Discovered a small amount of spongy deck on my Gcat 5.7 a while back, it was small and not near any crossbeams or chain plates so I didn't worry. Now it looks like it has spread a little bit. I will probably have the repair done professionally but would like to know what I am dealing with. Are they foam core? They feel different than spongy Hobie decks. If I do it myself, which is unlikely, how about cutting a square through the top layer, replacing or drying the core and then glassing the square back on. I have done injection method on a 16 years ago but felt like it was just buying time and I really like this boat and they are tough to find so I want to do it right.

what year is your gcat?
where is the soft spots?

I couldn't tell you the exact year. 85 maybe? The spot is on one hull a little forward of the rear beam and extends forward maybe 8 inches. The deck edges are solid, just the middle is soft.

Is there an ID number on the transom? that is where you can find the year of manufactor (usually the last digits)
The reason I asked the year was I was going to ask a GCat expert what construction method / material was used at that time

Thanks, I'll check tonight.

just to be clear, it's the VIN stamped on the back of the Starboard hull (usually)

It's an 86. Thanks for the help. if he happens to be a Gcat repair expert he may have a new customer

Hans G (the manufacture of G-cat) said "No Foam Construction. Core Mat and 10oz cloth and polyester"

I am fairly certain he is not interested in doing any repairs on boats (he's in his mid 70's, runs a non profit (http://www.morningstarfishermen.org/), and is out of the boat building business,

but I know others who may be interested if your in the tampa/Dunedin area



Edited by MN3 on Jul 01, 2016 - 09:52 AM.

Thank you, very helpful, I figured Hans was done with the boat biz.

I guess Core Mat delamination can be handled similar to other types of core delamination.

There are some good glass guys in my area but no one knows anything about beachcats, I guess fiberglass is fiberglass.

I am in the Big Bend of Florida but sail off the Causeway a few times a year, if there was someone who was super familiar with Gcats I would make the trip but I think I'll just let the guys up here do it.

Its all Commercial fishing boats up here and the guys tend to over do everything, I guess there are worse problems to have.

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There are some good glass guys in my area but no one knows anything about beachcats, I guess fiberglass is fiberglass.

Yes and no. I am not a glass pro but I know there are lots of subtleties to beach cats. power boats don't care about weight and can pour on all the epoxy/glass they want. Cats are very weight sensitive and you don't want someone adding extra un-needed weight. I don't see this job as needing steel plates and 100's of pounds of glass but .... I would search for someone who knows about sailing boats before I used just any "glass" guy


Not the same but.... I used a "navy" welder to fix my cracked hobie18 rear beam and to weld a hairline crack on my rudder castings. the guy did so much damage to my boat I wanted to kill the *!cker

He sanded off the rivets that held the plug inside (where the beam bolts go), he broke the casting at the crack, and welded it back on crooked, and he welded an alum plate on the casting (no idea why). the alum plate had un-sanded corners that could cut your leg off (slight exaggeration,but you get the idea) that was so crazy unsafe that a local welder saw it on the beach and told me to bring him that part tonight and he would sand it and make it safe for free

the point of this was: find a qualified person, not just any glass guy...