Fiberglass cracking - BRAND NEW R4 Surf 2023

[brandboat23]

Looking for feedback/advice on how to proceed regarding (fiberglass failure on the (port) rear side of gunwale) of my brand new 2023 R4 Surf from the dealer and manufacture?

Custom ordered a brand new 2023 R4 Surf arrived on Thursday 6/29/2023 and 7 days after delivery 7/6/2023 the rear (port) side upper gunwale Fiberglass below the non-slip step started cracking. Boat sits on a lift and no impact damage. Did a test, and when stand on the non-slip step and boat is sitting in water, you can hear a popping/crunch noise right where the spider webbing cracks are.

What causes this in a brand new boat? Air pocket/soft spot? Based on my research this most likely is a manufacture defect or design failure.
Can something like this be repaired? If repaired with gel coat products, will cracks come back?
Does the entire upper gunwale of the fiberglass have to be replaced?
Given custom order, should manufacture replace the entire boat?

Any advice feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[dsthomas]

Any advice feedback would be greatly appreciated.

So no advice per se but maybe you'll take comfort in what I have to say.

So we ordered custom from the factory same as you our 2022 R8 surf and had two spider cracks our first season. What is very interesting to me is that mine were in the exact same area! I had one by the fuel cap and the other was same spot on the port side just for of where the water fill would be. Dealer suspects it was from either a bad batch of gelcoat or perhaps our tower shaking too much. They put some anti sway bars on the tower so we will see. I noticed the 2023's come with the sway bars already installed. But doesn't sound like you've had your's on the water long enough for that to have been related so I think I can rule out the tower shaking.

Good news is that it was repaired and the shop that did it made it so you can't even tell, it looks perfect! They took it all the way down to the fiberglass, said every thing looked fine. Cobalt warrantied it no questions asked.

Bad news is that no one can tell me what the exact cause was just lots of speculation. I'm just hoping more don't pop up, it's disconcerting not knowing the cause of it. It's very interesting that we both had them in the same spot. I'll be interested to see if you get another one on the other side like I did. Mine looked just like that. I wish I still had the pic. I have two more years of warranty so I guess we will se how it goes. I haven't had any other issues with gel coat so far...

Other than that we absolutely have loved our boat!!!

[Big Block Power]

Yea no worries they will fix it. I would think it's a air pocket of some sort. Or yes maybe a bum spot in the mold they probably have 4 of the same molds they reuse 1 could have a bad spot. Through warranty claims they will find that out and fix the mold of that's what it is.

[brandboat23]

thanks for feedback and this weekend now starboard side is starting to crack in same spot between (vent & gas fill), see photo

[jhnmdahl]

Mistakes like this are mostly cosmetic and do happen, but it's disappointing to see boats like these make it past the ladies doing final inspection (assuming they're still there?) at Cobalt. Not a DIY fix, but not a hard fix for the dealer to take care of most places either. Please do keep us posted on the resolution.

[dustinm]

Mistakes like this are mostly cosmetic and do happen, but it's disappointing to see boats like these make it past the ladies doing final inspection (assuming they're still there?) at Cobalt. Not a DIY fix, but not a hard fix for the dealer to take care of most places either. Please do keep us posted on the resolution.

Those ladies are not there anymore. Our boat was sent to us with a 10" long horizontal windshield defect right in the passenger line of sight. Made everyone that sat in that seat sea sick. Our dealer replaced and now nothing is in alignment and the pass-thru windshield will hardly function.

[sailor55330]

I had spider cracks 3 times in my 2016 on the swim step. The first 2 times they fixed under warranty, the last time was less than 30 days out of warranty and Cobalt wouldn't touch it. Don't wait.

[dsthomas]

I had spider cracks 3 times in my 2016 on the swim step. The first 2 times they fixed under warranty, the last time was less than 30 days out of warranty and Cobalt wouldn't touch it. Don't wait.

I'm curious, so we had a few spider cracks that were repaired under warranty just last spring. The shop that did it did a great job. Have you had others pop up since? Just wondering if I should sell mine after the warranty runs out. I don't want to have to keep fixing spider cracks every year. Mine haven't come back but they were just repaired this spring.

