DaySailer.org Forum

I have just purchased a DS I Hull#8133 Class# 1361. It has been sitting on a trailer in the woods, covered thank goodness since 1982 And all the rigging and sails have been garaged. Unfortunately somewhere along the way a large tree limb came down and struck the boat with such force that it drove the boat down on the trailer bunk and tore a nice 4 foot gash in the hull. To rectify this I plan to remove the port side tank, and do the standard fiberglass layup to effect the repair, then refit the tank. My only concern with ths is that a lot of the hulls structural integrity appears to come from the tank . While I have the tank removed will it do me any good to install lateral stiffening members or perhaps an additional layup of glass or 3mm marine ply to reinforce the hull from the inside? Of course if I do this I would have to match it on the starboard side, no problem as the boat is getting a full restoration anyway.

Bruce Crump (epoxybreath-at-hotmail.com)

Bruce,
Before you do this, consider if the boat will ever be used to race, by you or anyone you may want to sell it to.
If you remove the tank and replace it can very likely disqualify the boat from being class legal, reduce it's and reduce it's value considerably unless you take specific precautions. I don't know what those would be, but what you should do is contact the Day Sailer Class measurer, Eduardo Grisitte (408)779-4661 E-mail, edylucy@ibm.net

Good luck!
Bob
Houston Texas
Talk to him about your situation and explain what you want to do.