2005 Speedster 200 Hull

[Mbliss87]

Hello Everyone

My name is Mike. I'm pretty new to the boat owner thing as well as the forum. Last summer I purchased a 2005 Seadoo Speedster 200 with the twin supercharged rotax 185hp engines. After owning it a couple months, I noticed some poor gel coat blending under the boat when I was working on the trailer, which then made me notice the poor repairs done by a previous owner. Shortly after the boat started bringing on water so I called a buddy to take a look at it. We had the boat inspected and the hull has a tremendous amount of delamination, spider cracks, and 2 small holes that finally were through at the place of the crappy repair. I spoke with several boat repair guys and they all came back with a similar figure ranging from 15k to 20k to fix the hull.... waaaay more than shes worth. Insurance doesnt cover delamination so that option is out, and I have a note on the boat so I cant scrap it.

At this point, I'm considering finding a donor hull in good condition with no delamination. If anyone knows of one, please message me. I would like to save it if I can. Everything else is in awesome shape with regard to the rest of the boat. Otherwise, I'm at a loss.

I appreciate your guys/gals help and time!

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

if it's delaminating, you may be able to just fix it yourself. They probably didn't prep it correctly or go deep enough to remove the damaged fiberglass. These are made of standard fiberglass, no tricks to it. I'd repair it with West System 101 epoxy. It's pricey, but it's the best damn resin in the industry. I've used it to graft two different hulls together when I dropped that 185hp 4tec you've got into my 15' Seadoo Challenger boat. Very durable stuff. Fiberglass isn't hard to work with, just make sure you get all the bubbles out by dabbing them out with a brush. There is a place near my house called "Fiberglass Coatings Supply" and they color match gel coat. Might be one close to you.

 

[Mbliss87]

I may give that a try! My concern was because its essentially the whole starboard side of the boat from bow to stern. I can understand why they want soo much to repair it but at the same time, I cant pay that price. I'll check into that West System 101. The next question I have is what if I run into rotten wood? Or is there a wood core? Sorry for my ignorance on this everyone, I'm pretty new to boats as a whole.

Thanks again! I appreciate the response(s)!

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

No wood in these boats. Whole side? Yikes! That sounds like a dreadful amount of work. Maybe just fix where it's delaminating. Working upside down sucks. If you're going to attempt this yourself, I'd invest in a good dust mask for knocking down the rough stuff with 80grit. Once you get to about 200, start using wet sanding with a pneumatic sander like the jitterbug. Mine weighs a ton though and working underneath SUCKED! hope you got a great deal on this thing...

 

[Mbliss87]

I paid less than market value.... but considering what I'm being told and going through, I'd hardly say I got a good deal. At this I'm just trying to make what I have last so the family and I can enjoy it, rather than having a boat that I'm paying for sitting in the garage, that I cant even use lol.

I'm hoping I can figure a way to not have to work completely upside down to make it easier. Once I dig into it, I'll take some photos and post them. Likely won't be for a couple months, but either way.

That said, if anyone does have, or know of, a good donor hull, I'm keeping that option open as well.

 

[JPass]

When picking up resin, be sure to go with epoxy and not polyester. The poly is cheaper, but not the best when trying to bond to non-poly glassed material. Epoxy resin sticks to everything.

If you're unfamiliar with fiberglass work, I'd recommend checking out a few hull repair videos as your fiberglass layup schedule is extremely important and there's a method to the madness as opposed to simply layering up glass.

I believe these boats have some wood in them in places (sole and other below deck structures), but overall the hull, and the area where you'll be working, is glass.

Post some pics of the damage when you can.

 

[svtjoe98]

I had a 2003 Challenger X that had the same issue. Very very thin glass on V of hull. It eventually cracked and took on water. I had it professionally repaired but was told that it’s impossible to repair as the hull is weak. I sold the boat.

Possibly part out your Speedster? There are a lot of good parts on those boats.