[billk2632]

Gelcoat cracks come in 3 flavors:
1. Cracks around a corner or radius or a void between the gelcoat and the fiberglass layup. Usually in a new boat and once fixed they don't come back.
2. Cracks from an impact - looks like a spider with cracks running outward from the impact. Again a once and done fix. Well, until there is another impact!
3. Cracks from structural movement. Something in the structure (bulkhead, insufficient backing around cleats, towers etc). You can fix these, but they will likely come back unless the underlying issue is fixed.

#1 and #2 are purely cosmetic.
#3 is caused is not just cosmetic, there is a structure "thing" causing them.

I think these cracks are #3 and almost certainly from lateral movement of the tower -- I imagine there is tremendous load where the tower is fixed to the gunwale. I don't see how the backing plates are big enough -- I bet if you get in there and look you will see the cracking is at the edges of the backing plates. If this was my new boat, I would be pushing hard for Cobalt to address the underlying issue, otherwise you will be forever dealing with gelcoat cracking. I don't think it would ever cause a major structural problem, but something you would always see on a very expensive and beautiful boat. Unacceptable in my opinion.

[dsthomas]

Thank you for your response. I'll address this with my dealer and see what they say. I may just have to talk directly to cobalt.

I'm afraid they may come back and say they used the same backing plates they did on every other boat. Hopefully enough people will complain and they will do the right thing!

[billk2632]

Well in that case, maybe something is wrong with the tower installation on your boat, boats are basically built by hand, so something could be slightly different on yours -- either way I don't think that cracking is cosmetic and the underlying problem should be addressed. Otherwise I think the cracks will come back.

[dsthomas]

I appreciate the info. Im sure Ill have to fight for a resolution. Just want to be ready for what ever excuses may be given.

[billk2632]

I would give your dealer/Cobalt a chance. My Cobalt is 9yrs old and I bought it from an individual, so I am far out of warranty and would have no expectation of help form Cobalt - they wouldn't even help when I needed to replace a piece of my carpet. My dealer (I keep the boat at a dealer/marina where the original owner bought it) IS very helpful and accommodating - at a price of course. You on the other hand have a boat still under warranty and have bought (from your signature) 3 other Cobalts, not old cheap ones I might add - I would hope and expect they would try to take care of you.

[dsthomas]

I would give your dealer/Cobalt a chance. My Cobalt is 9yrs old and I bought it from an individual, so I am far out of warranty and would have no expectation of help form Cobalt - they wouldn't even help when I needed to replace a piece of my carpet. My dealer (I keep the boat at a dealer/marina where the original owner bought it) IS very helpful and accommodating - at a price of course. You on the other hand have a boat still under warranty and have bought (from your signature) 3 other Cobalts, not old cheap ones I might add - I would hope and expect they would try to take care of you.

I agree. My dealer has been very good to me and I to them as you could tell. The last major issue I had was with our 2016 A25, it was in warranty and we had a wiring problem. Well the bill for the problem was somewhere between $5-6K (I can't recall exact number). Cobalt came back saying they wouldn't cover it because of the factory installed speaker amplifier (JL audio) was, they thought, the initial cause of the problem and they told me to call JL audio. My dealer felt bad about it and gave me the name of someone over at cobalt to call. I called and he took care of it. That person is since retired and that was before the sale to Bu. So while I'm cautiously optimistic I know I'm going to have to make some phone calls. Just nervous that with new owner ship they may not be as accommodating. I'll keep you guys updated.

[H2OYo]

I realize this thread is a bit dated but ironically my still 'new' 2022 Cobalt R4 has also shown spider web cracking and oddly enough, it's in the same spot as the others. Port side just aft of the gas tank access. Boat sits in dry covered storage and has not been impacted. Truly shocking to see this from Cobalt. I was/am a former Supra owner and never had a single problem with it's quality in 11 years of ownership (21V Launch). Thankfully, my dealer assured me that my warranty covers me on this but still, a $180,000 boat should not have these types of issues (and it's not my first with this boat).

1988 Supra Mariah (sold)
2000 Chris Craft 308 Express Cruiser (sold)
2009 Supra Launch 21V (sold)
2022 Cobalt R4