A tired hull rarely needs replacing — it needs understanding. Most of what looks like terminal damage is a surface story hiding a structural one, and a good restoration reads both before any grinder touches the laminate.
1. Assessment before action
Every restoration starts dry and slow. We sound the hull for delamination, map crazing and stress cracks, and check for moisture ingress in the core. The goal is to separate cosmetic gelcoat damage from structural laminate damage — because they are completely different repairs, and confusing them is how a quick fix becomes a recurring failure.
2. Structural laminate repair
Where the glass itself is compromised, we grind back to sound material on a wide bevel — never a steep one — so the new laminate bonds across a large surface. Layers of glass are wetted out and built up to restore the original schedule, with each ply keyed to the last. Done properly, the repaired section is as strong as, or stronger than, the surrounding hull.
- Tapered scarf: a long, shallow bevel spreads load and avoids a hard edge that telegraphs through the finish.
- Correct resin: matched to the original layup so the repair flexes with the hull, not against it.
- Full cure: rushed cures are weak cures. Temperature and time are not negotiable.
Gelcoat is the finish. Laminate is the boat. Fix them in the right order.
3. Fairing
With the structure sound, the surface is faired back to the original contour. This is patient work — fillers applied, blocked back, re-applied — until a straight edge and a trained eye agree the curve is true. Skip it and the gelcoat will reveal every low spot the moment it catches the light.
4. Colour-matched gelcoat
Matching gelcoat to a weathered hull is part chemistry, part craft. We tint to the aged colour, not the original spec, because a factory-fresh patch on a sun-faded hull stands out as badly as the damage did. The gelcoat is applied, allowed to cure, and then cut back through progressively finer grades.
5. Buffing and final finish
The last stage brings the repair and the surrounding hull to a single, continuous gloss — compounding, polishing and a protective finish so the join disappears. When it's right, you can run a hand across the line and not feel where the old hull ends and the repair begins.
That invisibility is the whole point. A restoration shouldn't announce itself — it should simply let the vessel go back to work looking like nothing ever happened.