Gassticks

Well folks, I don't know after a fun weekend of boating I was looking over the boat,And found a cracked transom . It is about 6" long and it runs down from the top of my transom down the inside of the well. ( its a outboard) It is where the well and the transom meet. It shouldn't be to difficult to fix. Some fiberglass and a good brace with a gusset should do the job. I guess those two motors are to strong for the Boat ( HA HA). I'll post some pics soon and I'll show the repair job. BE SAFE OUT THERE!!!!!!!

Dave M

That sucks! I hope you get it fixed soon. What year is your hull?

z.zuperboat

I HOPE YOU INSTALL SOME TIE BARS.I HAD A 24 SOME YEARS BACK WITH AN 18 INCH BRACKET AND TWIN 225S. THE SECRET IS TO NOT MAKE THEM TO TIGHT OR YOU WILL HOOK THE BOTTOM.BUT JUST TIGHT ENOUGH SO THE BARS TAKE THE HIT NOT THE TRANSOM.I BET ITS FUN TO DRIVE. GOOD LUCK THE ZUPERBOAT

Pat McPherson

Sorry to here that yours cracked too Gassticks.

Big gussets and lots of glass is how mine got fixed.
Don't skimp on the glass and if your not good with glass, let someone else fix her.

I put mine right back to the test with back to back hard pounding weekends. No more visible cracks. I'm glad I let the experts do the job. If I had tried, she would have broken again.

Good Luck! Let us know how she comes out.

JMK4060

Pat,

Who did your glass work? I have encountered a number of chips below the water line on the front and back right side. Are these boats made of egg shells? I need to have a pro fill these chips.

Dave M

I'm suprised to hear of all these problems. I have heard people brag about the legendary strength of Superboat hulls. I have almost 500 hours on mine and just minor issues. I have one minor stress crack that may of been the result of hitting a dock or something. My only complaint about my hull is the way that the engine hatch is attached and supported. I think this area could be improved.

Dave M.

Gassticks

Dave,
My hull is a 1994.
Z.Zuperboat I'm not to sure about the tie bar thing , because water always sits in the well when i'm just sitting. I thought about it, but the ties will have to go through the well to tie into the stringers. How would I keep the water out? If I glass around the ties will it crack around them from the pounding? The Chesapeke gets real rough some times. I was thinking about glassing the crack and building a brace to fasten along the side of the well. I would back the brace with 2 pieces of 3/4 inch marine plywood glassed togeather and then glassed to the side of the well on the inside. then through bolted with a backing plate. Any other Ideas would be a great help!!!!!

Pat McPherson

Hi JMK,
Bruce at Castle Marina fixed my boat. He is real good at structural stuff, I'm not sure about gel-coat.
If I was you, I would just keep running the hell out of it until ice forms on the river. Then bring it back to JC to fix. You have a five or six year warranty on that baby.
Dave,
I have heard only great thing about Super boats. That is why I bought one.
When Bruce fixed the stringer in my boat, he found a void in the plywood. Told me it would not have broken otherwise. The two shelves did not have enough glass at the seam with the sides that's why it broke there. Maybe John's boys were having a bad day when they built my boat. The rest of the boat looks to be sound at this point.
I will say that I am going to put a big beefy race mount for the engine in this off season. JC says it doesn't need it, but it's getting it anyway. I don't want any more broken stringers.
Guys, I hope we are just having a little bad luck. Personally, I have broken stringers in 4 out of my last 5 boats, the one I didn't break was a 1978 28' Cigarette that weighed in at like 9000lbs. We run our boats hard and **** breaks. I'm not so sure about JMK's problem though.

SUPERSTITIOUS

I too have what appear to be minor cracks in my 01 24ft. in the corner areas where the transom and well meet. JC said they all get cracks in the jellcoat in that area? While pokeing around there I also happened to notice that the top of the transom (in the well area which on my boat is caped with a powdercoated piece of aluminum) the aluminum cap was missing a screw. I removed the aluminum cap to find that there was just raw wood. You would think that this part of the transom would be completely incapsulated in glass and jellcoat especially since it's often under water. Doesnt make much sense. I've immediately caulked it and replaced the cap. I should ask JC if this is the norm...

Gassticks

OH-Zone.
Mine too was like yours.Exposed wood . As I repair the crack I'm glassing the top of the transom.