Gelcoat question

vjlax18 · 11-08-2009, 01:41 PM

I spent a few minutes searching but didn't really find much.

I'm looking at an 88 Stinger and there are 2 concerns that I have. There are spider cracks on the hull and there are also chunks of gelcoat missing on the bottom of the hull from the fins that run the length of the hull. You can see the yellow fiberglass showing from the missing spots. The current owner seems to think it's not a problem and he ran it for a while like this.

The boat is a good price and I'm looking at jumping on it, but I'm concerned about those issues. Any advice on the chunks missing?

TIA

glassdave · 11-08-2009, 08:45 PM

stress cracks are pretty common in older stingers usually from deck flex and lighter layups. I had a fair amount in the 85 260 Stinger i had and it was only a cosmetic issue. The bigger Stingers, 31 and above, had some structural issues with stringers. Be safe and get a survey. My 260 was one of the funnest boats i ever had, tons of bang for the buck. Solid boat and pretty roomy for a 26. Loved that boat.