cracks on 2012 TI hull

Found these cracks on the inside of my TI hull closed to the front seat.

Is this considered as "normal wear and tear"?

Problem is I doubt I can fix this by soldering some plastics around it because the cracks are in an area where the plastic hull is "working" (moving) once I stand up and put pressure on it.

How could this be fixed? Any ideas?

Thanks for your help.

Peace
Serbi

If it were me and the boat is out of warranty, I would gouge the area out near the surface, fill in the area with the hobie welder then cover the patched area with a skin of silicone about 1/8" thick and 1" on a side larger than the patch. Yes it will look like crap but it shouldn't leak, avoid standing near the patches. My opinion is this is above the waterline and not a show stopper on the hull, if the cracks were below the waterline, I wouldn't risk it, and would see about a hull exchange with the dealer ( I think hobie stocks a few factory second hulls out of their factory that they can use for replacement hulls at a substantial discount. I'm just speculating here, the factory seconds are structurally sound but have some visual defect like color blotches, or swirls in the finish that they wouldn't normally be able to sell as new. Of course any hulls with actual physical defects would be destroyed and re-ground. Just knowing hobie and their standards, they probably only use virgin material on their hulls so the scrap would be sold (Walmart kayaks (lol)). Roto-molding is a very touchy process and IMO nobody knows it better than Hobie.
Of course all is just my opinion and speculation on my part (I'm in manufacturing). Most molders operate on a 1-2 percent scrap rate.
Bob

File a warranty claim with your dealer. We would likely extend warranty beyond the standard two years on something like this. Very uncommon.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks for the quick response Matt. I am based in the Philippines and the Philippine Dealer gets the boats from Hobie Australia...now I am just hoping that Hobie Australia is willing to extend the warranty for this "unusual" claim...

Peace
Serbi

Serbi, the guys at Hoibie Australia have a great reputation regarding issues like this... I would be very surprised if they don't sort things out for you.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Great. My dealer lost all records of my TI purchase. For the warranty claim I need to submit the hull No. Does anybody know where on the TI I can find the hull number??

Thanks for your help

Peace
Serbi

The hull serial number should be "scratched" on the starboard stern area.

I have a lot of faith in plastic welding since I've managed to fix several cracks in high stress areas. I won't recommend you try it unless you're comfortable with the process. Doing it right makes all the difference. However, if you can get the okay, you might at least give it a shot. If it works, it will save you a ton of work swapping stuff over to a new hull. Just an idea, of course, and you'd want to make sure that such an attempt wouldn't void any warranty replacement your dealer or Hobie would agree to in case the "fix" didn't end up fixing it.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks for your quick replies Matt - really appreciated.

Below is a photo of the welded serial No...

Problem is it does not make much sense according to the serial no description.

The Serial No on the hull is HccP0468T011. (at least that is how I read it...)

According to the serial no description HCC means produced by Hobie Cat Company, "P" is probably the internal digit for the TI, 0468 the running hull no, and "011" stands for manufacturing year.

What does the "T" stands for? This digit should show the month of manufacture (from A = Jan, to L = Dec)...or should this be an "F" and the welder had a shaky hand from last night's drinking spree?

Peace
Serbi

My vote is that it is a "J".