Dragon 65 shipping water

[richcrew]

Sailed today in gusty conditions, standard keel A+ sails, well heeled on some occasions! and did porpoise . The rudder began to have have little authority, but eventually got home, the hull had shipped  at least a cupful of water. The rudder servo twitching and the radio stopped working (but now dried out and appears Ok)

I am fairly sure it did not leak  in around deck fittings or hatches., it was suggested that there is a problem around the keel box.  A crack opening up whilst the keel is trying to level the boat upright. My previous 65 had a similar problem, did not manage to fix it. Is this a common fault with early 65's ? 

I intend to strip out the internals and try to epoxy resin around box area , any thoughts

Thanks

Richard

 

[tiggy_cat]

Once the hull on the 65/95 cracks  ( usually just in front of the black keel support on the bottom of the hull) they can be a devil to repair  properly. In the long term, you might be better to buy one of the spare hulls and transfer the parts over. That is what I did when I got one of these cracks in the 95. Almost impossible to see unless you put pressure on the hull.

 

[Richard98]

Unfortunately Tiggy Cat is right. The hull material does not allow reliable bonding; even when thorough prep is carried out.

However one of the many great things about the DF boats is their price and I have seen new hulls for sale very reasonably after owners have "traded up" to coloured ones. By far the best solution.  PS don't even consider silicone; that will ensure that a permanent repair can never be done.

Richard

[John Sharman]

Create a patch to cover the hull to keel box joint out of book cover laminate this should cover the cracked area then put some Captain Tolleys creeping crack cure into the hull this should keep you on the water and the water out.