Nasty looking crack in GRP/Fibre near keel bolts.

[sausage]

Ive added a picture of something I found whilst inspecting a yacht I was very keen to buy.

It is a long crack in the fibreglass near the keel bolts on a 1991 Bavaria Lagoon 390.

I will be getting a survey if after an initial inspection from a boat yard suggest this is nothing to worry about. Otherwise the owner will need to have this repaired.

Does anyone have any experience of such problems and is it something I need to worry about?
Thanks
Mark

[Talbot]

A big crack like that near the keelbolt would suggest to me that the previous owner ran her aground rather hard.

If it was me I would be walking away!

[Sandero]

It's hard to see how deep this is. It might just be the top layer of mat which "cracked off" and might only be that shallow.

GRP does flex and this could be result of some sort of impact. Is there any evidence of more than that or is it completely localized?

[gonesail]

now that you know about it .. you will have to worry about it. as stated: cracks near keel not looking good.

[sausage]

Mmm, I did wonder if it would be a top layer peeling off. The broker is having someone from a boat yard look at it as a first appraisal, and then depending on the result of that it will be a survey or a run away. What ever repairs are going to be done will be at the owners cost pre-sale.

The owner reported to the broker that there were "No incidents". However he did say this when he first approached the broker and before I spotted the crack. Maybe he will now change his story.

I couldnt see any other areas of problems, hot the exterior of the hull looked llike it had had a coat of paint in recent times.

[DeepFrz]

There could be a lot more damage than is visible to the eye. It would only be made visible by using ultrasound. I would think a rather expensive procedure. Do Bavaria's have any history of keel problems? Try googling "bavaria keel problems" and the like.

[DeepFrz]

http://team.sailing.hu/Press_Release...l_20050527.pdf

Interesting press release here.

[Sandero]

I can't tell much from the photo. Is it the forward bolts? the aft? Is the boat out of the water? What kind of keel is it? How many bolts are there?
How thick is the lay up at the keel? What sort of reinforcements are there?

[sausage]

Hi, thanks, I remember hearing about the Bav keel issues, although not worried about the Bav keel issues as this yacht was from an earlier time when Bavs were built to Lloyds A1 certification. The problem boats were much later when Bav went into high volume production. They are very different boats from the earlier ones.

As for the questions:

It is the forward bolts.
There are 6 bolts in total.
It is a fin keel.
The boat is out of the water, but about 1,500 miles away from me.
I dont know the answers to the other questions.