GRP and gelcoat repair courses

[Graham W]

I'm thinking of booking myself on to a course to learn how to do GRP mouldings and especially gelcoat repairs.  There seem to be a few one-day courses about but I'm not sure whether they cover things in enough detail.

Has anyone been on such a course that they are prepared to recommend?  Location within the UK relatively unimportant.

[Sea Simon]

Graham, many years (25+?) ago my then employers send me on a bespoke FRP boatbuilding familiarisation course at the IBTC, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft. It was two full weeks, (1 day off, but we were rather spoilt, by staying in the nearby Wherry Hotel) ) so perhaps rather more in depth than you need I suspect? However, I do recall it all being very professional and well run.  Excellent facilities  and first class materials/tools. It was also expensive,  even then!
I see from their website that their current 4.5 day offering is appx £800.

https://www.ibtc.co.uk/short-course/glass-reinforced-plastics-4-5-day-course/2024-10-14/

Falmouth Marine School do a 6hr intro/familiarisation course covering GRP boat maintenance, including gel coat repairs. Courses run on many one-off dates over the winter.
At £9!
https://falmouthmarineschool.ac.uk/courses/introduction-to-boat-maintenance-fibreglass/

I went to FMS (on my own account, about 3 years ago?) on an adult-learning day course to update my outboard engine knowledge to cover larger modern computer controlled/fuel injected engines. The facilities/staff were good, but the content (not unreasonably) a little basic for someone with my background. About 30% of content was very useful....but it was free!

I quite fancy the FRP course, over the winter...always plenty to see/do in Falmouth, and in my case about an hours drive away.

[Graham W]

Thanks Simon.  I might be tempted to Falmouth for the £9 course!

There is also an expensive multi-day course in Lyme Regis and a cheaper one on Canvey Island.

[Sea Simon]

Striking "while the iron is hot", I've booked myself (at least, I've applied...) on to the grp course in January, and the similar wood boat day course in Feb. Unfortunately they all seem to run on Saturdays, rather inconvenient if travelling some distance?

You'll need to dig out your O-level results for the application  form! 😉

If you're in Falmouth, I can recommend  the maritime museum, and the knights in armour, recently jousting at Pendennis Castle was much enjoyed by small boys young and old (grandson too).

[AndyB]

I have seen a course which I quite like the look of £95 for half a day but covers general gel coat repairs which I am looking for as I have some cosmetic repairs on the boat and the quote is high.

https://westcountryboatrepairs.co.uk/boat-repairs-workshops/

[Graham W]

The quote is always high and the end result not necessarily satisfactory.  A course like the above could save quite a lot of money in the long term.  I'm also wondering whether the ability to repair centreboards and rudders means that profile-spoiling brass or steel protection strips are no longer needed on the foils?

Anyone taking these courses please report back.

[MarkandMary]

Pete Vincent at West Country Boat Repairs is good and you'll learn how to make small cosmetic repairs to your gelcoat.  This is not hard, but it is time consuming, and needs patience to avoid widening the area that needs attention. 

Its harder for larger areas (maintaining the profile), and for areas of older gelcoat that have changed colour with age (standard RAL colour matching doesn't always work).  I do all the gelcoat work on my dinghies and the small repairs are pretty much invisible when done - major modifications (e.. remodelling spinnaker chute) are much more challenging and usually take me 2 or 3 attempts to get a passable finish.  I have had problems with colour matching my BRE Pigeon Blue even though the gelcoat is only three years old and always kept covered when not being used - none of the three suppliers I use could get me a match with the RAL number - so I had to add white and blue pigments to get a closer match.  Unless you knew where the repairs are I doubt whether they would be spotted - but they are certainly not invisible.  Colour matching is definitely an expert art - people like Jo Line at the Boat Repair Centre (Weston Super Mare) seem to have the knack

[Graham W]

Perhaps do a short course like West Country or Falmouth and if that doesn't cover everything needed, follow it up with a longer course?

A weird discovery that I made by accident is that on my bottle green hull (RAL 6007), if you paint over minor abrasions to the gelcoat with Sikkens Cetol Filter 7 teak-coloured coating and then wipe it off immediately, you get colour matching and the abrasions more or less disappear.  I can't imagine how that happens!

[Graham W]

Last week, encouraged by recommendations here, I had a morning with Pete Vincent and his colleagues at https://westcountryboatrepairs.co.uk in the Forest of Dean.  Very much a tailored short course, where I was taken through the basics of GRP and gelcoat repairs as they could be applied specifically to my plastic BR20. 

Having always used West Systems epoxy, I was surprised that they only recommend that for wood.  They use polyester products for virtually everything else, being much easier to work with and significantly cheaper.  They make their own gelcoat coatings from a range of pigments mixed in to clear gel resin.  Proportions are all measured by weight rather than volume, using cheap electronic scales.  https://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk are their suppliers of choice.

Having covered a lot of ground on the course in only a few hours, not all of it may have sunk in.  Luckily there's a spiral bound booklet co-authored by Pete to remind you of what you were told https://www.amazon.co.uk/GRP-Maintenance-Companion-Repairing-Companions/dp/1912177307/ref=sr_1_1.

Recommended as a way of gaining exposure to decades of practical experience.

[Sea Simon]

Well done GW, thanks for update.

Falmouth.
I've applied for 3 different courses...and have heard absolutely nowt back from the college.
I remember their admin being tardy lastime.