side deck gel coat cracks - 86 Albin 27 sport

[DonGuy]

Hi,

Am looking at a purchase. Both side decks beside the wheel house have cracks in the gel coat running lengthwise. I'm wondering if this is a normal thing in an 86....

Thanks,

[rt11002003]

The A27s are great boats. You will find some stress cracks in the gellcoat in various places around the vessel.

Most materials have a molecule orientation pattern. When the surface of the material is altered (bent) the molecules try to re-orient themselves. Most of the time they aren't completely successful and stress areas result, especially on the surface of the material.

Overtime the stress will cause cracks to appear. Small cracks (hazing) is not a problem unless water can penetrate and cause delamination. Large cracks should be repaired. Delamination is a whole other issue. Your surveyor should give a professional opinion on your situation.

Heavy impacting (bumping the dock, etc.) may also cause cracking. That is another whole different issue. It may result in structural damage.

Again, get the surveyor to issue a professional opinion.

Gene

[DonGuy]

Thanks. Thought I'd pass on the survey results. My surveryor felt the the cracks in those areas were not indicative of a structural problem, but did show a stress area in the boat. He figures the stress area is probably a characteristic of the model and shows with use/age, and is probably common among boats of the same type/age. He suggested I fill the cracks with something to keep more mosture from getting in, and keep smiling.

[Mariner]

Small stress cracks in the gelcoat are common on fiberglass boats of all age. They indicate an area of stress, just like your surveyor said. Our 2003 36' Albin has them in the same area; has since we bought it in 2005, when it had only 89 hours on the engine. To see them that early to me indicated that there was an area that should have been better supported in the original design, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will fail. It just means you have to keep an eye on it. If the cracks get significantly worse, some modification to the supporting fiberglass may be in order.

A boat that has excessive stress cracks, that is, more than other models of the same age and design, has probably seen rougher and more severe service than the average boat. Again, this doesn't mean that it is structurally deficient, just that it has seen more severe service.

To understand this, you have to understand the nature of fiberglass boats. Fiberglass, aside from being lightweight, strong, and corrosion resistant, is actually quite flexible. Much like a spring, it can move, and will generally return to it's original shape. Unlike a spring, if it is pushed to it's breaking point, it breaks, rather than reshaping. But fiberglass boats are usually coated in gelcoat, a material that is less flexible than the underlying fiberglass. It is relatively brittle, and will crack and break at a lower threshold of deformation. Generally, boats are built with enough structural glass that they don't flex much. But corners and points where the gelcoat is very thick, and flexing is more pronounced and concentrated, it's common for stress cracks to appear. When you see them in areas that don't meet the above description, they may provide information about the boat. For example, lets say you're looking at a boat and see stress cracks on the side of the hull, nowhere near any stress points, and they have a distinct, not random, pattern. This might indicate that there was an impact at this point that damaged the underlying fiberglass, and though the gelcoat was repaired, the weakend glass beneath was left in place. Or if you see excessive cracks around a piece of equipment like the engine mount/bracket, or a windlass; this may indicate that there is not enough support for that unit, or that the unit has experienced excessive load on a regular basis. Wave jumping in a small outboard boat, or using the windlass to pull the boat foward over the anchor rather than motoring over it, are perfect examples.

[DonGuy]

Thanks for the explanation. Interesting and helpful.

[rt11002003]

Mariner,

That was an excellent explanation!

Gene

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