Crack in bow by bridle

Hi all

A client has a T2 and by all accounts this is a good boat and another well made hobie product. The boat is a few years old but he has reported a crack in the bow on the top side of the hull near the bridle. Hulls are well out of warrenty so he has asked me to repair.


Previously someone has tried epoxy but this will never work as it just doesn't bond. I have some west system g flex which I have used in the past on plastic boats and it is good stuff.

Question is.......has anyone ever experieneced a crack like this before. The g flex will work but my concern it is a high stress area.


My plan is cut out epoxy. Finely scalpel/ bevel the edges of the crack. Drill small holes at either end of crack, then apply gflex. Finally I will ratchet strap up the hull t compress it all.

Thoughts?

Maybe rather use 3M Scotchweld DP 8010 (for bonding PE), or DP 8010 NS for more structural support.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt

I went with Gflex as it is all I had, and there is no chance of getting scotchweld in kuwait..yet. G flex is pretty good. Will post up picture of repair once complete.

I think it cracked as the bow tang wasn't full wound in i.e. 4 threads were showing and the tang had bent. Also the boat doesn't have a spreader bar across the front........is that normal?

Ecosset4

Not sure what the bridle configuration was in Europe on the T2.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Went back last night and disaster! It hadn't bonded!

So What I did was to start the repair:
Opened crack up a little more. Made some backing plates out of fiberglass so I could insert.
Inserted plates with string on so I could pull up. Injected gflex.
ratchet strap hull up so as to try and form shape.
Came back sanded lightly and then added top layer of pigment and gflex so it looked nice. Came back next day after applying tension-cracked!

So this time I am going to try and open the crack as much as possible by tensioning. Inject as much gflex as possible. Release a little off the tension so the crack closes back up. Leave to set. Come back sand lightly and apply top coat of gflex and pigment.

The problem is there isn't much room for backing plates etc. The eye on the from has a metal plate that runs left to right across the hull and means you have to put in two plates rather than one in crack and this is also the weakest point as you can't back plate it. This is where it it r"re-cracked" from so the plan is tonight to open her up get as much in there as possible, then let it so its thing.

I am afraid this might never heal.

Will try and post pics

Ecosset4

I'd recommend drilling a small hole at each end of the crack during the next repair to stop it from going any further, if you haven't already.

_________________
Buxton
18' T16 Silent Lightning (16' T2 Hybrid)
11' H16 White Lightning
79' H16 Green Lightning