I have a 2002 - 292 fastech purchased new in April of 2004 and have only had this boat on LOTO. While cleaning today I noticed a spider crack about 3" in dia on the vertical surface just behind the mid port side cleat. Has anyone else seen a similar type crack in this location on either side? I just thought it was odd for the gel coat to crack in this location. To a point, I was a bit alarmed because this is an area of the boat where it seems a tremendous amount of stress can occur when hitting waves and I hope the cracking isn't a result of the pounding. Don't know if it's been seen before in similar size and style of boats. Any input on this issue and a recommendation on fixing would be appreciated. Also, does Formula carry any type of warranty beyond 1 year for this type issue? I looked in the Formula Guard booklet and found only items related to mechanical component type failures such as engines, outdirves, etc.

Thanks
Aaron

Just traded in an 02 292 fastech and saw none of the above cracks/issues.
Are you sure that there hasn't been some sort of an impact in that area?

Mine is 4.0 and it has seen 80 hours of moderate to heavy use. It's a real solid boat. I concur with Slick, any chance of impact damage there?

Highly unlikely it was impacted in that area because it is not exposed. It's between the cleat and the windshield and below the snaps. You can't hardly get your fingers back in that area when cleaning. The cleat covers up 1/2 to the bottom 1/3 of the area. I've attached a pic of the general area.

Thanks
Aaron

Possibly had it docked and a large wake left it with to much weight/stress put on that cleat....I don't know, just making educated guess'es.

Aaron,

I'm stumpped. Unless the cleat somehow caused it, which would take a ton of pressure on it, I don't see why it would spider. I'd see what Formula thinks...I bet they'd want to fix it and see if they could figure out what happened. Good luck & keep us info'ed.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll be calling in the next couple of days.

I have a 2002 292 also. No cracks in 100 hours. I'm thinking leftover 2002. You purchased in 2004. A long time to sit in the dealers lot. What you have could have started on th e dealers lot! Mine was a 1 year leftover and it was supposed to be new. I got it home and found in the correct sunlight I could see where they had stuck letters on the back end that advertised their shop!! Also fould cauliflower under the step in the cuddy - customers - I think not. You just do not know. Personally I would take it to someone who works on Vettes. Fussy customers like boaters.
Good luck,
Rick