Dent in the hull

[s vernon]

A new used boat in the fleet has about a 2 inch diameter dent in the hull on one side that seems to have been caused by the boat being strapped down in an odd shaped (flat V forward support plus small high and low pads on the vee) white foam cradle. The cradle does have the standard foam keel support. So what now? I want to recommend to the new owner that he just reach inside the hull and push out the dent. I do not want to do that if there is a strong possibility of damage to the hull.

I pushed out a similar near the waterline dent in a flimsy hull at the St Aug NCR after a starting line hit. So that dent was remedied right away.

I think it is worth the risk to push it back out even after the boat has had the dent for several months. Obviously the cradle needs to be modified or replaced and use the strap only on the lawn at setup.

Maybe put the hull near a heat register for a while then reach in and push it? Anyone with an opinion or experience? Thank you.

[hedderick]

Scott,
I had a depression form in the hull of my boat from sitting on a cradle. The first thing I did was modify the cradle to assure that nearly all the weight of the boat sits on the keel. One problem with some cradles is that if the boat is positioned fore or aft of where it should, the hull ( not the keel ) will rest on a high spot on the cradle.

After fixing the cradle, I chose not to do anything to the hull.... But, surprisingly, after about a month the depression in the hull just disappeared. Whew!

[greerdr]

if you want a quick fix,and assuming the hull was OK before,i've used a hair drier,directed with caution, to smooth the hull.
The points about the cradle aforementioned are critical!