C4 Waterman Bruddah 9'6" long cracks on top decking

[Tonyo]

I purchased a C4 Waterman 9'6" Bruddah standup paddleboard. I've used it only 6 times and have surfed on it only 3 times. The last time I surfed I was heading back out in the whitewash and the board got pushed up onto my knee as I went to kneel down to get past the small wave. When my knee hit the board it made a loud popping sound and I looked down and saw a large hole where my knee had hit. It did not feel like a large force of impact as I had no pain in my knee. Immediately went ashore to prevent any water entering the board. When I inspected it, other than the hole from my knee, I could see cracks running along the wood grain at the top of the rail and the fiberglass weave was visible along areas of the top of the rail on both sides of the board. These long cracks I suspect had been forming previously and the medium impact from my knee was just what finally cracked it. Has anyone experienced this and is this a defect of the board construction? Or are these boards that fragile? Previously I also noticed the board had started to indent where I usually stand. I only weigh 150lbs so this also seemed unusual. Properly fixing it would require addressing the long cracks and not just the hole from my knee. Need advice.

[addapost]

I had similar damage happen for no good reason to the wood deck of my Surf Tech Generator. A friend had similar damage to his wood decked Naish Mana, again, with no real impact cause. I heard directly from a dealer that the dirty little secret of wood decked boards is that they were prone to failure like this. That was 2 years ago, maybe they've fixed the issue? I don't know but I will no longer buy wood decked boards.

[Sup-position]

Take it to the Dealer you purchased it from and have them inspect it.
If it looks like a warranty issue they should be able to help you with it.

Ralph
Sup-position
Huntington Beach, California, USA
(714) 899-3020

[raf]

Straight grained veneers aren't going to be very strong, although they may look nice.  Basically its unidirectional cloth.  I suspect manufacturers feel they can go lighter on the cloth too when they incorporate wood veneer.  The boards using Australian pine (Starboard, Coreban, Focus, etc) seem tougher than the ones using straight grained exotics.  Bummer about the board.

[anonsurfer]

I have a wood layer board and it does seem to be more prone to dings and cracks.  Nothing a little (or a lot) of epoxy resin doesn't fix.  Doesn't always look pretty but its waterproof. 

The wood layer also makes repairs a bit more of a pain.  I don't even bother trying to repaint to match the wood grain.   

[JimK]

I second SUP-Position looks warrantiable
If you cut out the wood you can use wood putty filler to give a like wood finish

JimK

[Tonyo]

Thank you all for the replies. I've since removed more of the decking and found more cracks along the wood grain. I did not know these wood veneer boards were so fragile....especially for the cost. I just started fixing it which is a fairly big job in order to do it right. I just want to get back out on the water so I decided not to deal with the hassle of explaining and attempting to bring it to the shop I bought it from. I've noticed that any crack will propagate along the grain if it's not properly fixed. I'll be placing several layers of fiberglass cloth along pretty much the entire top part of the rail on both sides. I wonder if I should just glass the entire top deck??
I don't what to fix the cracked areas just to have more in weaker areas.

[Bean]

I wonder if I should just glass the entire top deck?

That would add a lot of weight and possibly even add stress fractures down the road.  The wood deck patch is great for adding stiffness but focuses stress risers where it meets the rails.  I would reinforce the top rails only.

.

[Tonyo]

UPDATE 2:
I have since begun removing the traction pad. I removd the area where I usually stand. I discovered 2 things:
1. There is a visible gap in the wood laminate (see photo) where they just epoxied over during construction. I don't know if this is common practice but I lost some respect for C4. For $1400 I expect better construction. Maybe they figured no one would notice since it's under the traction pad.
2.  Long cracks are forming down the centerline of the board. (See photo)
Photo 1 - zoomed out
Photo 2 a zoomed in to right of centerline of board where gap in wood laminate is.
Photo 3 - centerline of board where stress lines and crack is forming.

[Bean]

The area that was epoxied over is probably cosmetic, not great, but not the end of the world.  If the cracks running down the middle are more than just on the surface, they need to be repaired properly.  Adding an additional patch over the entire deck area is not going to do it.  Keep in mind that the deck is sandwich construction and you have at least three layers that might need to be addressed. Inner glass, wood core and outer glass.  There may even be a PVC core layer underneath. At the very least, the cracks need to be dished out so you end up with a strong beveled joint. The sanding process will help you determine how deep you need to go. 

[Tonyo]

The area that was epoxied over is probably cosmetic, not great, but not the end of the world.  If the cracks running down the middle are more than just on the surface, they need to be repaired properly.  Adding an additional patch over the entire deck area is not going to do it.  Keep in mind that the deck is sandwich construction and you have at least three layers that might need to be addressed. Inner glass, wood core and outer glass.  There may even be a PVC core layer underneath. At the very least, the cracks need to be dished out so you end up with a strong beveled joint. The sanding process will help you determine how deep you need to go.

thanks for the reply. Check out the deck compression. How would you suggest fixing this and is this common? I think it compressed to a point where it started stressing the centerline and edges close the the rail where long cracks formed or began exposing wood and fiberglass.  See photos

[PDLSFR]

Tonyo was there no option at a warrantee return?

Looks like you have the repair well under control but that's a huge task to take on for something I would have brought back to the shop I purchased it from. We pay too much money for defects and poor quality.

[Bean]

Tony, those are pretty deep but not uncommon.  I would repair the cracks but probably live with the depressions. 

[Dwight (DW)]

I saw the same thing in the first batch of PSH wood skinned production boards. My buddies board. He had a layer of glass put over it, but it didn't stopped the deck skinning. He split the bamboo deck wide open, two places.

I'd sand off as much of the hot coat layer as possible. Then do 6oz carbon over the deck in the heavy foot traffic zone. The rule of thumb with carbon is one layer 6oz is equal to 2 layer 6oz E glass for deck reinforcement. So you save a little weight using a carbon patch. Maybe do a second smaller patch at the split.

Then hide the carbon with the deck pad.

Don't bother trying to fill the sinking. It would just add more weight.

[alap]

my starboard fish 9'8" that i bought seven years ago had developed those heel impressions in just few sessions.
those drove me nuts.
the way the starboard handled this drove me nuts even more!

but after those developed they stopped growing. after like 10 sessions they remained the same.
three years down the road I sold it, the guy who bought it said: wow, 3 years, it looks brand new to me!

so everything is relative...

to starboard's excuse, seven years back it was the first board of the generation... they were learning, I was paying...
but to hear it now is kinda strange.
but C4 is known for it "quality"

keeping in mind you also developing cracks, and yu already stripped it, I'll follow DW's advice...