SC20 decks

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » April 28th, 2005, 7:11 am

I noticed a few cracks on the decks of my SC20 under the non-skid. I did some sanding in the area to fill them and it looks like there were some holes cut in the deck--possibly to get to the dagger trunk. However, the more I sanded, I found the outline of the hole to get much bigger. It looks as if the entire deck was cut off neatly and then glassed back down. It looks like it was a good job and finished well with the non-skid. My question is on the building of the boats--there is a seam along the top, but was a deck section molded on after the boat was built, or was it just brought together in a mold??

Post by **Matt Haberman** » April 28th, 2005, 12:34 pm

Dan,

How old is your SC20. The very early SC20's did have full deck plates between the forward and aft beams along with a deck plate running from the forward beam up towards the bridle wire tang. These decks were installed after the hull was removed from the mold and the bulkheads and daggerboard trunk was installed.
This tooling was replaced very early on and the decks were integrated into the hulls so all bulkheads, daggerboard trunks etc. are installed before the hull is closed.

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 10th, 2005, 8:03 am

Matt,

My boat is an 81 Tall Rig. I can see that the plate was cut out very cleanly, so it looks factory. I'm thinking that there was some repair work done to the trunks, because there is also a cut-out in the plate near the dagger well opening. I think that after time, it just cracked, so I'm not too concerned about it. It just crossed my mind that there was some major repair done and I was a little put off.

The boat has a red foam core--does that mean anything on a 20??

Post by **Matt Haberman** » May 10th, 2005, 8:19 pm

Dan,
Even as early as 1980 the new mold was being used without the deck plates, and being that your boat is a 1981 it is pretty late to still have the full deck plate, but I suppose it is not impossible.
With regards to the cut-out by the daggerboard trunk, The newer boats without the full deck plates had round access holes (that were glassed over) right behind the daggerboard trunk to help facilitate in the trunk installation. Since it appears that your boat has full deck plates we will have to go and check the old deck mold because I cannot remember if it also had the round access plates like the newer boats..
If you have some photos of the area in question feel free to email them directly to me and I will try and decipher what you are seeing.

thommerrill · Post by **thommerrill** » May 12th, 2005, 7:22 am

I have owned two 1980 FMS boats and both had deck plates. Also the backing plate on #57 was the 1/2" x 2" plate that came off in my hand. When installing the hardware the matching plate was imbedded inot the hull.

Post by **Matt Haberman** » May 12th, 2005, 7:01 pm

Dan,
Tom checked the deck mold today and there was an access plate adjacent to the daggerboard trunk for installation purposes. It is quite possible the "cut-out" you are seeing is the circular access plate for installing the daggerboard trunk.

Thom,
The change from deck plates occurred some time in 1980 to the best of our knowledge. I know that SC-20 Sail #85 did NOT have the deck plates, so I guess that tells us that the change took place sometime between boat #57 & 85

thommerrill · Post by **thommerrill** » May 12th, 2005, 7:53 pm

Matt -

I recall 1979 on July 4th the rep for FMS came through Dallas during the Borg/McEnroe match. After three phone calls to me I left the Tv and went sailing on Hull #1 I believe. The next summer I drove to Jupiter and paid $9000 for my first 1980 FMS 20 that had been stickered as a Boston Whaler according to the tall guy rep who I met the year before. I believe that boat didn't have deck plates. I don't know for certain what the serial # was but I know it was destroyed in Tampa in the early 1990s. I actually sold that boat for $8750 after eight years of sailing. You can't do that today.

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 18th, 2005, 3:56 pm

I'll get some pictures to you. I tried putting them on the forum, but they looked terrible.

Post by **Matt Haberman** » May 18th, 2005, 6:55 pm

Dan,

I fixed the problem with the photos looking cruddy. It was a setting in the forum on our end that I needed to resolve. You can try posting them now if you like, they should look MUCH better.

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 18th, 2005, 9:55 pm

Ok, let's see if the photos work...

On this shot, you can see where I just sanded off the non-skid. The lower line looks like the deck plate I was talking about..

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 18th, 2005, 9:57 pm

OK, this one is of the section near the rear beam..

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 18th, 2005, 9:58 pm

This is around the porthole..

Post by **Matt Haberman** » May 18th, 2005, 10:14 pm

Dan,
This looks like the seams from the full deck plates and access plates behind the daggerboard trunk. It all looks pretty normal for a boat with full deck plates. I am still surprised that this is a 1981, but either way I don't really see anything out of the ordinary.

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 19th, 2005, 7:55 am

Good to hear it hasn't been crashed and fixed. I was just curious, really. I started to see some small cracks where the deck plates and access holes were cut and I need to fix them. It should be an easy fix and covering it should be pretty slick with the non-skid.

Thanks!!

DanBerger · Post by **DanBerger** » May 19th, 2005, 7:58 am

OK, one more question:

It looks like some kind of filler was used and then sanded down before non-skid was applied. I only plan on using a small strip of glass to cover the cracks, so what kind of filler should I use to smooth it out??

Aquarius Sail Owners

SC20 decks

SC20 decks

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