Indented hull

[jstrohmeyer]

I returned to my boat last weekend to get her ready for the new season, only to notice that the hull was indented and cracked. It looks like too much weight is being put on one of the starboard pads. With further exploration, I also noticed that the boat yard did not support the keel when they put her on the cradle last fall. I was not present when the boat was pulled from the water (Lake Erie).

The boat is a relatively "new" 2001 Hunter 290, and is on the factory cradle. I have transported this boat on this cradle, traveling hundreds of miles over bumpy highways and conditions without ever getting a scratch. How she can suffer this kind of damage by just sitting is beyond me.


The crack is about 8" long, and looks like it is only in the gell coat. The hull looks like it is indented about 1/2"-1" in, and a little wider than the 12"x12" pad. It is below the waterline. If anyone has experienced or knows about this condition, please tell me what you did to fix it, and who paid for it. Before I start accusing people, I need to make sure that boat yards can in deed mess up cradling a boat, and that this is truly a case of sloppiness and negligence on their part.

 

[NYSail]

The weight of the boat should be completely on the keel with the pads there just to support the structure. Sounds like significant weight was on the pad that caused this situation.

Also, did not understand what you meant by last year the keel was not supported.....was all the weight on the pads with the keel suspended / hanging? If that is the case, I would imagine the hull would be damaged as it is not designed to withstand that much weight.

Do you have pictures? I would take as many as possible with the boat in the exact possition that you found it in. Sounds like the yard may have messed up your lay-up.

Good Luck!!

 

[BobM]

You should consider calling your insurance company, especially if it is Boat US, as they probably have experience with this.

 

[Ron20324]

I believe if you had the yard put the boat in your own cradle, that's what they did. So if there was no keel support, that's the shortcoming of the cradle, not the yard. Perhaps the cradle was made so when loaded, the keel is suuposed to rest on whatever the cradle is resting on? The pad crack is a different matter, though, and a yard-caused situation.

 

[RichH]

Suggest you immediately take pictures... including the lack of support for the keel and all the 'jackstands' etc., call your insurance company. Do not allow the yard move the boat for any reason.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Dented Hull- up close and personal

I had the same issue in 2004. In my case the yard did not block the keel correctly and the boat settled. The jack stands did not settle and they pushed into the hull on both sides. The picture below shows that the yard had used a piece of plywood under the bottom edge of the keel. That plywood was crushed allowing the boat to settle about 1/2-3/4 of an inch.

I showed the damage to the yard owner and he immediately placed two other jack stands on either side of the damage and removed the jack stand that caused the damage. I called my insurance agent immediately.

The next day an adjuster was looking at my boat and he agreed that the keel was improperly supported and was the yard's error. He verified that the damage was just the gelcoat surface and that the hull was not cracked through. He told me that the fiberglass is very flexible and could absorb the flex without serious damage in this case. Your mileage may vary.

He spoke to the yard owner and an agreement was made on the spot that the hull would be repaired at the yard's expense.

There is a fiberglass shop at the yard and within two days the repair was complete. My adjuster spoke to the fiberglass shop and they agreed on the work to be done and the methods to be used.

The shop ground out the crack down to solid fiberglass, laid in strips of glass cloth, faired the surface and coated with a barrier coat. My adjuster came back when that was done to verify that the job was done properly. He wasn't happy with the fairing of the hull and had the shop rework it.

Never had a problem with it since.

In your case, doesn't the factory cradle have a keel block attached to the cradle so that all the weight rest on that? I would have expected that a cradle is the very safest way to hold and support a boat since it is designed specifically for that hull shape.

 

[jstrohmeyer]

Yes... the boat's keel is completely suspended from cradle. The pads are the only things holding up the boat. The cradle had keel boards to use to support the keel on the cradle, but were not used by the yard crew. Im calling my insurance company now.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Sorry for your loss. Hopefully this won't impact your launch date. My yard was apologetic and they have never used plywood again to shim the keel.

It sounds like the yard crew was not familiar with the use of the cradle. However IMHO it is their job to know how to block boats either with jack stands or a cradle.

