Glass Fibre Repairs

   Hi all,
My girfriend has recently bought an older laser for her to learn how to single hand in, as up till now we have alsways sailed together.
However she would like to re finish the boat, now what I amw ondering is what is the best thing to do, the gelcoat is chipped.scratched in lots of places and only 50-60% (as a guess) undamaged.  If possible she would like to change the colour (women), but are we best to repair the gelcoat where damaged or snad the whole hull down and repaint with some top notch two pack paint?? or can we get the entire boat given a new gelcoat.
I have only previously owned and maintained wooden boats, so all advice is much appreciated.
Adam

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Adam MR 1137 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 10 Feb 07 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 114	Post Options Post Reply Quote Adam MR 1137 Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Glass Fibre Repairs Posted: 07 Mar 07 at 1:32pm
	Hi all, My girfriend has recently bought an older laser for her to learn how to single hand in, as up till now we have alsways sailed together. However she would like to re finish the boat, now what I amw ondering is what is the best thing to do, the gelcoat is chipped.scratched in lots of places and only 50-60% (as a guess) undamaged. If possible she would like to change the colour (women), but are we best to repair the gelcoat where damaged or snad the whole hull down and repaint with some top notch two pack paint?? or can we get the entire boat given a new gelcoat. I have only previously owned and maintained wooden boats, so all advice is much appreciated. Adam
	Merlin rocket 1137 OK 2049 Can be seen at WYC

English Dave Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 10 Aug 06 Location: Northern Ireland Online Status: Offline Posts: 682	Post Options Post Reply Quote English Dave Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Mar 07 at 2:42pm
	Re-gelcoating the entire hull is certainly not practical. It may not even be possible. GRP boats are built "outside-in", ie the GC is the first thing that goes into the mould and then everything else follows. Any old Laser is bound to have a few scrapes here and there. If you really, really want to do this, then I would ignore the scratches, repair the chips (with GC filler) then sand and paint. I don't know how durable two-pack paint is - the Laser hull tends to flex a bit. But if the damage is only cosmetic and this is your girlfriend's first Single-hand boat, I would leave well alone and think of this Laser as a stepping stone to a slighly smarter one as she progresses.
	English Dave Ballyholme Yacht Club (You'd think I'd be better at it by now) Hurricane 5.9 SX RS700

tornado435 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Posting king Joined: 05 May 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 196	Post Options Post Reply Quote tornado435 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Mar 07 at 4:11pm
	English Dave once again speaks the truth. Boats can be resprayed with Gelcoat. AW did my first tornado for me, I think he swore he would never do it again though. Added to that to keep the costs down I said I would flat it back to get it smooth. I too have sworn never to do it again. Lasers can be painted but is it really worth it??? I am in a similar situation, looking to buy a cheap laser for the girlfriend to improve with. She's already been told not to worry about how it looks and when she gets better she can have a new one.

English Dave Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 10 Aug 06 Location: Northern Ireland Online Status: Offline Posts: 682	Post Options Post Reply Quote English Dave Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Mar 07 at 4:20pm
	It may be easier to get a girlfriend with lower standards
	English Dave Ballyholme Yacht Club (You'd think I'd be better at it by now) Hurricane 5.9 SX RS700

Black no sugar Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 04 Dec 04 Location: Somewhere between Brighton and Lancing Online Status: Offline Posts: 3941	Post Options Post Reply Quote Black no sugar Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Mar 07 at 5:14pm
	Unless she bought the boat second-hand from Edinburgh Uni SC
	Lancing SC