Gel coat cracks in brand new boat

[chrisrixon]

My new beneteau has a couple of small places with some Gel Coat cracks.

The dealer says this is normal. Should I accept this or kick up a stink to get it fixed?

Chris.

 

[oldharry]

How new is 'new'? If the boat is less than a year old, and bearing in mind the sort of price you will have paid, I would not accept a boat with cracks in it.

Unless you made them.

Why is your new boat displaying cracks anyway? It suggests to me there may be something wrong, in which case you certainly want it put right. If it is purely cosmetic, and the dealer regards it as 'normal', then you should regard it as 'normal' for the dealer get it put right.

Cracks in the gel coat will allow water to permeate into the structure, and if it reaches the GRP lay up could start wicking and causing problems.

If the water freezes in the cracks this too could cause further damage - and whats the betting the way this summer is going.....?!

Dont be fobbed off!

 

[robp]

Get a surveyor to check it all out, with the 5 year warranty in mind. I'll PM you.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Maybe what he means is that it is normal for a Benny, but it's certainly not normal on other boats. Cracking of the gel coat is evidence of some current or past stress at that point. Insist they sort it.

 

[WayneS]

Get them to fix the cause, not just the gel

 

[Guest]

Can I ask who the dealer is?
Wouldn't be 'Vea Sentures' would it?

 

[DepSol]

I had one tiny scratch on my Jeanneau when I first got it and Sea Ventures had Andrew Dorey (best GRP man on the Island) see to it straight away. Anything like that on a new boat should be noted on your delivery note that you sign to say the boat is in good nick when you took ownership of it.

Get them to sort it.

Dom


I just want my boat back in the water ;-(

 

[Chris_Robb]

sea ventures is a Jenneau dealer - and they are a good dealer - excellent service.

Gel coat cracks - no they are not normal - you should have them dealt with - you should also find out why they have developed. especially near any bulkhead or fitting which may be causing it stress

 

[Guest]

I had my forstay fail after 200nm (2 months) SV claimed it wasn't their problem.
I picked up the bill and my insurers were exellent (Nav. Gen)

 

[chrisrixon]

Thanks everyone for replying. I will get onto them (Ville Audrain) in St Malo. The boat was picked up May 1st. I am cruising around Britany and down to Portugal so will be putting the world wide warrenty to the test!

Cheers Chris.

 

[DepSol]

It was obviously not Sea Ventures problem if the insurers coughed up otherwise you would have been talking to them again.

AFAIAC Sea Ventures CI have always sorted out any problems locally without fuss thats why they have such a good reputation here.


Dom


I just want my boat back in the water ;-(

 

[Guest]

No,
the surveyor appointed could not 100% determine the cause of the failure but was sure it was not down to me .
The court will decide who is responsible either sub contract rigger,commisioner,or manufacturer.
I just wanted the boat fixed asap and my insurers sorted this by paying up and persueing the claim.My renual fee did not reflect any claim.

Do you work for SV?

 

[DepSol]

No I have my own business and work for an investment firm during the day. Just always had a good service from Sea Ventures and when people in the marine industry make me happy they are worth a mention. Everyone moans about the bad things but I think we need to cheer on the people that do a good job.

Dom


I just want my boat back in the water ;-(

 

[MapisM]

Having spoken to some boatyards in the past, I understood that sometimes the gelcoat can crack right from the beginning, at the moment when the hull is taken out of its mould. It's totally unpredictable, just happens now and then.
Usually, the producer notice that and fix it before delivering the boat. But even if he does, the fix is never as perfect as the rest of the gelcoat.
Needless to say, they very rarely - if ever - just throw away the faulty hull, which would actually be the only solution.
On the positive side, this type of cracks aren't a symptom of any structural damage, since they are not due to GRP stress. Therefore, they can be fixed just to block their growth, and that's it. The hull will never look as perfect as it should - not even the builder could make such miracle - but should not give any other trouble either.
Now, understanding whether this is the reason or not, that's the really difficult part.
Guess that only a professional surveyor should be capable to find out.
Good luck!

 

[billmacfarlane]

The same thing happened to me years ago when I bought a new boat. You don't say where the cracks are but the crazing could be due to a number of things - stress due to a fitting , underlying GRP stress problem or merely cosmetic. The only person that can tell you for certain is a competent surveyor. Get a report done by one. If you merely get a dealer to sort it out , the underlying cause , if any might be ignored and the problem will recur.

 

[ianwright]

Normal? Yes and no,,,,,,,Grp is used as a cheap substitute for better and more expensive boat building material. Wood for example.
Once a manufacturer has started down the "cheaper and worse" path there is no road back. "Oh Sodit, That'll do" becomes the company ethos and faults such as you describe are accepted as "normal". Well, normal it might be, but you are not paying for faults, get it fixed, for your sake and for the sake of other customers.

IanW.

Vertue 203, Patience

 

[Guest]

Have seen small cracks in new boats where gel coat has bubbled - advised due to hasty layup. Extent of future problems depends on location of problems.

Gel coat needs to be removed and replaced in areas affected.

If this is the problem, tap gently around the areas affected and you'll notice a change in sound where there are bubbles. I would carefully check over the whole boat while you're arranging getting it sorted.

Definitely not acceptable imho.

Surveyor undoubtedly your best bet, particularly if supplier not holding hands up!

 

[JOHNBOY]

I've sailed on 3 different Beneteaus over last 10 years there has been noticeable cracks in all of them..... Maybe they should stick to caravans.

 

[brian_neale]

I bought a new boat some years back which had small cracks in the gel coat. They were all in or around corners in the moulding, and the builder told me that they were due, in part at least, to the weight of the moulding that they used and was due to slight shrinkage during curing. As I remember, they were all on internal corners, around the cooker moulding, for example, and the boat was certainly heavily moulded for its size. The underlying moulding was clearly not affected, just the gel coat, and they could occur up to a few months after moulding. They scratched out the cracks and refilled with matching gel coat. No-one who did not know they were there would have found them afterwards. That builder took some months to fit out the boat, but with rapid production times for modern boats, the cracks may not have appeared before the boat left the factory.

I would have been much more worried if there were cracks in large, relatively flat, structural components - like the hull, for example!