 

[seadaddler]

The yard

Yes the keel should be supporting the full weight of boat not the pads and the yard should know to make sure some thing is on the cradle for the keel to rest on.
I owned a 2001 290 and never had a problem with like you have but know the yard workers don't always do the right thing,they hit the side of my hull when lifting the boat next to me pretty badly scraping the hull gel coat and than put my boat in the water and never told me until when I went to the boat and saw the damage just as we were getting ready to leave the dock and sail to my home port about 20 miles away.
It was not until I refused to move the boat that they owned up to it and I had said that they may have done some other miner scratch on the opposite side and than they admitted that the new worker did hit my boat only on the port side with the travel lift,they did a very good repair and compound waxed the whole hull to say they were sorry.
Its hard to be around the yard when they are working with your boat,usually you need to be there all day,also check inside of the hull for any cracks.
Nick

 

[jstrohmeyer]

I just talked to the Boat US surveyor who will be checking out the damage. He affirmed Rich Stidger's pov that fiberglas is very flexible, and most likely only needs gel coat work. But having just said that, I probably just jinxed myself! We're meeting at the boat this Wednesday, so wish me luck...

 

[jstrohmeyer]

Also, Rich... thanks for the pics. Your damage seemed to be much larger than mine. I'd be freaking out if I saw my boat ripped apart that way. Which could be a possibility, if they need to do fiberglass work.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Infinity290-

Don't sweat it. Fiberglass is a great material and repairs can be made to nearly any damage. Done properly, the only reminder of this episode will be your memory and a picture.

 

[sailingdog]

While fiberglass is fairly flexible and resilient, there can be serious problems from something like this. The interior liner could have been damaged or the bond between the interior liner and the hull may be compromised on boats that use a hull liner. If the boat has a stiffening grid of floors and stringers, they can become detached from the hull, as they are generally far less flexible than the hull itself.

The surveyor, IMHO, really needs to do a very thorough inspection of the hull, hull liner, stringers and floors, and bulkheads.

In the future, the boat should be supported with the weight on the keel and the cradle should be modified so the pads are located opposite the bulkheads of the boat. In many cases, the hull, if supported by an interior bulkhead, would have not been compressed the way you describe.

 

[Prime Time]

Cored Hull?

If the hull is cored, I wonder if the coring flexes the same as the glass or does it crack? Could this would cause a structural issue with the lamination? I'd like to hear from engineers about this.

 

[sailingdog]

I think this may depend on how much the hull is flexed and what the core material is. End-grain balsa and rigid foams, like Divinylcell, might shear or tear, where a ductile foam, like Airex might just flex.

If the hull is cored, I wonder if the coring flexes the same as the glass or does it crack? Could this would cause a structural issue with the lamination? I'd like to hear from engineers about this.

 

[RichH]

If the hull is cored, I wonder if the coring flexes the same as the glass or does it crack? Could this would cause a structural issue with the lamination? I'd like to hear from engineers about this.

This hull probably isnt cored.
However, in either case most of the stress, and in general for ALL structures in flexure, is carried on the outter most fibers of the structural segment.... ie. in/on the outter most fibers of the structural roving as the gelcoat and its cosmetic matting layer are purely 'cosmetic'. Composite structures and 'box beams' (eg. cored hulls) for flexural service are designed specifically to optimize this phenomenon of the stress being carried on the outter portion - no need to reinforce the 'middle'/core as it carries little stress. When such fails in flexure the failure usually propagates from the outter fibers (bearing the most stress) towards and sometimes including the inner fibers.

However, in catastrophic failure due to inordinate concentrated loads/stress that were not 'planned' & where the structure has been stressed beyond its 'function', specific load design or in an inordinate way, then the failure can of course penetrate through the entire structure and into adjacent structure.

Gelcoat cracks in themselves arent a problem as gelcoat and its cosmetic support arent structural. However if it can be determined that the deeper structural 'roving' has been affected then of course a major repair is waranted. Only sure way to determine failure to that level, to be absolutely sure, is to remove away the gelcoat and its matting layer and visualize for broken fibers in the roving.