Etap 30 bulkhead

[gwc2004]

Does any body know if the forward bulkhead, that is the saloon end on an Etap 30 is structural? Why? I've just found a horizontal crack in mine going from the heads compartment, under the port berth and disappearing into the void between the hulls. Am I worried? Just a little! The boat at some time has had a rain water leak and the bottom of this bulkhead has soaked it up and gone dark. It's dry now but the wood is soft in the affected area. Craned in last week, maybe that caused it.

 

[Oldhand]

If I remember correctly the bulkhead is just slotted into recesses in the interior mouldings and not glassed in. If so, it can only be semi-structural in that it can only take compression loads. I believe there is an ally strut to transfer mast compression loads into the hull bottom structure and I suspect the inner mouldings and foam filling provide most of the hull rigidity. However, I would expect the bulkhead to take deck loads and some of the athwartships compression on the hull from the rig. I think I would be much happier with a "hard" bulkhead.

 

[gwc2004]

Thanks for your reply. There is a strut to take mast compression and the decks are still well supported. The rig has rods from below the deck to transfer the loads into the hull, these are aft of this bulkhead so I assume there must be some load bearing structure bonded to the hull.