Star burst pattern in hull

[Vwal]

My husband and I are working our way into a 2001 Island Packet 420. Our surveys are completed amd most everything looks good. There was one picture of the hull which shows a starburst pattern. Any ideas what could cause this to occur and how concerning is this? Would appreciate any ideas out there. Thanks I will try to add pictures, not sure I will succeed, but will try.

cid:C38994A7-A3CA-47A5-AC5A-33407C5153B1

[GreenWave]

Where on the hull is it? This could likely be due to a small impact at that point. Is there access on the inside to inspect that area? Any signs of water incursion?

[S/V Illusion]

1. Above the WL - impact damage
2. Below the WL - lightning strike dissipation

[Vwal]

It in the ablative below the waterline

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Vwal

It in the ablative below the waterline

Ooof, that could be a lightning hit and dissipation point then. Assume you did moisture checks and throughly in that area (tapping etc)? Is the owner admiting to direct or nearby lightning strikes?

At a minimum you should assume that area needs to be ground down and repaired (new glass, paint etc). Obviously price accordingly.

[Vwal]

Thank you all for your input. No history of lightning strike that we know of or anyone is admitting to at this point in time. The surveyor did tap it out and stated no dampness or water inside the boat. Our plan, if the sale proceeds is to pull the boat onto the hard and get work done that needs to be done before heading south.
Thank you all again. As always your input is appreciated.

[vpbarkley]

Clearly your boat was involved in a cannon battle with a war ship! Sorry, no filter.

[Cheechako]

It's usually an impact point. Often it may be only the brittle gel coat cracked. In your case the bottom paint is not brittle. It seems a bit unusual for bottom paint. It would be nice to see the masthead for any carbon traces or damaged light, antenna etc.

[Huey2]

Sounds like a lightning strike which is usually around the water line. If the boat hit something it would have a point of impact. I would check the electrical out because it normally damages that also. A lightning strike would be covered by insurance also.
If it's only in one area....... it could be from a bulkhead corner not glassed to the hull correctly. Have the owner sign a paper stating his boat was never hit by lightning. Good luck!

[notiesbob]

Don't rule out incompetent cradling or jack stand compression

[zstine]

It could be caused by a lot of things like lightning, an impact, poor jack stand use... OR just the bottom paint applied wrong, like over dirt or grease.

You haven't shown us a pic, or described the size. If it is only a few inches across, it could be nothing more than a paint blemish that can be sanded out and painted. OR it could require grinding down to good glass and a somewhat significant repair.

Is there internal damage at that location? If it was a bad impact or lightning, I would expect to see some issues internally. If the electronics are okay, and the internal skin/structure looks fine, then the damage is probably not too bad... likely even 'cosmetic'. Though it needs to be fixed b/c something cosmetic can fester and become structural.

[Mike Banks]

That is an impact fracture and it is potentially a serious hull defect. It needs to be fully investigated, and if it has damaged the hull, the whole area which has flexed severely needs to be replaced. That means the edges taper-faired, and an epoxy-glass patch of as many layers as required fitted to bring it fair to the rest of the hull.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Mike Banks

That is an impact fracture and it is potentially a serious hull defect. It needs to be fully investigated, and if it has damaged the hull, the whole area which has flexed severely needs to be replaced. That means the edges taper-faired, and an epoxy-glass patch of as many layers as required fitted to bring it fair to the rest of the hull.

That's a little bit of overconfidence in diagnosis given you have nothing more than a couple sentence verbal description, don't you think? Could be, could also be a number of far less serious things.