Hull Flexing?

[Jarod]

Hi All,

Was out for a vigorous sail on the wkd before last and returned to the boat this wkd and noticed the fiberglass just below the port side settee had spider cracked. It also looked like the fiberglass in this area had bowed out a bit just below both settees (i am sure it used to be at a 90 degree angle). I opened the storage under the cushions to get a better look and the plywood separation had actully pulled away on the starboard side and been pushed up hard against the fiberglass on the port side settee causing it to crack. The only reason I can see this happening is from hull flex during sailing and I wonder if I should be concerned. As I said earlier the plywood dividing the storage comparments beneath the settee has completely separated on one side and is pushing hard on the other. I have an E27 (1974)

Regards,

 

[Steve Swann]

Hmmm

Maybe this is telling you the obvious, but at the risk of doing so....

I have to think that some unnatural force is now twisting your hull out of its original shape. Have you thought about checking your rigging to make sure the rig is tensioned properly? (Maybe one side has been over-tightened.) Has the mast compression support post assembly given way? Is the boat sitting cock-eyed on a trailer? Have you recently hit the keel hard on something? I would check to see where force is being applied and correctly get the hull and bulkheads back to their original state before I would attempt any repairs, etc. It's the old, "measure twice, cut once" theory. Act carefully.

Once you find out what is causing the stress and get it eliminated, it isn't a big deal to re-tab the furniture back to the hull using proper epoxy and glassing techniques. I had observed that a lot of my furniture tabs had delaminated from the hull when I had purchased the boat so I ground away, cleaned and prepped, then re-attached all of mine while enhancing the ability of lockers to drain and breathe as well.

Steve Swann
E25 Boise ID

 

[Jarod]

the boat is sitting in the water now ...and the issue has just occurred recently...i have the boat moored near a major ferry traffic route and I know the wake from the ferry quite often hits the boat hard...but i have plenty of fenders and it never showed itself prior to this week...the boats rig may be tuned incorrectly and i will check the rigging for this...not entirely sure how much play i should have as I had the rig tuned by a rigger when the mast was first put up and i have sailed little since...in other words no adjustment since the mast was put up...if the boat is in the water and the hull has this twist in it i suppose it is safe to assume the only reason for the change would be rig tension????, I am pretty new to sailboats so no one will ever be stating the obvious when giving me advice on boats!!!

 

[Jarod]

also the compression post itself looks fine and I would think the head door would bind up if it had been bent or moved substantially??? i haven't actually taken a close look at the mast step area....also a negative on heavy impact to the keel etc...

 

[Steve Swann]

Hopefully, Others Will be Weighing In

Jarod,

I hope some more people weigh in on this for you. Other than what I posted earlier, I have no idea what else to look at. I am sure some of the site's real experts will give you a direction and some good advice. I am over my head on this one, but I do know that a rig - and over time - can really tweak a hull.

Steve Swann
Boise

 

[G Kiba]

Jarod,
I have a '73 E27 amd have tuned the rig myself with the help of friends. Can you take some pictures of the damage?

 

[Guy Stevens]

Photos please!!

Take some photos of the area, both inside and outside the boat, it might allow us to make some better SWAG, or EWAG, depending on your camp, that blindly guessing will.

Guy

 

[Loren Beach]

I copied this thread link over to a friend that used to own/restore/coastal cruise/actively race an Ericson 27 for quite a few years. His boat was quite a beauty, and thoughtfully equipped. That boat made at least one very rough offshore trip up the Washington coast; it suffered no damage.
I got back this reply:
____________________
> http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=4875&referrerid=28
> Have you any thoughts on this after being off the coast in short seas in
> your former 27?
__________
Loren: I can just picture this scenario....new owner has boat with deck
stepped mast with compression post below, maybe with some problem at one of
its ends. Some racing buddy tells him his rig is all out of whack, so he
hires a rigger to tune it up. Maybe the rigger is used to newer racing
boats requiring tighter rigs. So, he sets everything up pretty tight. Then
racer buddy says he's really got to have one of these backstay tensioners
and set it up really tight going to weather. So he does, and bends the boat
in the middle, increasing the beam and putting tension on the bulkhead tabs.
Twang.....!
My E27 didn't seem to have a problem, but that was 14 years ago.

__________________________

Just some additional thoughts to ponder while you get out the grinder, the glass, and the epoxy.

Good luck on effecting a solution.

Loren