2021 CS23 Spider Cracking GelCoat/Fiberglass

[tedconverse]

Well, my boat is 2 years old and has spider cracking in the fiberglass by the tower assembly. It was repaired under warranty last fall, and has come back this summer. Anyone else have this issue? Or any advice to deal with this issue. Obviously Cobalt is not going to give me a new boat, but this can't be a normal thing. Will be taking to my dealer to take pictures this week.

[dsthomas]

Well, my boat is 2 years old and has spider cracking in the fiberglass by the tower assembly. It was repaired under warranty last fall, and has come back this summer. Anyone else have this issue? Or any advice to deal with this issue. Obviously Cobalt is not going to give me a new boat, but this can't be a normal thing. Will be taking to my dealer to take pictures this week.

I've had same issue. Mine haven't come back but were just repaired this spring. This gentleman also had an issue on his boat as well. Both of us were still in warranty period. The shop that repaired my cracks said that they removed the gelcoat down to the fiberglass, because if they don't then the cracks come back. I'm nervous to see if I get new ones or if the old ones re-emerge. Something is obviously causing the problem. My dealer is hesitant to give a reason except to say that it happens from time to time. This is my fourth cobalt and I've never had this issue.

Both of ours were near the gas tank opening and we had them on both port and starboard side of the boat.

Here is a link to the thread.

viewtopic.php?t=7099

[GhostWhisperer]

Our CS22 had a series of hairline cracks at the tower base and bow cleats. Repaired by our dealer last Spring, and they are back again this Spring. Told they were superficial at the time. Not laying the boat up again in season esp. if the warranty is out. Dealer was quick to recognize them but slow on details so it appears to be a known thing.

[dsthomas]

It will be interesting to see if mine comeback next spring. That would be my last year of warranty... if they do Maybe I have them fixed and get a new boat??? Problem is there are no guarantees my next boat won't have them.

[Matts19]

I had cracking under the tower on both sides as well as a crack under the rubrail and from one of the places the side of the swim platform attaches on our 2022 CS23. I noticed them all during the first wash and I was told they resulted from not perfectly fastening the hardware and/or drilling holes and not from flexing or stress. All were fixed under warranty and have not reappeared.

I also had an issue with the fiberglass delaminating, bending, and cracking where the strut for the engine hatch mounts in the engine bay. I am on my second fix for this in a year and so far so good, although the tech added a side bracket for extra support during the second fix so I think it could withstand quite a bit of abuse at this point.

I have a great dealer and they went above and beyond to get this taken care of, but, while I consider the spider cracks pretty normal, I was not anticipating having the issue with the hatch strut mount and hope this isn't widespread.

[dsthomas]

I had cracking under the tower on both sides as well as a crack under the rubrail and from one of the places the side of the swim platform attaches on our 2022 CS23. I noticed them all during the first wash and I was told they resulted from not perfectly fastening the hardware and/or drilling holes and not from flexing or stress. All were fixed under warranty and have not reappeared.

I also had an issue with the fiberglass delaminating, bending, and cracking where the strut for the engine hatch mounts in the engine bay. I am on my second fix for this in a year and so far so good, although the tech added a side bracket for extra support during the second fix so I think it could withstand quite a bit of abuse at this point.

I have a great dealer and they went above and beyond to get this taken care of, but, while I consider the spider cracks pretty normal, I was not anticipating having the issue with the hatch strut mount and hope this isn't widespread.

Thanks for the info... My dealer is pretty good as well and the place they had me take my boat too seemed to really know their stuff regarding gelcoat repair etc... I'm hoping I've seen the last of it. If I have another one come up I'm going to call cobalt and tell them I think my tower wasn't installed properly. Someone posted on here they think my tower flexing is causing the issue and that possibly it wasn't installed properly. I think my dealer might think that too because they suggested installing anti-sway bars on my tower which they did as a warranty item. They didn't say that had anything to do with the fiber glass they just said they've had complaints about towers shaking. We noticed that the tower shared be we had never mentioned anything about that to them. So I thought it was interesting that they added those anti-sway bars without me asking for them.