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Silicone on Fibreglass Gelcoat

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  • #1

    Silicone on Fibreglass Gelcoat

    I have an old laser dinghy.
    It has some tiny hairline stress fractures on the hull near the centreboard slot.
    They may be superficial. The boat is worth nothing. I want to squeeze a few more months of life out of it. Can I spread a tiny squirt of silicone sealant on the affected area to prevent water ingress to the fibreglass or is silicone sealant a no-no with fibreglass gelcoat?
    The gelcoat itself is old and faded.

    I am sure this is not the 'correct' way to do the repair but I just want to know if silicone on gelcoat is a definitly 'bad' for any particular reason?
    Thanks
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  • #2
    Re: Silicone on Fibreglass Gelcoat

    I had the same problem on my laser, a 1984 model. Don't waste your time with silicone sealant, it wont last in a marine environment. A quick way to seal the cracks is to use a two part epoxy glue (the stuff that set's in 5 minutes) Just mix it and squeeze it into the cracks. When it dries, you can sand it smooth.
    I did this in 1987 to mine, and then a couple years ago wetsanded and polished the entire hull, and even though the repair was still holding, I decided to properly repair it with colour matched gelcoat. When new my hull weighed 128 pounds, and it is still the same, so no water has soaked into the glass.
    Good luck with your repair, keep a can of VB nearby if you get stuck.

    Glenn
    Keep your mast up and your rudder wet !!

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    • #3
      Re: Silicone on Fibreglass Gelcoat

      If its a fiberglass gel coat a better solution would be Evercoat's Gel Coat Scratch Patch. Its made spider cracks and small scratches. They also make gel paste and gel coat along with all the mixing dyes. You may even beable to try Spectrum Color. They make most gelcoats for boat mfgs and can order from them as well and its a factory matched color. Im not sure on what year they go back to.

      Boaters world sells most all the evercoat stuff. if you can find it there, just google evercoat. There is a marine link at the top which takes you to there marine side of stuff.

      Nick

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      • #4
        Re: Silicone on Fibreglass Gelcoat

        Thanks for the suggestions guys.
        I always keep a can of VB nearby incase of emergency.
        I live down under but I actually learned to sail many moons ago on my uncle's laser on Vancouver harbour.
        Cheers

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