gelcoat cracks around rudder

[robert12]

why is there cracks in the gelcoat on my 1997 malibu around the rudder?? they were there when i got the boat a couple of years agao and havent seem to get any worst but im not sure,they dont seem very deep just the gell SHOULD I WORRY???

[BuFootin]

I'd bet money the the rudder impacted something pretty hard below the surface. It happened to me with my 91 Malibu Skier. I hit a log with the rudder and it caused some spider web cracks in the gelcoat, but no damage to the rudder or steering.

[BillFooter]

Yeah, either impact or lots of power slides.

[BlastRlxi]

Yeah, either impact or lots of power slides.

Not necessarily. I had cracks on my new Rlxi back in 2005 that were fixed under warranty. There was never any impact at all. The dealer told me that it can be caused by too much gelcoat sprayed in this area where there are some hard edges. He said it isn't an uncommon problem and is cosmetic. I wanted to make sure it got fixed because I knew when I sell it some day, a potential buyer would think that I had impacted something and they would be hesitant to buy it.

[onamission]

Yeah, either impact or lots of power slides.

Not necessarily. I had cracks on my new Rlxi back in 2005 that were fixed under warranty. There was never any impact at all. The dealer told me that it can be caused by too much gelcoat sprayed in this area where there are some hard edges. He said it isn't an uncommon problem and is cosmetic. I wanted to make sure it got fixed because I knew when I sell it some day, a potential buyer would think that I had impacted something and they would be hesitant to buy it.

Must of been a problem at the Tenn. plant in 05, both mine and the neighbors had the same cracks around where the rudder is recessed.