Transom crack on tomcat

[nookiechinookie]

My wife and recently had a C-Dory 24 TomCat surveyed which had some damage on the transom. The surveyor said it was not structural because he could slip a knife (without resistance) into the crack about 1 inch. I assume the transom is wood core on this vessel. I see no reason to not believe the surveyor, but wanted to know if anyone viewing this blog has heard of this problem or has an opinion about it? It will likely cost a few bucks to get the crack sealed. As of now it doesn't look like there is rot, although it is pretty tough to tell. The crack is located about 1 inch below the top of the transom by each motor.





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[drjohn71a]

Considering the location and orientation, I would say that if it is not structural, it should have been structural in that area. Dr. Bob probably knows more about this, but that looks to me like a place that ought to be cut out wide and beefed up, re-cored, and glassed.

Of course, an experienced, certified surveyor who was actually there looking at the crack in person would know alot more than I do!

I guess the main concern would be how long has water been able to get into that crack and how much of the transom plywood was damaged.

John

[RJD Wannabe]

Sure looks like too much force/torque at the motor mount than could be handled. I would assume this is a warranty issue. Who mounted the motors, and was is done properly?? Looks like all the force hit and rammed the lower part of the crack forward (or could be backwards). Seems to be either a major design or mounting flaw on such a new boat. Are mounting plates often used to spread out force??

[drjohn71a]

I think Dr. Bob of Thataway found inadequate forward support of the transom at the hull junction was causing similar cracks in this area. Check out his examination of his CD 25 and photos.

John

[thataway]

Although the CD and Tom Cat are very different boats, the princlples and the time frame are about the same. There are photos in the Thataway album which document what we found.

I don't think it is too much torque or over sized engines. The top section of the hull and the bottom of the hull are joined at the hull to deck joint which comes at this area of the transom. We found that the top of the transom, and the joint was not glassed together, and there was both large amounts of filler there, and a void. We filled the void with glass, and wrapped several layers of 12 oz biaxial cloth around the transom to rebuild this hull to deck joint. The boat is now better than new. It is not a difficult repair--But DO NOT just fill the crack. Grind it open--I suspect that you will find the same things we found. A good glass person using epoxy and biaxial cloth should be able to repair this in a few days, and the cost would be in the $1500 to $2000 range. You would want to do the entire transom. In our case, there was also less plywood in the transom than we would have expected. The design was to take the load to the spalsh well. We added several more layers of glass and epoxy. Epoxy gives a much stronger secondary bond than poly ester. (I drilled thru the spash well, where we had re-enforced it when I put in the davit--and it is now well over 3/8" solid glass--plenty of beef. )

I would not say it is a deal killer, but try and get the factory to stand the cost to repair if the boat is less than 5 years old. I suspect a defect in the manufacture process.

[nookiechinookie]

Thanks for all the input. We talked with the C-Dory folks and they basically echoed what thataway said. I looked at Bob's photos of his rebuild job and will likely do somthing very simular.

[BrentB]

Did you purchase this boat?
If not or no longer interested, can you post the price and location for other interested folks?

[nookiechinookie]

Yes we bought the boat! Very excited. C-Dory offered to help with the repair.