Delamination station

[Glass lizard]

I ground down the gelcoat to investigate some cracks down the center of the transom to learn that the whole transom is showing signs of delamonation on the outside going from the top flange all the way down below the waterline to near the prop. The transom is super thick on my contessa 26 (nearly an inch) and it only apears to be on the outer few layers of glass that is probably the original shell from the mould. Is it better to paste a few layers of glass overtop and pretend i didnt see anything or grind it out and do a proper lay up

[Glass lizard]

Heres a photo. About 3 inches either side of the seam

[Matt Johnson]

The hull was most like built in two halves and joined at the centerline when pulled from each half mold. It's pretty common for boats of that time to be built this way.

I can't tell from the photos, but I would grind down and retape the pieces together. I'm sure it's still fine on the inside, it's just this outer layer that had issue - and hopefully just the transom. Two layers of 8" and 6" of 1708 should be good.

[tkeithlu]

I 99% agree with Matt. My only concern would be if the delamination you found is actually damage from the rudder striking something at speed. Do check on the inside to be sure.

It doesn't look like damage - I would expect to see fractures at the lower gudgeon.

[Spot]

Hi Lizard,
This might be a good questions for a Contessa forum, seems like year/company of manufacture may play into this. Maybe knock on the door or search there if no one is home:

The Contessa Corner