Cracks in Gel Coat

[yachtsman]

My little 260 has started to get fine cracks in the Gel coat. Finer than a strand of hair. But they are appearing everywhere.
Am wondering is it worth repairing for my concern is the finished job may look worse than the fine cracks.
Would the ingress of water be a problem?

 

[wetass]

Pictures would be helpful. Are they long, small tiny little cracks, parallel, etc.

If they are everywhere & random it could be that the gelcoat was just too thick. If they are parrallel, could be something is flexing the hull. Round patterns could be from something heavy dropped on it. If you race, could be that your crew jumping around the deck is just too much weight and too hard on the boat. You need to figure out what is causing them and if necessary, fix that.

As far as fixing the existing cracks themselves - Usually they are just gelcoat and not into the laminate, so water getting in there is generally not a problem. You may want to get a moisture meter and just keep an eye on it. Some use Capt Tollys creaping crack cure - some like it. I used it once on a few small gelcoat cracks and didn't really care for it. Ended up sanding the cracks out and putting down more gelcoat.