TOPIC:

Can anyone help with photos, a title and issue number for an illustrated magazine article, a URL for a Web article, or something similar that would help us with a wooden Alb. hull repair. It's not a major repair, just a good sized puncture hole from a Flying 15 who was flying where she might not have been on a better day.

The damage is right through the hull but it hasn't touched any tanks or bulkheads.

I've looked on the Web and found a lot of talk. But a photo or a well done illustration is usually worth a lot of words. We plan to strip back the laminate and re-create the section that's affected, more or less as it was.

Thanks, Snekkja

Perhaps post a photo here showing the damage. That will allow those with knowledge to guide you best.

Sometimes damage areas can be injected with epoxy resin and compressed back together showing little or no sign of repair. Other times you may need to cut out the damage and lay in and resin veneers of ply so that the areas overlap. The crude way is to apply an oversize patch behind and scarf in a diamond the size of the damaged area.

One Cowes Week the Melges I was sailing on was holed by an Etchels that just seemed to keep coming through. It was quite frightening really and when we eventually came apart there was an enormous hole the exact shape of their bow. We got the boat out of the water and Tony the owner whacked it up with epoxy and fillers and compressed it all back together. He then temporarily faired the hull and it looked imamaculate for a temporary repair. Fortunately we were on starboard and so insuarnce paid for the full repair.

Depending upon the damage this could be an insurance job if you want it well done.

I have some photos of my old Fairey Marine boat when it was being repaired following a collision which left a Laser shaped hole in the port bow. I was on starboard and the Laser tried to bear away astern of me but didn't let go of his mainsheet in time. The Laser's insurance paid for it but not very willingly. I don't know how to put photos on here but will happily email them if you pm me your email address.
All the best
Steve

If you have pictures you can email them to snekkja@live.co.uk. The plan is to use the fairly standard fix method of stripping back the laminate, layer by layer, and re-instating it ... layer by layer. Thanks for any pictures in advance.

Hi

Perhaps I can help, from a few directions. Firstly from personal experience, having been hit by a Supernova who gybed into me. Like you, I had no damage to tanks or bulkheads, but the inner skin was pushed away. The repair was done professionally by cutting away the outer laminate and pulling back the inner ones in order to provide a strong base for the outer layer, which was then glued back in after carefully routering out a suitable size section. A piece of agba was used to match the boat and although very light in colour when first fitted, it has darkened down beautifully over the last 9 months or so to really fit in with the rest of the boat.

Secondly, I have some photos of major repairs to 6815 which show very clearly the work done to cut back the individual layers and then build them up. I can email them if you wish.

Finally, if you download the following link to Gougeon Brothers on wooden boat repair using WEST System Epoxy,section 5.4 details how to repair diagonal ply moulded boats in some detail, which should give you all the background advice you need.

www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/howto-pub2/...n%20and%20Repair.pdf

Hope this helps!

GrahamL
Alb 5893