There was a 382 that suffered a complete hull deck failure at a Chicago poker run a few years ago. There's some pics out there somewhere, I'll see if I can find them. If you have had to tighten your rub rail, and you have not pulled off the entire rail to take a look, I think you should. Both our boats could have had the rubrail screws tightened and all would appear fine. It's not until the rail is completely removed that you can judge the condition. I also have zero stress cracking, and the hull feels rock solid all the way down the side.

Being that we all boat in some snotty water, I would hate to discover a failed joint on a big water trip across the lake. It takes about 10 minutes to pull the rail and inspect, and the repair is straight forward and we'll within the scope of a good DIY.

Hell, it's winter, I don't have anything else to do anyway

The amount of Plex used on the grid is way different than the hull deck. I put a inspection camera up the middle drain plug to check just that. I inspected all the way to the fuel tank bulkhead. It looked like gallons of plexus was used. It was oozing out everywhere. Everywhere you can see the grid even from the cabin floors it seemed ample amounts.
This is not a tough fix! No paint work.

The boat you are talking about was the one with the paint job with the flames on it. I think it was called Lil Devil or Red Devil of something. It did not blow apart. That same guy's bother had a Fountain that he cracked the hull pretty bad on also. I talked to those guys at the Nor-tech both at the Miami show and they were bragging how they beat the $hit out of there boats. There was also an MTI in that Porker Run that busted the bottom up pretty bad. It turned into a big debate about who makes a better boat, MTI or Skater. Both outstanding boats. I have a friend who runs a Cig really hard and has come in with his rub rail sticking out about 2-3 ins from his boat on each side about half way down the side of the boat. Not saying anything bad about Cig, He runs his boat hard in really ruff water. I would think that running 380s on my boat would put more stress on the hull and deck than one with 280s and again I have not had and problem. Any boat can be broken if you run it hard enough in ruff enough water. Just because the rub rail screws come a 1/4 of a turn loose doesn't not mean your boat is going to blow apart. I think one of you guys said that this happened in 2005. Do you still own your boats, if so why ? Again Im not trying to start a big debate here. I have seen a lot of post that you guys have put up and there is no doubt in my mine that you are good guys that are truly concerned about the safety of others, but I don't feel that there are many 382s out there with this problem. Just my 2 cents worth. Thank you

I think maybe you're misinterpreting this thread, and the concern. This isn't a bash thread, and it really doesn't make these boats POSs. It's just a known issue that should be payed attention to.

I know many other boats broke that weekend too.

I've been in the car game a long time, and almost every great car has a few little issues that we watch out for and fix. Doesn't make them any less of a car, nothing is perfect.

Given the high volume of failure we are seeing, this is a common problem. My point is even though the rail looks fine, the joint below may not be. I also don't see how the screws could ever come loose if the joint is 100% stable, as it should be with a proper plexus bond.

The biggest surprise to me was seeing boats with TIGHT rubrail screws and no visible signs of this failure have such significant separation in the joint.

This is my boat, perfectly tight screws and no signs of failure

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So your saying a "screw", not a bolt that has a nut on it, should never come loose. I give up.

As Turbo-man mentioned, I am also lucky enough to be joining the club. I removed a section of my rub rail, and found my deck / hull joint cracked from the windshield forward for approx. 36". I also found that my thru hull bolted connections only occur every 72" or so (not the 18" Formula advertises). My boat is a 1999 and has approx. 560 hours on it. I am glad Artie talked me into looking at mine, because my boat displayed no signs, rub rail was straight, no flex, etc.

Sure glad I don't own one of you guys boats. Good luck

Have you actually looked at yours?

How can a screw driven through super-special-never-gonna-fail adhesive in a joint that is supposedly one piece come loose? Screws come loose due to movement in a joint. The screws and nails in my house don't randomly fall out...