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Here's an alternative. You could use risers with u-bolts, instead of welding. If there's room you might even be able to build the v-bunks right now in addition to the bunks that are already there, then remove the old ones. Use stainless steel u-bolts though. My trailer is built that way! I like the fact it's fully adjustable. If it was me I'd fix the trailer first.

Corsair II wrote:What would be your recommended sequence of repairs?....

See my earlier post on page 2 and like Doug said do it first,

Sum

Here are the pics on the boat.

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Oohhh! You weren't exagerating when you said it was cracked!

Well, those bunks are definetely in the wrong place! The good news is; Looks like the cracks are not near the ballast tank. You might be able to see the cracks from the inside through the access panels in the aft berth. With luck, you might even be able to do the inside repair through those access hatches, though you also might have to cut the openings larger to work in there. Another bit of good news is that whatever you do will be under the aft berth cushions. The liner is bonded to the hull and I think that area is also. You might be able to play off that, get more support/bracing from the underside of the liner.

Great looking trailer, by the way. I'd modify the trailer first. You can use bolt on risers just like mine, easy! Looks like you need to cut down or cut off those welded on risers that are there, they look too high. But if you go with the welded on method, part of those can likely still be used. The cross members are in a nice vee already, I think you could set yours up just like mine!

Once you get the trailer right, hopefully the shape will comeback somewhat, you might have to use some wood bracing inside, glass it in, it likely will end up stronger than original. Once the shape is back, and it's done properly inside, it's just cosmetic outside, nothing some FG and gel coat can't fix.

I hate to say it, but looking at your straps, those are some big honkers, don't need em that big! Those are for heavy freight on a truck. And where they are positioned... Those strap winch handles are very powerful ones, you can easily way overtighten them. Kinda looks like that's what you did. Add all the water weight you mentioned inside, a bumpy road, bunks all wrong, and well...

Once you get this fixed, use some lighter straps. You only need to snug it up enough so the boat can't bounce around on the trailer. Once you get to your destination take them off. Even with relatively light pressure, if left on the boat all the time you can put impressions in the rub rail too.

Be careful, don't get ripped off, I think $5-7K is way too much! This can be fixed for a whole lot less!

Step #1 get the trailer setup correctly. Once that's done, the pressure will be relieved from that area, the shape may come back, things might not look so bad. This can be fixed!

You could not crack that hull by overtightening those straps as shown, imho. If the hull did fail this way, it was already compromised by damage. I really suspect the boat bounced on that trailer and thats what cracked it. This could have been years ago, and the final cracking could have taken place afterwards.

It can definitely be fixed, the problem will be to find the place who wont "quote to make you go away', if you know what I mean.

Catigale wrote:You could not crack that hull by overtightening those straps as shown, imho. If the hull did fail this way, it was already compromised by damage. I really suspect the boat bounced on that trailer and thats what cracked it. This could have been years ago, and the final cracking could have taken place afterwards.

It can definitely be fixed, the problem will be to find the place who wont "quote to make you go away', if you know what I mean.

I definitely agree. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I was looking over the boat before I bought it, I noticed the improper bunk positioning (too high) and the indented hull, and was told that it was like that when he bought it, etc. Looking back, I think that it had already been compromised and was a matter of time til this happened. I have one more place that's giving me a quote. This place was recommended by a local marina and is known for quality work but good prices. I should hear something by Sat. If that's bad news again, then I will probably try to tackle it myself.

Step #1 get the trailer setup correctly. Once that's done, the pressure will be relieved from that area, the shape may come back, things might not look so bad. This can be fixed!

Doug,
On your trailer, does the water ballast / lower extremity of the hull rest on the v-bunks? I've noticed on other Mac26 pics that the boat appears to ride really low on the trialer and yet, the bottom of my hull is airborne with all of the weight on the bunks.

