Stress Cracks

[marty9876]

If someone can could you please check the high res pictures and let me know if you would be concerned with the stress cracks around the chainplates? Boat is a 1996 Hunter 280

Thanks!!!

http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0316.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0317.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0318.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0319.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0320.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0321.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0322.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0323.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0324.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0325.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0326.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0327.jpg
http://jobview.com/marty/Hunter_280/IMG_0328.jpg

[ssullivan]

If you buy it, don't think it will last a lifetime. Although you can sail it for years with the cracks, they are good evidence of some pretty hefty flexing going on when she's being sailed.

[knottybuoyz]

I'd be concerned about the ones near the screw holes. They might be worth sealing up as best you can.

[George P]

The ones on the deck could be due to deck voids beneath the surface. You can check by knocking for hollow sound..if so then they can be filled and cracks may be cosmetic in nature. What does the hull look like especailly aroung the keel hull joint both from outside and from within the bilges. The bilge will tell you a lot, look for cracks there, if there are cracks there, they are not due to voids.

[marty9876]

I tapped around the desk pretty good with an all plastic screw driver, sounded solid from what I can tell. Crisp clinks and not as crisp clink sounds, no real empty thud sounding results.

I have not seen the boat out of the water yet, did not look close enough in the bilge for cracks. Look in there, ran the pump/looked at the keel bolts but just never got on my knees to check things out real close. I think I would have seen some if they were there, should have looked closer.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

they are good evidence of some pretty hefty flexing going on when she's being sailed.

Never seen a Hunter in real life, but to me that looks like a result of the design and build being just a tad too light for the use she has been put through.......I would see if you can locate some Hunter 280 owners and see what their experiances have been, would not be surprised if it was not unheard of.

Although I would expect some panel flexing on the odd small part of the deck / cabin top / cockpit, IMO should not be showing this around the chainplates.

Which then begs the questions of what to do about it (if anything), how much it would cost..........or indeed whether to go ahead with spending around USD30k.......

I suspect that the mast is not about to fall down, nor the chainplates to rip out tommorow - but the cracks are neither going to improve with age nor are they an enhancement on the original design - otherwise they would have been built with 'em from new ......and I would be concerned to know whether anything else is going on with the boat from the evident flexing of the hull.

Not knowing the market in your area, knowing nothing about Hunter 280's, having only looked at some photos on the Internet and most importantly it being gone 4.30am here!......I won't offer an opinion .......apart from to say not to rush into anything..........But 30k

[Alan Wheeler]

They are stress cracks that appear in the gelcoat due to flexing of the panel. How serious they are is not possible to judge from a photo. You need some serious expertise to come and have a look. However, even if the damage is not severe yet, it is just a "yet". I would say that hull is getting close to the end of it's use by date, which surprises me as Hunter made a very nice boat. I would suggest you either get it for a very very cheap price, or you pass on it. Repair would be major. However in saying all that, the boat will not break up in the next heavy sea. The cracks wil just get worse and you will notice this around area's that have solid immovable objects like rails and such. Repair is not impossible, but it will be tedious and expensive.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by marty9876

If someone can could you please check the high res pictures and let me know if you would be concerned with the stress cracks around the chainplates?

It looks like early onset of crazing to me which is not necessarily structural. It’s more a sign of stress to the gel coat than anything else but you’ll also see it happen after collisions and sometimes high loads... which, in addition to the fiberglass, also stress the gel coat.

Repair is still tricky as you have to grind down to and including the gel coat.

So, basically I am agreeing with Wheels.

[boris]

my concern would be that if it is flexing at such a young age that it was under built, and like lasers the more they flex the soger they get. like a aluminum can there is only so many times it will flex. Its not going to fall apart tomorow but it will not last as long as a boat with no flexing. look at the barvira that lost its keel

[jzk]

Get a survey. Sometimes this kind of cracking can just be a result of using too thick a layer of gel coat.

[Alan Wheeler]

It won't matter how thin the gelcoat was, it would still do this. I have seen this commonly on power boats that have had a hard life of pounding. The hull can flex along way at times. But it is not the flex that causes this case. It is the restriction to flex. If you take a good long look, you will see all the cracks are in area's were the movement has terminated by something more substantial. Hand rails, chain plate attachment points(it's not the chain plate itself), deck edges and so on. They are all points of transition from movement to no or much less movement. The boat won't fall apart, but the mess will increase to the point where something simply has to be done. And that stage is usually the point where a handrail tears out because the bolt hole has slogged the glass around it to the point where it fails.

[never monday]

none of them concern me

[Morgan Paul]

none of them concern me

I agree, but don't step on the crack, or you will break your mothers back.

[hellosailor]

Wheels, if the crazing was just from too thick a gel coat, would it have also cracked the non-skid areas? I was thinking the non-skid would not have cracked unless there was some impact, or at least lots of motion, more than just excess gel coat crazing.

??

Also seen cracks in J/24's, caused by commercial use with too many happy crew JUMPING into the cockpit, which wasn't designed to be hit that hard by so many feet. Might have just been gelcoat--but still showed excessively hard use.

[marty9876]

If the cracks were just by the chainplates I could understand that. The cracks in the middle/aft of the mast where the lines run under the cover plate (?not sure what to call that) have me confused. Indications of the entire deck flexing?

I'm starting to think the rig might be too tight. B&R rig, not really sure how to tell. The mast definitely has some rack in it.

Too tight of rig, causes extra load on the deck, caused stress cracks. One theory anyways. I can't image the boat was sailed hard but impossible to say I guess.