Invicta 26 soft foredeck question........

[dukes4monny]

Hi All, I went to look at an Invicta 26 yesterday with a view to purchasing. I liked the boat, although she had been unloved for too long for my liking.
I didn't go for her, the main reason was that the when I held on to either of the two front stansions on the foredeck, they seemed very flimsy, and when pulled side to side, the foredeck flexed too!
This was a MkII version with a higher deckline than the MKI.
A question for those of you that know the Invicta 26, is this a common feature of the marque, or is it a problem with this particular boat, or maybe with the MkII with the raised deckline?

Dave

 

[mormargh]

Doesn't sound right to me. Thought they were supposed to be pretty robust.

 

[dukes4monny]

It's the first one I'd looked at, but I was interested because they do have a reputation of being a robust little yacht.
There was no mention of any problems with that area in the current (4 year old) survey, so it's either developed since then, or the surveyor missed it, or it's a feature of the marque.........I suppose I'm looking for some reassurance that I made the right decision /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[MarkGrubb]

Are you referring to flexing and soft spots in the fibreglass or flexing of the structure?

I don't know about Invicta's, but I think some boats can flex more than others. When I was buying my Elizabethan, the surveyor, not a small bloke, stood on the foredeck and jumped up and down. That boat was on the hard in a cradle at the time, and the entire foredeck flexed a lot. Hinging just forward of the coachroof. I expressed concern, but he said it's normal for some boats. Dufours, it seems, are well known for it.

My boat also has soft spots on the deck that flex, these are caused by delamination and breakup of the cored deck. I'll cut out and replace them with time. Again the surveyor was unconcerned and commented that it wasn't unusual in old boats.

None of this was mentioned in the final report (i attended the survey), except for a comment that there were some localised areas of softness, but it wasn't unusual for boats of that age. No remedial action was recommended.

However, the entire foredeck had been repaired by the previous owner. The old core was removed and a new core glassed in, due to delamination and softness.

I think, generally, if you are looking at old second hand budget boats, you may have to expect some softness and flexing in places, and this can often be stiffened/repaired by filler and a few extra layers of fibreglass, beefed up backing pads, or whatever may be appropriate.

 

[dukes4monny]

It seemed to me that the structure was flexing. I was told that these don't have a 'core', but there were a couple (I think) of stiffeners glassed in on the underside, but I was concerned that the flexing appeared to be at the deck / hull join area.
I'm not really looking for a 'fixerupper' other than normal fiddling and fettling, just something to get my daughter and SWMBO interested in so that she could suggest "why don't we get something bigger?".
I am wondering whether the older MkI might be a better bet?

 

[Tranona]

If there was any major structural shortcoming it would have shown up by now. Any flexing that was going to result in failure would show in cracking, both on the surface of the deck gel coat and in the hull deck joint. If that is the only thing putting you off, suggest you get professional advice.

 

[maxi77]

When I bought my Seawych (it was a renovation project) I found that the original stiffners on the fore deck had failed (cardboard tube covered with glass fibre) so I glassed in wooden stiffners and had no problems there after with the fore deck

 

[Fascadale]

Hi

I've just read your post with interest
I have a 1973 Mk2 Invicta 26

I have always thought the forward stantions a little bit flimsey, I wouldn't like to have to depend on them, but I have not been aware of any foredeck flexing.

There is the occasional creak in the foredeck as you move about but nothing I would describe as flexing.

I had to lift the midships stantion base a couple of weeks ago to rebed it. Interestingly, the bottom part of the base, the bit which should have been flat on the deck was distorted.Pressure from people pulling on the stantion as they climbed aboard, rather than causing any deck flexing, had bent the stainless steel base of the stantion mounting.

I have carefully inspected the hull deck joint of my boat. Seems pretty good to me. I might rebed some of the bolts this winter to try to eliminate a "weep"

I had a look at some Mk1 Invictas but decided on the Mk2, just that little bit more headroom

Good luck

 

[Gymnopedie]

Without wishing to appear blase about the foredeck, I agree with the earlier post that if the marque had a design/production problem it would have shown up by now. I sailed a Mk.1 ("Arelia") on the East Coast/ North Sea for 4 years and have never before or since experienced a boat which, size for size, gave so much confidence in seaworthiness. Ok, she was a bit wet going to windward in F5 plus but would make good speed upwind (in the Orwell) in very strong winds - by which I mean the sort of blow which deterred a singlehander from going out into the Wallet.

 

[dukes4monny]

Ok, so it does appear to be a common feature of the marque. There didn't appear to be any stress cracks around the base(s) of the stansion, so it's probably nothing to really worry about.
I think that I would be tempted to glass a couple of 'knees' in to stiffen things up a bit.
This particular boat needed more TLC than I could give her, so I'll bear all the advice given in mind for my continued search.

Thanks for all your responses.

Dave