Gelcoat cracks?

[bjames]

There are different degrees of gel coat cracks ( I will try to find the website that had a technical write up on this).

First level is when the gel coat cracks due to flex but the crack does not penetrate to the fiberglass, this can be described as crazing. This determined to be purely cosmetic.

Send level is when the crack penetrates through the gel and slightly into the fiberglass. This level should be repaired as there is a potential it may get worse over time.

Third level is a structural fiberglass crack (sometimes developed from the inside out). These are considered structural failure and needs immediate action. This is where you test how good the lifetime hull warranty is.

I have also seen sonewhere that suggests that due to a change in materials used for the gel coat (changed to environmental freindly materials), most major boat mfgs were experiencing lot of crazing, that may or may not have been caused by environmental conditions (especially up north). I heard they have improved the process since 2008 or so. I can confirm this, so take it as hear say