Pro Boat Repair

#1

I am new to this forum so I hope there are a few of you out there who can help me.

I live in the Austin, Tx. area and I have recently (2 years) started running the river racing circuit using a Jensen 18. I run Tandem and we have developed enough that we are looking for another faster boat. We are pushing the Jensen past it’s designed hull speed and need to move up.

I am considering ourchasing a kevlar 21’ pro boat. The guy who wants to sell it bought it for the Texas Water Safari and then never followed through. Whoever he bought it from applied some type of black brush/roll on material to the hull that resembles tar but has hardened. The hull needs repair from two gashes so getting the black stuff off is essential. The black stuff also adds a lot of weight.

Currently the boat weighs 45 to 50 pounds and I believe if I can get the stuff off it will lighten the boat by 5 to 10 pounds. There are places where the stuff appears to be flaking. This may be a good thing. Any ideas?

Second, the kevlar appears to be brittle and dried out in some places. My fear is that the boat was outside and received UV damage. Do any of you know if another layer of kevlar could be epoxied to the exterior and if it would bond properly? The boat is a good deal at $400 (I think) and another $400 to $600 it could be an outstanding river racer. Any help on where I could get good info on Kevlar repair/boat building. I’m striking out on the internet.

Thanks, Dan

#2

before
you buy a 21 footer safari boat make sure you can race it in the areas you woud be willing to go race in. A 21 footer is not sanctioned by the USCA so would not be permitted to race in any USCA race. It would be a heck of of thing if your partner and you show up and are not allowed to compete in a race you just drove 1000 miles for.

Charlie

#3

Unknown proportions of black stuff
Depending on how much silica the person used in the epoxy-silica-graphite mix, it could be really tough and time-consuming to sand off.



I put such a mix on the bow and stern ends of my keel on a S&G but I didn’t use a lot of silica. Somebody on www.kayakforum.com’s Building section had commented how difficult it was to sand down (he did it for smoothing purposes).