Damage on stealth. Thoughts?

Short story. I’m an idiot. Had the stealth on a fold out table to work on it. Forgot how long it was closed garage door, flipping it up and throwing it to the ground. Luckily my motorcycle broke its fall 

At any rate take a look at these cracks. Any thoughts for repairs? I have access to the backside of it. They don’t seem to be cracked on the backside. I will be taking it to a lake later today to water test to make sure I don’t have any weird leaks at the seam where the top and bottom half’s join.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo dude!!!!! Sorry John, that totally blows. Hopefully you can crowdsource some good repair intel here.

oh, man. I really hope she's alright. If needed, i could bring you beer;  I believe that could help.

Oh damn John that sucks.  It’s an epoxy resin composite I assume you could sand and repair it like you would fiberglass, but definitely reach out to stealth and see what they say first.

Damn that sucks. Brett from Stealth actually has a seam repair video on YouTube. Hopefully the hull isn't cracked. I wonder if there is any local fiberglass guys? There is a heap on DIY videos on YouTube

ouch, sorry to hear that John.  how's the moto?

Stealth are fiberglass construction, right?

That crack under the 500 looks to go all the way through, the cracks under the black look like they are concealed (and possibly sealed) by the wrap on top.

the only way I know to fix fiberglass is to sand it down, and lay on some new material - especially for cracks like that.  punctures and dents can be handled easier, but cracks  you need bring structural integrity back - so lay down some more strips of fiberglass.

you're best bet would be to send some snaps and an explanation to Stealth - see what they recommend.  I hope I'm wrong about this.

3$J - I’ve seen, done and fixed way worse over the years.  My first glass boat got popped when I drove over the loose bow line while it was tied to the roof rack.  My current boat flew off a roof rack in Baja at 60 mph (prior owner).  Shit happens, and it sucks when it happens to you and your new Stealth.

The photos are a little hard to see for real repair planning,  but you are on the right track:

1)  Finished repair cosmetics are probably important to you (new boat), so checking with the manufacturer on color matching, materials, and procedures may be well worth your time.  If you’re DIY inclined and have some experience with finishes you can get to pretty good cosmetics in the end.  It will take patience and the right plan however.

2)  Structural inspection is important from a safe use standpoint.  Your interior inspection and leak check plans are a good start.  Some gentle “flex checking” - twist, bend the hull while watching for movement in the damaged area.  If you have no leaks and no movement, probably you are just doing cosmetics.  Hope for that.

Really sorry for your situation.  Glad to spend some time on the phone, or other private conversation if that’s helpful.  I think you PM me if you want…..

Hey John, sorry to hear about this. It all looks totally doable, repair wise.

I have reached out to the factory for their opinion and recommendation. The black area looks like it's just in the gelcoat which is a vinyl ester resin. I'll have to get the color code for the black. The green may need a full seem repair, take a look here -



The tape that runs over the seam is a 5mm glass tape made from same fibers as a glass cloth but stitched into a roll of tape. The lime green is a P525 -Lime green supplied by NCS resins systems.

You got this!

Ruben

Short story. I’m an idiot. Had the stealth on a fold out table to work on it. Forgot how long it was closed garage door, flipping it up and throwing it to the ground. Luckily my motorcycle broke its fall 

At any rate take a look at these cracks. Any thoughts for repairs? I have access to the backside of it. They don’t seem to be cracked on the backside. I will be taking it to a lake later today to water test to make sure I don’t have any weird leaks at the seam where the top and bottom half’s join.

How's the motorcycle?

Crack just makes my heart hurt

Bushy

Ouch ... if you don't have insurance on it then I'd definitely give the patch a go. Some good suggestions above. FWIW I pay $2 a month for bow-to-stern comprehensive coverage on my kayak as a scheduled item. I haven't had to make a claim, but I specifically asked whether a replacement hull would be covered if my kayak fell off the saw horses it is on and cracked. They assured me it would be covered in full for what I originally paid for it.

I watched the repair video and it looks to be pretty comprehensive.  The only suggestion I’d make is to not use a grinder when initially sanding the repair area. I’d just use a dual action sander with 100grit, and go to 80 if you need to get more aggressive.  A grinder can remove a lot more material than intended, and it’ll happen in a heartbeat lol.  The DA is a lot more forgiving and a lot easier to feather an area with. 

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! The video Ruben posted seems to be exactly what I needed. Looks very doable. I’ll collect the supplies and get on it.

The cracked paint above will just have to be cracked paint. Or I’ll just sand up to it (4 ish inches) and paint everything at the same time.

Good Luck 3$J. Sorry to hear about the mishap. Looks to be hopefully an easy fix.

Alex

It’s gonna take some elbow grease for sure… cf or fiberglass work is the same ..  TAP plastics have everything you need.  It’s gonna need fresh paint .

Sorry about the damage

I bought my Evolution with some damage in the same spot as yours at a discount, there was some repairs as well as unrepaired areas. Someone before me fixed the spot in the first picture and I repaired the other two spots with some G Flex epoxy and tint frome West Marine. I have no leakes but there are still a couple more places along the combing that could use repair for aesthetic reasons.

Seems like if you want to run a fiberglass or carbon fiber boat it's a good idea to get used to experiencing damage and being able to repair those materials.

Sweet kayak!