ILCA Laser Gelcoat Repairs (Complete Guide)

Got some cracks or chips in your Laser (ILCA) which you want to repair? In this video, I walk you through Laser gelcoat repairs step-by-step to get your boat looking as good as new.
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[@paulgush]

7:15 a second reason to tape over the repair is that gel coat curing is air inhibited, meaning you need some way to keep O2 out to make it set. Sometimes thats done by adding wax to the resin that floats to the top as it cures. Another way to do it is to put tape or plastic over the repair. In places whrer ther is significant compound curvature, like the mast strep, i think its better to use epoxy putty

[@davidmcgavin3784]

Thanks Dan, easy to follow video

[@chrigdichein]

very well explained, thanks

[@stephentubby7689]

Nice Dan thanks a informative video

[@danselfsailing]

Thanks for watching!

[@ILCALaserSailor]

Great video Dan, keep them coming! @ilcalasersailor

[@danselfsailing]

Thanks! Your videos are a big inspiration :)

[@ILCALaserSailor]

@@danselfsailing I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity. Please let me know if I can help at all.

[@toshinaritakayanagi]

Thank you very much Dan for the very informative video. My Laser is old and its deck color is ivory (made 1982), and I do not find the ivory gelcoat available from Laser dealers. If I buy white gelcoat for Laser/ILCA, can I add pigments to modulate color to ivory? Thank you very much in advance. Tosih

[@danselfsailing]

Hi Toshi, thanks for watching! Yes, using a pigment in white gel coat will definitely be the best way to color match. Note that the gelcoat might change color after drying, so best to do a couple of experiment first!

[@toshinaritakayanagi]

@@danselfsailing Thank you very much, Dan!

[@alixbarks]

More accurate to say that gelcoat is a pigmented polyester resin. It is not a paint. It is designed to cure inside a mold, absent oxygen. It does not flow out to smooth finish like paints are designed to do. Which is why we use something to exclude air from gelcoat repairs, e.g. cello-tape over small chip repairs.

[@danselfsailing]

Thanks for the comment!

[@mikkoxs]

How much gel coat would I need to gel coat a whole boat?

[@danselfsailing]

Not really sure as I've never tried to do that. Probably a couple of kgs I imagine. A 100ml tin gets you quite far. What are you trying to do?

[@mikkoxs]

@@danselfsailing I’m trying to repaint the whole boat but i’m not sure what I should do.

[@danselfsailing]

@@mikkoxs I would avoid repainting the whole hull - it's going to make it significantly heavier and be a very hard job without professional tools (gel coat spray gun, proper workspace with no dust etc). Here's a good guide on completely revamping the hull. www.schrothfiberglass.com/GelcoatRepairPrimer.htm

[@mikkoxs]

@@danselfsailing thank you I appreciate that. Do you think painting the boat would be a good idea?

[@danselfsailing]

@@mikkoxs Depends on your goals. For racing/competition, definitely not - painting is going to increase the weight of the boat massively. Just for recreational use, it should work well - I've heard of others doing this with good results.

[@emilienfrancois286]

"You can't see that"It was 25.9grams not 26

[@danselfsailing]

Caught me!