OC-6 Repair Suggestions

Hi All,

I was hoping to garner some suggestions on the time, costs, and different methods of fixing our clubs Bradley Lightening. I believe the boat is an unlimited layup and, from what I can tell, is just carbon fiber in the effected area.

We are up here in Seattle and, during the 4th of July, we are guessing that people watching the firework show from the shore may have been sitting/standing on the flat spots of our boats. We noticed several practices later when the gelcoat on the top of the hull several feet back from seat 6 began cracking and chipping. We were able to finish the rest of the race season and winter practices by sealing the cracks with clear tape to hopefully avoid any de-lamination or allowing it get waterlogged. From what I can tell- the damage is not just flex cracks in the superficial gelcoat. The whole area (roughly 1' x 8-10") appears to have more flex and deform inward under very slight pressure- The gelcoat cracks have also seemed to increase over time. Not sure exactly, but that seems indicative of damage to the glass/carbon sheet in that area.

I've done Gelcoat work on surfskis before and several members on our team have done some fiberglass work but this is outside our level of expertise There are several good shops and craftsmen up here that can do the work however they are normally backlogged, especially as we are getting into race season and boats start trading paint far more often than the winter months. The loss of one of our boats for several weeks in the shop would be a major blow to training and racing. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thank you,

Submitted by That4444 on Tue, 03/25/2014 - 10:27am