Is this damage at bow of concern ?
- Thread starter gusestrella
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,874
The damage is not good. It creates a path for water to get beneath the gel coat. It should be fixed.
Using the padeye to secure the boat means you have inspected the inside and assured yourself that the padeye had adequate backing to deal with the stress you are placing on it.
Opinion: you need stronger backing than fender washers.
Using the padeye to secure the boat means you have inspected the inside and assured yourself that the padeye had adequate backing to deal with the stress you are placing on it.
Opinion: you need stronger backing than fender washers.
A little. It looks like the gelcoat got hit and chipped off. The gelcoat is really thick and thick gelcoat is very brittle, there are no fibers to strengthen it.
How big a boat?
Is there any spider cracking on the other side? What's it look like from the inside? Any evidence of damage to underlying fiberglass?
Fiberglass does not take well to tight bends. This is especially true for heavier glass like roving and mat. To soften the curves the gelcoat will be thicker than it is elsewhere.
Tell the person who hit the dock to be more careful next time.
How big a boat?
Is there any spider cracking on the other side? What's it look like from the inside? Any evidence of damage to underlying fiberglass?
Fiberglass does not take well to tight bends. This is especially true for heavier glass like roving and mat. To soften the curves the gelcoat will be thicker than it is elsewhere.
Tell the person who hit the dock to be more careful next time.
the boat is a 20 foot beneteau. There are no spider cracks on either end or other crack on bow overll. I could not inspect the inside yet.
I had similar damage on a powerboat once. The cause was me being careless and attaching the winch strap incorrectly, the metal clip bounced against the bow for 50 miles slowly shedding gelcoat. The repair was simple, clean up the edges and feather them out a bit, fill with some thickened epoxy or fairing compound and spray some gelcoat. I was able to get color matched gelcoat from Minicraft in Florida, you might also try Spectrum Color.
Just in case you use that eye like people do for small power boats...
A keelboat is not a light powerboat. The bow eye is for securing the boat. You FLOAT the sailboat onto the trailer, and use the bow eye to secure it in position and from sliding backwards while you drive up the ramp.
Like other have said, check for cracking inside the hull and re-enforce it if needed, with a backing plate or some other system.
The c22 is a similar sized hull with similar sized eye. The c22 sub forum has some threads about doing that.
Hopefully just gelcoat damage.
You can buy a nice stainless protective plate for the outside.
Here is what the c22 repair kit looks like.
White thing on the right is backing block.
I have seen similar for other boats.
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This is perfect and seem like juts makes the most sense to be safe. I will inspect the inside for sure but options like these are great to have.
