Surfboard fin-crack fix job? Do i need to professional?

[benjl]

Hi guys

I just noticed in the weekend that it looks like something has banged / pushed my middle fin on one side causing the fcs fin plugs to crack through the fibreglass on the board and push the other side down in to the board on an angle.
I can only imagine this has something to do with lending the board to my gf last weekend..

Please take a look at the attached pictures and tell me whether I could push the fibreglass crack down and epoxy-resin it or whether the job will need a professional?
Is something quite major or easily fixed? Any idea of what a professional may charge?

Thanks

[dtc]

Any moderate weakness in that area will probably re-emerge sooner (or later) - even if you push it down and epoxy it, it will still be weak and crack again when there is pressure on the fin. The surface repair only puts a stronger surface on the board, it doesnt make the foam under the board any stronger. The fin may wriggle around a bit even after the repair.

The usual method of repair is to cut out (drill out) the entire affected area (ie the plug hole plus the cracked bit), remove the plug, pour resin in the hole, stick the plug back in, then re-glass over the top. Others drill out the hole, fill it with resin then drill into the resin (as it if were the original board), insert the plug.

If you google 'FCS fin plug repair' you will get a few results eg

http://surfsource.net/repair/ (scroll down toward the bottom of the page). There are a few videos and stuff.

Is it hard? Guess it depends on how much you love the board and how much equipment you already own. It shouldnt take a surf shop too long to do it, they can drill and replace pretty quickly, its a common repair - maybe an hour of labour all up (but the repair will take much longer, given drying times etc). Shops in Australia charge around $80 (plus replacement plug if you need it), but it may be cheaper elsewhere (if you google 'fin plug repair' you may get some price lists from shops around your area).

Anyway - you will need to repair it, unless you decide to surf as a twinnie for a while.

Its a nice looking board. How long is it? I would be tempted to spring for some better fins, possibly a 2+1 set up (rear fin longer and some short side fins) - will loosen the board up quite a bit. But its a bit hard to tell how big your fins are at the moment, it might not be necessary.

[benjl]

Thanks DTC- was an absolute bummer to find it like that when there's finally good surf on our east coast tomorrow which I had been hanging out to test the board on!
You wouldn't happen to know of or heard of any good surf repair shops in Auckland, NZ?

The board is a 6'10 x 21 3/4 x 2 5/8 which I just brought off a dude who got it custome made by a shaper called 'B Hansel' in bali. Seemed pretty nice although haven't even had a chance to use it in anything other than 1ft waves or whitewash with recent conditions.

I haven't played around with fins on it yet as i've owned for three weeks but actually have some side bite fins from my quad fish I could use?
The fins that came with it are un-branded mesh/carbon looking things that are roughly an fcs M5 size / shape?

Will ne nice to have it back up and running again, i've attached a full pic of the top side of the board too for your interest

[dtc]

I have a 7ft4 that was running 3xM5 and it was really stiff - hard to turn (and I'm 80kg and the rest). I swapped the side fins for some small longboard side fins and it changed the board. Not that I'm saying you should, but give it a go for fun one day if you have the fins handy anyway. I dont know how heavy you are, if you are under 70kg then 3XM5s are a bit big. Well, they are good to go straight, not good to turn.

In terms of the fin plug, you could just surf it. At worst it will rip the fin plug totally out and make a bigger hole, but fixing that probably wont really be a much bigger job than fixing the plug (hopefully). And it may be that the structure is still strong enough to cope - this assumes the board is water tight, if the crack is allowing water in then you need to fix that as a minimum. Obviously better to repair but if you just have to surf, people have done worse!

Sorry cant help you out with any Auckland repair places, never actually been there.

[kitesurfer]

DTC is right that will need fixing properly as it will fail on you sooner or later. Hardest thing about fixing it will be removing the plugs without damaging the board too much. Could be done very carefully with a hole saw with the centre drill removed but you would need a very steady hand for this as the hole saw will try to wander.
I would charge about £30 for this kind of repair.

KS

[dtc]

Could be done very carefully with a hole saw with the centre drill removed but you would need a very steady hand for this as the hole saw will try to wander.

And if you dont already have a hole saw, it will cost more to fix it yourself (to get tooled up) than using a pro...although i guess if you plan on ripping out a lot of fin plugs, or lending your board to your girlfriend quite often, perhaps it wont take long to recover that money.

Ask at the shop whether they have any demo boards you might be able to use while they repair it (might be a small fee). Even if you can only borrow it for a day, its a day when you can surf. And you can try out a different board.

[benjl]

Thanks for the response guys.

I googled and emailed a couple of shops with the images yesterday and quotes came back at $60 (if the plugs don't need to be replaced) to $150 if the plugs do need to be replaced.
They asked me to wiggle the fin and said that if the plugs didn't move in the board then it wouldn't need new plugs?

I gave it a wiggle the plugs seemed taught in the board.

Cheers