Wayfarer gel coat cracks

[Oban_Sailor]

Hi,
I'm interested in a Wayfarer dingy for sale (hoping to use it for some west coast dingy cruising), but the gel coat has a couple of big patches of stress cracks either side of the hull.
Is this something I should be worried about? Would it be worth repairing?

Thanks,
John

 

[Kelpie]

Unless you're paying top dollar for the boat I wouldn't be very worried about that.
Is there any sign that the damaged goes deeper than the gel coat? Does the hull flex and creak when you apply pressure there?

 

[Oban_Sailor]

@Kelpie Thanks for the advice! Its going for £850, so not crazy money. The hull seems pretty solid when I give it a poke there.

 

[Refueler]

Top one looks like an impact .... bottom ones - are scrapes .....

If hull is secure and does not deflect when leaned on hard ... it should be ok .... especially if in line with any internal stiffening.

The impact type are very hard to fill and hide ... I have one on my 25ft boat where previous owner hit a buoy - I then went and hit a buoy same place years later !!! I have considered trying to repair - but its not as easy as filling a chip or scrape.

 

[Kelpie]

By the way you can chase the cracks back with a Dremel and then use gel coat paste to patch it, but you might not get a close match in colour. Or just ignore it.
They're tough boats, enjoy.

 

[Refueler]

By the way you can chase the cracks back with a Dremel and then use gel coat paste to patch it, but you might not get a close match in colour. Or just ignore it.
They're tough boats, enjoy.

GRP guy and I looked at that on my boat ... we both decided not to in the end .....

Problem is that when you fill - no matter how good ... if you try to paint or match - it usually creates a line anyway ...

But if its a large area - then I would be inclined to see about grinding out and filling.

 

[footsoldier]

Is there any sign that the damaged goes deeper than the gel coat? Does the hull flex and creak when you apply pressure there

The old adage 'beauty is only skin deep' also applies here to damage. Kelpie has it right.

 

[Oban_Sailor]

@Kelpie @footsoldier @Refueler Thanks for the sound advice! Sounds like I should go for it and not worry unduly. And the Dremel trick looks feasible if I decide to try and fix it up.

Thanks again!!

 

[B27]

@Kelpie Thanks for the advice! Its going for £850, so not crazy money. The hull seems pretty solid when I give it a poke there.

£850 may be OK with a good trailer, trolley, cover reasonable sails and all the gear working.
Dinghies which are getting scruffy and uncompetitive for racing can often be quite low value.
There are several waifs on ebay which might be had for under £500.
Being down west, I appreciate that travelling to look at cheap dinghies doesn't work though!
The local market may be different from national.

 

[Oban_Sailor]

@B27 Its definitely not a racing boat! And the trolley is a state. I'll try and get the price down

 

[Refueler]

@B27 Its definitely not a racing boat! And the trolley is a state. I'll try and get the price down

Its a Wayfarer ? Wish you luck on price.

 

[Kelpie]

If you're in Oban you'll have a pretty limited number of Wayfarers for sale locally. When I bought my first one, I drove from Lewis to Yorkshire for it! And lost a wheel on the way home. Thankfully there was a spare included.

 

[fisherman]

The star cracks are from an impact. If it seems rigid enough then maybe OK,
Chasing and filling the cracks won't work, they will come through. You have to grind off the gelcoat, and the substrate a few mm until the cracks disappear. Then replace the mat/resin, then gel coat. Very difficult to get a perfect match, but at least it's white.

 

[Kelpie]

The star cracks are from an impact. If it seems rigid enough then maybe OK,
Chasing and filling the cracks won't work, they will come through. You have to grind off the gelcoat, and the substrate a few mm until the cracks disappear. Then replace the mat/resin, then gel coat. Very difficult to get a perfect match, but at least it's white.

There only are a few mm of substrate!

 

[fisherman]

Yes, understood, but the essence is that most of the thickness of hull will be OK, but the cracks will be not just the gel, a bit of substrate goes with it.


Edit: the essence is, there will be cracks in the mat/resin substrate, and they should be ground out and fixed, whether they go right through, or are only a mm deep.

Re the OP , no don't worry.