MINT 1986 Tournament, but need to repair the transom!

[RobLeslie]

Hi All,
I'm new to this site and also a new GW owner. I have an otherwise mint condition 86' tournament that is perfect in every way except the creaking/flexing transom. There are no soft spots or any damage otherwise.

I'm an engineer by background and pretty handy so am planning to do the repair myself (in the event that I can come up with a solution that lasts 2 seasons it would be a success! Also I'm not planning on going offshore fishing, just running around the waters surrounding Annapolis.)

I'm wondering if anyone has direct experience with a tournament transom repair. It seems impossible to do it from the inside, so it would either be a cut out the back repair OR dig the rotted wood out from the top and do Sea Cast.

 

[seasick]

What kind of engineer were you?
I am also an engineer but can't recall what the word 'MINT' means from a structural engineering point of view

There are many videos on transom repair on the web. The job can be quite complex and in most cases, the outer skin of the transom has to be removed. Although sometimes a repair can be made form the inside, those are rare. Since the inside is often bonded to the stringers or the deck has to be cut back to access the interior transom structure.