Hi,

I am stuck with pretty bad dammage/crack on the hull ''cover'', right under the rear beam. It has been repaired by me, and then by the shop because it was reopening. It seems like there is water somewhere inside because it craked this winter. It just seems to be a gelcoat crack but it really opens when we lift the opposite hull. Any idea if my cat is dead or any suggestion on how to properly repair this ?





How were these made? I remember grinding in this area and finding wet foam under.

Since there could be foam or a sandwich of some sort inside somehere in this area, would it be a good idea to make a hole and reinforce from the inside ? Should we just make a heavy thick patch from outside ?



Thanks

louispp

Any idea if my cat is dead or any suggestion on how to properly repair this ?

The good news is that fiberglass boats can always be fixed.

Bad news is that it takes a real expert to do it right.

The other bad news is the only way to figure out exactly what's going on is for an expert in fiberglass repair to start cutting and grinding the surface layer away until they find solid ground. Then they can rebuild all the damaged areas even stronger than before.

Doing it part-way just means you (or the next guy) will have to do it again.

Good luck! Where are you located? Maybe someone can recommend a fiberglass guy near you. It's really hard to find them that understand how the lightweight beachcats are built.

Once made the mistake of taking my damaged H18 to a guy that was an excellent fiberglass worker, on bass boats. He "fixed" that hole and crack with chopped pieces of cloth and lots of resin, no strength at all and lots of weight. Works great on big heavy power boat hulls, not so much on beachcats.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Could be water ingress from the beam bolts. You're going to have to drop that hull off and dry that area out. You might be able to inject it with resin after that. You might have to cut in an access port to get behind the problem.
That creates it's own structural issues.



Edited by gahamby on May 31, 2021 - 12:46 PM.

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'82 Super Cat 15
Hull #315
Virginia
Previously owned: '70 H14, '79 H16, '68 Sailmaster 26, '85 H14T
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