74 tournament skier wood rot

Here is a pic of my 79'. I think that was the last year for this model. It is a Curt Gowdy jump classic boat with blue metal flake strips and sides. When I paint it this winter I think I'm going with the red,white and blue, but am not sure yet.

 

Daniel,

I don't know the last year. I would guess either 79 or 80.

jim

 

Thanks for the pics and info. I just tore out all the floors, strigers and found that the stringers were made out of cedar so I went to the local lumber yard and purchased some new clear 2x6 cedar boards and some 3/4 marine plywood, I know some of you guys said to use different wood for the stringers but I figured since every peace of wood for the floors would be cut and assembled then removed and treated with CPES before moping them in with fiberglass they would definately last as long if not longer than they already have. I also found some weakneses with the original design. The front foot well has no way of draining any water that gets in, to the bildge. I believe this to be the main contributing factor to most of the floor rot. As the vertical plywood that finishes the foot well to the floor begins to rot and alow water to find it's way to the stern it is again faced with no were to go but to sit and rot whatever wood in it's way. To correct this big problem I cut two half moons out of the bottom of the new wertical foot well board, to alow water in the foot well to find it's way along the centre stringer through two more half moons cut out of the vertical plywood in the bildge. I also added two ventalation holes at the top of the foot well board. I think this should eliminate any future rot problems, I will also take a lot more care in fiberglassing the floor and srtingers than was taken at the factory. These boats would last forever if they used treated wood from the start!
Does anyone know what one of these boats weighs?

 

Hey 74:

From the flatsheet somewhere on the site (maybe on teh home page), hull weight is approx 895 lbs sepending on setup of coarse. 3/4 marine may be a little over the top, with the stringers, you get a pretty good support system and 1/2 would be fine (that was what was used for the decking in my boat. Also, I choose to glue the deck to the stringers with PL construction adhesive and weighted it down until it curred rather than create pathways for future rot to the stringers with a bunch of screws.

If you have already drilled the bulbheads to let the water drain and haven't placed the decking, consider running a piece of 3/4 in tibing to the bilge and seal the tubing at both ends. This was how my boat was setup in 75. When I replaced the deck in 2000 the floor was shot but the stringers and foam were fine. May have been the way it was stored (not left out in the open to the elements. If you have some time, post some pictures of your progress.

CHeers and good luck!

KEvin-

 

I think I would consider 3/8 floor glassed on both sides. You could use a double layer under the pylon mount.

I have had trouble in the past trying to bond fiberglass to cedar. I do not believe fiberglass will bond to pressure treated wood.

jim

 

The lumber yard only had marine plywood in 3/4 so I figured it couldn't hurt. I considered running two peaces of 3/4 pvc conduit from the foot well to the bildge along the centre stringer.

Aperently the CPES coated wood will bond to fiberglass like nothing else and the old fiberglass seemed to bond well to the old cedar, but I think poor attention to completly sealing the old wood with fiberglass and the many years of pounding waves contributed to cracks and fractures allowing water to get into the wood and rot it. Hopefully with some extra care and sealing the wood with CPES will make htis thing last along time.

I'll try to take some pictures of the work so far, but somehow I crack the screen on my digital camera and can't see anything through it, but I'll figure something out.

You got any other picutres of your 75 kevinb?

 

Attached are som pics of my floor repair from 2000. I didn't have to deal with stringers or foam and the rot was largly confined to the rear deck section (where the skiers and water come into the boat). Have to excuse the beer bottle, a lot of measuring and thinking involved and the WI ale helps to solve the discrepencies. I had two blocks of what appeared to be very dense wood that was glassed over to anchor the pylon "L" brackets into and they were in great shape also.

I used 1/2 inch marine grade (pricy sh!t) and did as Jim suggests, coated the deck with a couple of coats of thinned resin (with acetone as I recall), prior to laying up in the boat. Used the old pieces as a template as shown. I also glassed in a couple galvanized plates under the deck where the engine cover tie downs and riser struts are so that the would be a good bite for hardware. Didn't bother with epoxy, the boat made it 25 years before the first floor repair and figured that the added hassle and expense wasn't worth it

Be careful not to breach the balsa core. Many of these hulls are lost to the dumpster once the balsa is breached.

Kevin-

 

If you take a close look at Daniel's boat, you can see that there is no floor from just aft of the seats to the stern.

I think his step father was way ahead of us by removing that floor and adding the big tracking fins. If there is no floor, it can't rot.

If the boat has a back seat like the 17.6 and the 20, it does not need a floor under the back seat in my opinion. The floor under those back seats is a prime place for rot to start from the water brought aboard by the skiers.

On the other hand the floor generally lasts 20 to 25 years which is reasonable I guess.

Nice looking work.

What is CPES?

jim

 

Good morning Captain LeRoy.

I haven't been posting. I have been up north using the boat alot, though.

All this floor replacement stuff is bringing back a few memories...

Sadly, my finish fiberglass/paint guy died last Saturday from brain cancer. I attended his services on Tuesday. He may have taken his time about things, but he sure did nice work. They had a picture of the boat at his memorial, among other examples of his fine work. Douglas "Bo" Walsh, 60 years old, owner of Naperville Marine Fiberglass.

I may have to go help DyneBob with his projects - I miss mine. Bob seems to have plenty to do with his Hydrodyne collection growing as it is ...

MarkBano

 

Good morning Mark,

I am sorry to hear about Mr Walsh.

I hope you are having a good time up north.

Come on down to FL this winter. I have plenty to do. :wave:

jim