Gel Coat Stress Cracks

W

Windy50

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Age
52
Model
Freedom 235
Gel coat stress cracks have appeared on both gunwales of my 2020 235 Freedom. They first started about two years ago, but were hardly noticeable so thought nothing of it. After this winter, I have noticed more and decided to contact GW customer service. Was told coverage for stress cracks is for the first two years and would not be covered under warranty. I guess the 5-year hull warranty does not apply to stress cracks?

GW told me there are several potential causes for stress cracks in gelcoat. Examples include:
  • Impact stress from bumping against a pylon
  • Bolt holes that are too small, causing the bolt to lift the gelcoat
  • Voids in the gelcoat
  • Excessively thick gelcoat

I am the second owner of the boat since 2021 and know of no impacts that might have caused this. Rub-rails in perfect condition. I don’t fish the boat and it is lightly used by our family. 350 hours only.
My fiberglass contact confirmed gel coat is not too thick by preliminary investigation of the worst crack.

I pushed a little harder to GW and spoke to a representative who agreed to pay for half of the cost to repair the cracks.
While I am somewhat pleased they have acknowledged the issue, I can’t help feeling a little duped.

The cracks pass through textured gel-coat which is almost impossible to replicate and there is no guarantee there will not re-appear if the boat continues to flex in these locations. This will ultimately devalue the boat and has left me a questioning why I invested extra $$ for a newer GW.

Has anybody else had these issues with a GW of this age and should I accept this as normal? Pictures below.
Thanks for any insight. 1.jpeg2.jpeg3.jpeg4.jpeg5.jpeg
 
Urgh!
That should not be like that on a 2020 boat except you slam her thru high waves with a lot of weight.
Particularly the ones on the the gunwales and impact spider cracks have a radial extension from impact point.
The other 3 explanations are more plausible, but build errors

Chris
 
Looks like over tightened fasteners.
Repair is usually to route layer of gel coat off and then fill. Non-structural.
 
My gunnel stress crack are spider cracks at point of impact on dock. Yours may be the same.

Your long stress cracks look like stress under heavy sea conditions. Flexing of the hull and weight of hardtop if you have one. Hard to tell from closeup photos.
 
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It appears, from what I can see in the pics, that most (all?) of them all stem from a screw hole. The underlying cause is improper hole pre-drilling... or no pre-drilling to start with. Unfortunately, this is more common with covid-built boats.
 
I would be continuing to push Grady to pay for the entire repair! That’s ridiculous. Except for the “bumping” all the other are manufacturing defects, too small bolts, voids, gel coat too thick. On my 2021 208 I have gel coat chipping around the cockpit floor hatch, I believe a combination of a relatively flexy deck around the hatch edge but also perhaps dropped items on the deck. I dont see any of the spider cracks and have run in some rough conditions.
 
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