this is relatively normal or whether it will develop into a major and costly repair?

I took a couple of photos and would be very grateful if someone with more experience than me could cast an eye? Here are the photos:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B62-G0lfsGkeYUtRdlhERUpHemM
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B62-G0lfsGkeS2J5MG5RZVdiWFE

The 2nd photo shows the issue more clearly as I turned up the brightness on the photo. Should give an idea of the size of the patch.

When pushed there is a very slight creaking / squeak and a tiny bit of give, but I don't want to give the impression there's a huge amount of give when pressed.

Many thanks,

Dave

 

[laserxd]

That boat looks to be in pretty good condition, in the picture the color still looks good. There is a point when a weak deck becomes a problem and thats when it becomes so soft/brittle that you could put your foot through if you stood on it. I've only seen this in older boats 20 yrs old+ that have been mistreated and stored improperly. I've sailed plenty of old boats with flexible decks and never had one fail even in extreme survival conditions. I don't think that it will become a problem even in 20yrs as long as you take care of the boat.

A 6 yr old boat will still be pretty stiff, keep in mind even a brand new hull isn't completely rigid so if it makes a noise when it flexes that is pretty normal, noise doesn't mean there is a problem. Also, when you're hiking, the most force is exerted over the gunwales and not on the area of concern,

 

[49208]

The pics show an abnormal condition, looks like a separation between the core and the top layers of glass in the laminate (getting a few pics from inside the hull will confirm exactly what is going on). A freeze with water in that area (either stored on the rail or upside down) could do something like that, as could a defect during manufacturing (containments on either surface preventing a good bond)

You don't mention your intended use for the boat, if it's for racing, you would want to get it fixed, if it's for recreational sailing, you could leave it alone unless you notice it spreading.

The fix should be relatively easy if it's a core separation, one way would be to drill small holes (1/8" or smaller in dia) every few inches and inject resin between the two unbonded surfaces and then add weight to force the top layers back down until the resin cures