Cheetah Cracks found

[chipgibbs]

Fellow Cheetah owners, I have found some cracks in the hull I thought I'd share & ask if anyone else
has had this problem. The cracks are behind two of the sponson steps/ notches on the same side of the hull. The boat has been flipped but. I've never hit anything. The build is not old, maiden was at Thanksgiving. Nothing has ever come off in a flip. One side of a motor mount came un-glued once...

I'm not sure how I'm going to repair this as the battery trays are not going to come out easily. I can get a strip of Carbon fiber cloth into the corner along the inside of the crack.

20130127_130213.jpg

Check the bottom of your boat

Chip

[Cooper]

Just flip it back over, you'll never see it!!! Ha, I feel the pain, I have had things like this happen too. That looks like its not just a hairline crack. Hate to say but if mine and it were a structural crack compromising the hull I think the only way to do it right would be to remove those pack trays and reglass/reinforce. Post some pics of the inside. The sudden stop of a boat crashing can put some serious stress on mounts ,corners, seams ect. In my opinion I've tried the easier fixes but have always ended up having to do what I didn't want to to the first time, probably best to fix it right the first time than having to do it again.

[keithbradley]

Chip:

Is it possible that the lipo tray actually caused the crack? If it's mounted right there, it's possible that the weight of the lipo in a crash tried to rip the hull apart...perhaps on more than one occasion. That energy will go somewhere...the trick is to spread it out across a large area and not give it a focal point as it may have had here.

[chipgibbs]

Very possible Keith. The Battery tray is still solid. Not sure what'll happen if I try to yank it out. Still no visible damage to the inside, I checked with bright light and large magnifier. Do you think adding a 2" strip of CF along the corner is enough? I could do it on both sides of the hull without too much trouble.

Chip

[keithbradley]

Very possible Keith. The Battery tray is still solid. Not sure what'll happen if I try to yank it out. Still no visible damage to the inside, I checked with bright light and large magnifier. Do you think adding a 2" strip of CF along the corner is enough? I could do it on both sides of the hull without too much trouble.

Chip

I would sand it (perhaps even grind it) well where it is cracked on the inside and use multiple layers on CF cloth. On the outside I would probably just smooth it out with epoxy and filler.

[chipgibbs]

Keith,
I've sent you a pm on your site.

Thanks for the help

Chip