[C38] Cracks by Stem Fitting

Fri Sep 6 19:30:48 EDT 2013

I once hit a 4by4 sign on the highway at a high rate of speed in a Corvette (long story)
anyway all that broke was the paint . Fiberglass often expands and contracts at a different rate than 
paint so if the stern has been painted I would suspect the cracks are superficial.

Paul
Impulse

----- Original Message -----
From: littlebreeze at comcast.net
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 10:56:26 AM
Subject: Re: [C38] Cracks by Stem Fitting

Ray, can you send photos to the email addresses of the guys who responded to your post. Don't sent them to the list serve. 

Kerry 
Littlebreeze, 139 

Sent from the San Francisco Bay, home of the 2013 Catalina 38 Nationals. 

----- Reply message ----- 
From: "Ray Torok" <torok13731 at gmail.com> 
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org> 
Subject: [C38] Cracks by Stem Fitting 
Date: Fri, Sep 6, 2013 09:52 

Chuck. Ha! You're one of those glass-is-half-full guys. I hope you're right. Thanks again. 

Ray 
Thira #37 
San Francisco 

On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 9:41 AM, Charles Finn < charles at finn.ws > wrote: 

Ray, 
It actually is quite common for the gelcoat to crack with no structural problems. Gelcoat is very brittle, while laid up glass has a much greater modulus of elasticity (one of reasons it works so well in boatbuilding). 

Chuck Finn 
Mighty Quinn #114 
Great Lakes 

On 9/6/2013 12:35 PM, Ray Torok wrote: 

Thanks Chuck, 

I see no evidence of cracking inside the hull, so there is hope. However, it's hard to understand how the glass up there can move enough to crack on the outside, without the crack extending into the glass. You're right. I need to get out the grinder. 

On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 9:30 AM, Charles Finn < charles at finn.ws > wrote: 

Ray, 
Obviously there is more to this as you just did some kind of repair for some reason. The best way to find if there is a problem is to discover whether the cracks are superficial or structural. Take a small grinder, mototool, or even a screw driver and gouge the gelcoat out of the cracks. IF the crack does not extend into the glass, you fix the gelcoat and call it a day. IF the crack extends into the glass, then you have a structural repair which will require you to first cut out and then rebuild. Here is hoping this is superficial! 

Chuck Finn 
Mighty Quinn #114 
Great Lakes 

On 9/6/2013 12:21 PM, Ray Torok wrote: 

Hi Steve, 

I have a backstay tensioner, but it's only on when we're sailing. When the boat's at the dock, the backstay is left on just enough to keep the headstay from flopping around. 

Latest theory is that when I replaced the two bolts that anchor the stem fitting to the deck (a few weeks ago), there was enough slop in the bolt holes that when the headstay was tensioned, the fiberglass in the deck was loaded in compression until the stem fitting moved back just a little to where the two bolts and the stainless stem fitting picked up the load again. If that's what happened, the cracking in the fiberglass shouldn't get any worse. Does that sound believable? 

Thanks, 

Ray 

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 10:48 PM, Steve Smolinske < SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com > wrote: 

Ray, 

Do you have a backstay tensioner that is left on? 

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org ] On Behalf Of Ray Torok 
Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2013 5:56 PM 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve 
Subject: [C38] Cracks by Stem Fitting 

Esteemed C38 Gurus: 

Hoping you can help advise on my latest old boat issue. 

I have some cracks showing up (and growing) on the outside of the hull in the few inches between the ends of the toe rails and the headstay stem fitting. The cracks are horizontal and about 3 inches long. On one side the crack is about 1 inch below the deck. On the other it is right at the edge of the deck. 

It appears that the headstay load is pulling the bow upward, and the last few inches of the bow doesn't have the toe rail and bolted hull-to-deck joint of the rest of the boat, so it's bending a bit and the fiberglass is cracking. On the inside, the heavy stainless backing plate for the strap running down the stem also stops several inches short of the bow, and that may be a contributing factor. 

I'm wondering if this is a problem with the early boats (mine is hull #37) that they fixed at some point. Any thoughts on known or proposed fixes would be appreciated. 

Thanks much, 

Ray Torok 

THIRA 

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