The strongest structure is the bottom where the water ballast tank is. that is where the boat should be supported on the trailer. above the water ballast tanks the hull gets a lot thinner and not very strong.

the damage looks very repairable. I would start by supporting the hull fwd and aft of where the damage is to relieve any pressure on that area. if you support the hull in a V configuration in two locations you should not have any issues. The hull should get back to a shape close to original. cut out all of the damaged glass and tapper the edges around the hull. Then glass over the hole in layers until it is as thick or thicker than original. In a structure repair like that I would us Epoxy resin. that area of the hull is not that critical so a perfect repair is not that necessary.

I would not strap the aft of the boat down. I just put a safety chain on the bow besides the strap. the boat is not going to jump off.

Looks like a fun project wish I was closer I would help.

Corsair, the lowest part of the hull on my boat does rest firmly in the v-bunks, which go all the way to the very bottom, and I have it setup to ride as low as possible. In fact, my boat only sits about 2 inches higher than the original factory trailer.

I agree with what Grady said, but I wouldn't be too quick to "cut out all of the damaged glass ". Once the boat is supported properly, work on getting the original shape back. Once that's done, you may be able to remove only the loose broken pieces. The cloth may not be broken through entirely inside, in which case it can still be used. You can always lay some cloth over the damaged area inside to strengthen it. In addition you may be able to install some glassed in wood bracing inside to make it even stronger. On the outside, once all the loose stuff is removed, flare the edges as Grady suggested, fill, gel coat, buff & wax. I'd rather do it this way than have to fix a big long gaping hole! I also think the repair can be done to look almost unnoticeable. Especially if you end up paying a shop to do it, I'd expect it to look real good! Another good thing is that you may be able to hide much of the repair with a new boot stripe.

Oh, one more thing. A note on safety. I may be overly cautious, but I use a safety chain at the winch to the bow eye. I also put two straps on my boat, one over the bow, through the pulpit, and another one at the stern. But I only just snug them up, not too tight! And I never leave them on the boat. In my much younger life, I used to work at a boat dealership. I did a lot of repairs. I remember one boat that came in that flipped off the trailer and rolled down a hill. The guy was going too fast around a freeway exit loop, no straps. Another guy I knew personally, he worked at the dealer too. Made the 6 o'clock news twice. Two times he dropped customer boats on the freeway, no straps or safety chain. You may have see pictures of boats that rammed into the tow vehicle as the result of a collision. Straps/tie downs can help to prevent these things from happening. Those kinds of things have stuck with me for years, that's why I'm maybe too cautious. But it really doesn't take that much more time to put on straps, but not too tight!

Keep us posted on what you do, that boat deserves to be fixed, and it certainly can be! I'll be looking forward to seeing it sitting on that trailer properly, along with some pics of you out sailing it!




http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d64/d ... /?start=80

What is that wavy pattern visible in the pictures of the boat bottom? Are those cracks, or just patterns in the bottom paint?

You definitely need to re-support the boat on the trailer to properly carry the weight, like these guys have mentioned.

I also agree that the damage is definitely repairable, and it's not that hard. Definitely use epoxy resin and not polyester; and if possible, fiberglass some thin plywood or something into the repair on the inside of the hull for strength.

What is that wavy pattern visible in the pictures of the boat bottom? Are those cracks, or just patterns in the bottom paint?

It's just the patterns of a former paint job.

Crikey you certainly weren't kidding about the cracks but looking at the ridiculous trailer that someone has put under it, it had to happen.
Whether you make bunks like Dougs or just go back to an original design of support is irrelevent but that needs to be done first and either way will work.
As for the fibreglass repairs I would hate to have to do it on my boat but it really doesn't look too hard and repairing the trailer including getting the boat off and on will possibly be harder.
We put an extra bunk between the existing two rear ones because we do a lot of road miles and we also modified the front support with a roller.
That trailer has me absolutely gobsmacked WHY?????

Speaking of cracked, did anybody see the sorry little MacM on eBay?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-Mac ... ZSailboats