Deformation in a Kevlar hull

[sbroam]

I've got this Kevlar Explorer with some deformations in the hull. The material is stiff and not deformed inside (airex), indicating the foam is crushed in those spots. Any fixing it?

I think it does affect handling somewhat - on flat water, it does pull one way more than another. It's not overly distracting and we can still make the boat fly, but...

[ezwater]

The cost of a hull with a foam layer, contacting obstacles. Don't think you can correct when stiff foam was used. Same thing happens to the deck on my slalom boat, which is a Kevlar sandwich.

[sbroam]

From the condition of the hull, I suspect this boat hasn't hit many rocks ever (none at my hands) - no scratches or gouges. Likely had things stacked on it or was stored sitting flat on the ground (but clean). Oh, well.

[Peter K.]

My son and I fixed a similarly deformed Kevlar boat which had been damaged by having been stored on its side by placing the boat on a sandy beach, pouring hot water on the inside and the weighting the ding with a sandbag from the inside. Problem solved.

(PS. It wasn't us that stored the boat improperly. And we got it at a great price because of the ding in the hull.)

[kaz]

Try gently waving a heat gun at it. You'll know in a couple minutes whether or not the dent will come out. Just a suggestion.
Keep in mind, if it doesn't work,and makes it worse, I'm not responsible.

[sbroam]

Peter K - there is no deformation on the inside - it's outer layer deflected into the foam layer.

Kaz - I'll try that. Cautiously. I thought our SC summer would have done it spontaneously by now [BTW, that Patriot paddles sweetly, especially now that I have a good kneeling thwart in the right place and some foam glued down.]

[JimW]

I also got the heat gun tip for removing some gouges on the bottom of my slalom boat yesterday (direct from the supplier) - it looks as though the skin is still intact (some gel is going to chip for sure) and just the core has compressed.

Worth noting that the tip was specific to that make of boat, there are a lot of different core materials so it may not work for you, but must be worth a try.

[sbroam]

It's definitely something to try - going at it gradually should be low risk and certainly less invasive than the idea I had - drill, compressed air, and fill with Gorilla Glue

[JimW]

The heat gun trick worked on the dents in my iScream, just need to do some gel coat repairs now.