I cracked my starboard formula wood about a month ago and got plenty of good advice via this forum about how to deal with it. So yesterday I decided to tackle it and what I unearthed seems a bit interesting... Original damage thread.

This board isn't going to stop any traffic with its looks so I've taken the stance of repairing to make solid(ish) rather than looking good. To be honest I don't dislike the battle scared look.

Firstly the crack on the rail seems straight forward enough, no surprises. I've cut out the crack back to the solid core and am going to feather out the damage a bit more then _layer_ it up and see how it holds.

Damage

Most damage cut away. Almost ready for repair.


Secondly the crack on the deck. As pointed out in the Original thread this is in front of a dodgy looking repair. Well if it looks dodgy in the pic, imagine what it looks like once you take a blade to it!? No need to imagine I have pics.

Damage


Damage cut away in perspective with the board.


Damage cut away close up.

What you can see in this last photo from left to right is:
Previous repair (Grey), solid resin with some matting.
What looks like DIY expanding foam!
The shadow area is a gaping crevasse. I assume this is where the original core has been dissolved by the expanding foam.
You can just make out the white core, the edge of which looks melted.

I've been naively stitched up with this board. however I am resolved to see it back out on the water even if just for one season so I am not looking to give this board a repair that will out live my grandchildren, but I don't want to redo it after each time it's sailed.

So should I remove the bungled repair (Grey bit) and fill the hole with some substiture core?
Or cut out the expanding foam and fill with some substitute core?
Or leave repair as is, fill the thin gap?
Then glass it in.

Any comments welcome,

Dan

Now - I know nothing about board repair, but i'd be tempted to hack out the whole lot & start from scratch, just to be sure. It'll be far more fun too, and you can send us more photos of the crater it leaves!
How the hell did it end up with a hole there anyway!

Yeah you have to wonder. There is provision for a centre foot strap in this position so whether that has been where the damage has been caused, but still how? If I had more spare time I think I'd be hunting down the previous owner to ask what hell happened whilst laughing at their poor workmanship in a way your father in law would mock you household DIY efforts.

I agree it would be more fun to rip it all out, but to sort of contradict myself, I do want to get it on the water asap to enjoy the end of the summer light breezes. I don't want to give it anymore time than is vital to getting it up and running again. I would be happy to give it a longer more indepth repair in those dark winter months.

I'll happily take more pics of what I find lurking in the deep recesses of this board, I have been waiting for a family of stowaways to climb out of it.

Whether you were stitched up or not depends on how much you paid for the board.

The old repair probably looked O.K. when he did it but if you replace a flexible skin with a rock hard plug of resin, it will eventually be driven into the board and crack around the edges. My philosophy is to remove as little as possible as it is always a bloody site harder to replace, compared to ripping out.

If you stick the edge of some paper toweling in the crack and there is no moisture I would be tempted to open up the crack in a "V" manner and fill it, and keep your eye on the repair in the future ( small stickers are a good seal). If it is wet, you need to make a decision whether you want to go to the extent of digging out and replacing the wet foam, or doing a quick repair, it looks like you have a major repair with the new crack so another isn't that much more work.

Good Luck

Cheers for the reply.

Yeah the board was supposed to have had "the odd small chip repaired" I'm not fussed about that part, I shopped with my eyes closed so it's only down to me.

I've stuffed some paper towel into the gap but my feeling is that if it is wet it's not very. The core I can touch by hand feels dry and the board has been laid up in my office, which is dry and hot, the last month drying out, though it has only been a day since I took a knife to it.

I think I will cut back the expanding foam later and see what more I can see. Seems to be prudent if I have to cut more open to facilitate a repair I should do this as much as possible on the expanded foam previous repair.

cheers,

Dan

Wish me luck, I have a knife, a board laid out on a slab, and I am fueled up on a pub lunch and ready to perform surgery. Off to scrub up.

Dan