any quick easy way to repair a hole in grp hull?

PaulR

PaulR

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finished race in my very old laser dinghy last sunday and found it had a lot of water inside - thought it was through some damage at bow which I "repaired" with epoxy paste - raced again today - oops - laser gradually sinking and on getting ashore (race retirement) found a hull repair I had done several years ago has failed leaving a hole the size of a matchbox in the hull- no wonder it was taking in water,

so question - only got a few weekends of the winter series left then back to cruiser for the summer so looking for temporary quick fix to get me through the next few weekends - any suggestions?

tempted to try duct tape but not sure if it will be likely to stay on - hole is underwater and cannot get to inside of hull
 
Try CT-1

PaulR said:
finished race in my very old laser dinghy last sunday and found it had a lot of water inside - thought it was through some damage at bow which I "repaired" with epoxy paste - raced again today - oops - laser gradually sinking and on getting ashore (race retirement) found a hull repair I had done several years ago has failed leaving a hole the size of a matchbox in the hull- no wonder it was taking in water,

so question - only got a few weekends of the winter series left then back to cruiser for the summer so looking for temporary quick fix to get me through the next few weekends - any suggestions?

tempted to try duct tape but not sure if it will be likely to stay on - hole is underwater and cannot get to inside of hull
Click to expand...

See my post in the thread about fixing leaks in very old boats. Try CT-1 on a sheet of thin plastic - I reckon it will hold till you do a proper repair.
 
I seem to recall foil or plastic film backed with a tar like substance. The name escapes me. It needed to be applied to a dry surface (or one dried with meths) and best pressed down hard. We used to use it for emergency repairs on kayaks, sea and inland, and pressed it on using the helmet we wore in iffy situations. Lasted many a day.

Epoxy and a little glass mat may well do the modern equivalent. Kayak wise can just be done rafted up with the afflicted boat on the raft
 
Cymrogwyllt said:
I seem to recall foil or plastic film backed with a tar like substance. The name escapes me. It needed to be applied to a dry surface (or one dried with meths) and best pressed down hard. We used to use it for emergency repairs on kayaks, sea and inland, and pressed it on using the helmet we wore in iffy situations. Lasted many a day.

Epoxy and a little glass mat may well do the modern equivalent. Kayak wise can just be done rafted up with the afflicted boat on the raft
Click to expand...

The foil with pitch backing is very good for a temporary repair such as cracked hull of dinghy and is sold as Flashing from any builders merchant about £5 a roll - when you apply it be sure to use a hairdrier to warm the surface of the dinghy and the foil and it will stick very well then and it is designed to get wet!
 
Why not just coarse sand about an inch or so round the hole to make a key.

Get a small pack of glass mat and epoxy (Halfords?) Cut a bit of mat to match the sanded area. Stipple it with epoxy resin, put it carefully over the hole and press down the edges, perhaps with a bit more epoxy. If you have a significant hollow over the hole, then two or three hours later put a bit more epoxied mat over hollow. Leave to set.

Next day, give it a light sanding to make it smooth.

All surprisingly easy, and strong.

Mike
 
Where is the hole? If is below the foredeck of afterdeck, you can use a holesaw to cut a large hole in the deck that you can put a hand through to access the inside of the damage. Glassfibre mat inside and out will then make a very secure repair. Finally, close the hole in the deck using a standard screw-on access hatch - you'll see a lot of older Lasers sporting these, particularly if they have had to have the mast step replaced. Doesn't take too long, probably a couple of evenings so you should still be able to win the winter series! Good luck!
 
Small Hole

Carpet Tape or Duct Tape .. Use it all the time on my Fiberglass canoe .. Make sure hull is completely dry and overlap several strips as necessary. Start at rear and move forward with strips so as there are no leading edges, A bit like roof tiles .. Dont go mad you will find very little is necessary.. Happy sailing
 
Do it properly. Make the hole oblong or oval. Sand around inside a bit. Cut 6mm ply so it will overlap all round.slap 3 or 4 layers of rovings and resin onto the patch. Piece of string through middle of patch. Slot patch through hole. Twist patch and pull tight against the inside of the hull. Spanish windlass until set. Cut string. Fill hole with resin and mat mix. Shouldn't be too hard to knock it out again when you want to fix it neatly at some point.
 
Helo&Craig said:
Won't the laser be polyester resin? So repairing with polyester will be much faster than epoxy.
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Epoxy will stick better than polyester - even to old polyester.

If there's no loading of the repair, polyester should be fine, but the fact that the old repair failed does suggest that there's some movement. I'd use epoxy. If I could do the repair in the warm, I would but, as long a there's no likelihood of frost, I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep if I couldn't.
 
irl2605 said:
Carpet Tape or Duct Tape .. Use it all the time on my Fiberglass canoe .. Make sure hull is completely dry and overlap several strips as necessary. Start at rear and move forward with strips so as there are no leading edges, A bit like roof tiles .. Dont go mad you will find very little is necessary.. Happy sailing
Click to expand...

Another vote for duct tape, (I too did white water canoe cruising!) will take only seconds \7 easily last to the end of the season. Then you can do it properly. White spirit will get the remnants of the tape stickyness off & acetone will clean the GRP for a pukka repair.
 
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