hey everyone, as some of you know im redoing a 22 velocity at the moment. i started tearing the boat down and am getting ready to start hull repair on the boat. there is a spot on the right side of the boat, and it appears the boat slammed into a piling. its not bad damage, but its deffinitely needs attention. its about the size of a soccer ball, and the glass is soft here, and by that i mean flex/s, and theres a U shape in the gel coat.

how should i go about repairing this, there are no cracks on the outside of the glass, or frayed fibers, im assuming its a thinly glassed area from the regal molds and was easily succeptable to damage.now since theres no holes in the glass, or actual fractured fibers, do i really need to remove this section of glass for repair, or would it be possible to repair it from the inside of the boat? the gel coat will be easy to fix, but this

Pixs would help.

Cut it back to good glass all the way around. Then start grinding to get your 12/1 pitch-bevel. Example, if your glass is a 1/4" thick you should taper/bevel your edges back 3". Not an expert on this however been on a project myself that has involved simular work. I've seen repairs from the inside as well as the out. In my case I am doing them from the outside. As long as your area is realatively flat I would find some good heavy cardboard/plastic board and lay wax paper over it and fit it up as tight to the inside of the hull as possible. You can tape around it, prop it. What ever you need to do to keep it in place. After ground as mentioned above you can start cutting layers of glass to fit the shape. I notice some start out the size of the hole and end up to the size of the out edge of the bevel and others do just the opposite. Glassdave among others seem to use 1708 matt. It is pretty easy to work with starting with the chopped side down first. Each layer you apply will be a little larger than that of the other. Your final layer I would use a thin piece of chopped for sanding/leveling purposes. Find a marine grade filler/bondo and start blocking and priming. I was going to have a shop do my project however glad I am doing it myself. I wish it wasn't as big of a job as what it turned out to be however I have been pretty particular. The straighter you can keep your glass/resin the less filler and epox primer you'll need. Less chances of cracking. The areas I am repairing changing I am going to reinforce the inside as well. In your case you would do the same thing by at the very least after pulling off your cardboard/plastic/plexi or what ever it is you use on the inside just glass a couple of layers on the inside going well beyond the repaired area. Hopefully that area is pretty easy to get at. Will make your job that much easier.

There are a ton of new products out there including west systems etc. when you get online and do a repair search. I just tended to stick with what my boat was made of at the time it was built. Regular old resin. Some of the new epoxies claim to have much more strength but... All depends I guess what you want to do. Many of the sites that sell the product will show some videos as well as youtube. It's really much easier than you'd think. regardless. Get back to good fiberglass. Just use a saber saw, sawzall or what ever works for you.

You'll learn a great deal by reading also. Your internet searches will be helpful. Glassdave always helps also and will give advice also. As mentioned above try and post a pic. There are several different methods to repairing however you just have to stick with one that you feel is right and stick with it. It's fun once you get into it and will be wanting to build your woman kitchen bowls, etc after your done. LOL I've worked a little with it in the past however nothing to this level and am having fun and it's turning out great. 6 mo ago I would have said I was out of my mind for taking on such task and take it to the pros. But... Plus several people said I couldn't do the deck mods and thought I was crazy. Had to be something when I grew up...

Good luck,