repairing vortice xp ( carbon ) boards?

[redhanded]

i kinda busted up my xp today during a downwind run.  i fell off and my paddle got between me and the board.  it cause a chip in the upper rail, which upon further inspection, i saw a crack in the carbon.  the crack itself is maybe about a inch long.  any ideas on how to fix it?  i dont care how it looks, just as long as its water tight and strong.

i was thinking about sanding down the gel coat and removing all paint chips around the crack, then sanding down the carbon a little.  then finish it up with some little peices of fiberglass cloth and some resin.  but before i do that, ill wait to hear some comments first.  thanks!

[steamroller]

the XP is the hollow one right?...ill tell you this...fix it GOOD...my dads hollow one-man canoe broke in half out at sea after a 1 inch crack from a paddle nick spread and grew over the course of about a half hour while he was trying to make it back in...he ended up swimming a mile.

[redhanded]

thanks for the response.  yes it is hollow.  upon further inspection and removal of some of the paint, i found out that it is not a crack, but rather its "soft spots" on the carbon.  i dont know if this makes sense, but there are certain areas where you can push down with your finger and you can feel the soft areas.  what i think happened is that, when i fell, i might have pushed this soft area past the paints breaking and chipping point.

sucks to hear your guys experience, atleast everyone was safe!  i would hate for my board to take on water and find myself swimming.  not good.

so today, i sanded down and removed all of the chip paint areas and applied epoxy and some fiber to reenforce those areas.  so far so good, but damn the board looks ugly now!!!  atleast now i have a reason to repaint it.  which brings me up to another question.  is there certain paint i have to use?  im thinking i should be using gel coat type paint, but since the board has already been sprayed, i was thinking i could sand it down and use automotive paint with additives to make the paint flex with the board.  im experienced with painting cars ( 10 years ) so i atleast know the process.  im just not familiar with surfboards.....if there is a difference.  thanks!

[greatdane]

Hey Redhanded,  Just to commiserate, I have fallen twice now on my Vortice epoxy board and both times cracked the top rail with my hip bone!  Ouch.  Super fragile.  Good luck fixing the carbon.  Your biggest worry will probably be keeping it water tight, I wouldn't worry too much about it snapping in half... just keep an eye on your repair to make sure the crack doesn't start to run.

[redhanded]

ouch!  to your body and your board.  i finished the resin and fiber fix.  not very pretty but it seems to do the job.  im am 100% sure its water tight and ive pressed down very firmly and now the soft spots are gone.  everything looks and feels sound, so im gonna do a run tomorow and see what happens.

thanks!

[snappyhead]

would the same type of fix apply to a Composite F16 board ? Im guessing it would ? I have a similar problem but a  1 inch 'only skin' crack . What type of expoxy would you suggest ? and where would you suggest finding it ? thanks for any help
B

[redhanded]

well i used the quikfix uv eopoxy repair.  for hair line cracks i would sand down and remove all loose paint, and then add a light layer of epozy resin and let it sit in the sun to cure.  i fixed my 10'0" c4 epoxu board that had chips and fractures that way.  a few months later of hard abuse, and it held up fine!  i didnt even sand it down.  raw finish, lol

[Mahana]

Redhanded- I like the idea of using car paint - 2 stage with flex additive in the clear.
There used to be a guy around here that had his boat done that way and when people said "nice paint job, too bad it will chip" he'd throw a rock at his own boat and tell them "show me the chip". So there are good products out there, I just wish I had a name for you.

[Dwight (DW)]

I think they can add the flex additive to any car paint. It's added whenever they paint plastic body panels.

At least that's what I recall from my garage body shop days almost 30 years ago.