Cracks in the Gelcoat?

[Andy Flood]

I am looking at a 1989 30'Hunter that has gelcoat cracks on the deck. They don't leak but sure are concerning. I plan to have a survey done before purchasing. My question is why something like this happened and does anyone have any comments on the repair of these problems?

 

[Tim Sullivan]

Mother nature hates sail boaters

Andy,Why the gel coat cracks - Mother nature hates sail boaters, thats why. Every body has them. Gel coat is a semi-brittle coating over the fiberglass that will not flex like fiberglass and therefore will develop cracks. The way to fix them is to grind out the crack into a "v" cross sectional shape and fill in with gel coat. But why fix the crack, Mother nature will find something else to crack or bust or rust or leak on our boats. Just let Mother nature have her fun with the gel coat cracks, but don't give her any leeway on water leaks into the cabin.

 

[Jim Grant]

Typical!

I own a 1989 Hunter 30 with the same cracks, they been there for years (the last owner told me) with no problems associated. Someone once told me they were a result of the gel coat being applied to thick. Who knows? I wouldn't worry about it though.

 

[Alex]

It happens to many owners..

my 95' 29.5 has many cracks in gelcoat, especially on rounded/curved FRP molded parts, mostly found in cockpit and stern parts.Most are on the 2 big cokpit lockers lids, on stern lockers base (gas , etc) and other curved areas. These FRP /GRP parts are probably not solidly enough supported or buit to avoid flexing,and since the gelcoat has less flexibility and more brittle, therefore the cracks. Frankly, this is not new in boat buiding process , but most other brands of production sailboats have long found the tech answers to avoid that. By reading posts in this site , it seems too many Hunters , too early in their lifespan , developed this kind of cracks.. It's an upseting occurance on otherwise flashy modern exterior look of the new generation Hunters.

 

[Dave]

That's not ALL!

I have a 1989 Hunter 30, slant deck or SD I belive, with the same problem. I have been around sailboats all of my life and have seen it before. You will also notice (if not now, later) gelcoat blistering below the water line. This seems to be extremly typical of Hunters (as well as some other well known brands). I have heard that it is due to all sorts of things but what it boils down to is Poor Quality. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my boat and new all of this before purchasing. I had other models in mind, but the family was sold. Overall, its a well thought out boat.