I have some fiberglass showing on keel. Looks like the gel coat has worn through but fiberglass is not damaged. I have some gel coat and can probably get close on the color. Will this work?

WOW! This is like new. Really. Nothing to worry about.

Some of the 16s at the last Worlds looked more worn than this after (what was equivalent to) just one years normal use and we use beach dollies most of the time.

I would just leave it alone and sail!

Thats what I wanted to hear!
I've sanded to an 800 grit wet, how do I get the shine back?

Ronnie,
There used to be a kit available with two metal strips that could be fiberglassed to the bottom to reduce the wear at the beach. I don't know if anyone uses it anymore. I had a hull crack and take on a lot of water sailing off North Myrtle years ago due to wear on the keels. I had someone fix it by pouring two strips of resin on the bottom using metallic tape to form molds. The wear on yours isn't much but keep an eye on it if you drag the boat on the beach.
Howard T.
16' Hobie
18" Cape Cod Cat boat

Shine? If possible... polishing compound and a buffer wheel. Then wax, but 800 is going to be as fast or faster.

How much wear is too much? Racers may want perfect keels, but you can wear the hulls down until the gel is all gone, the keel tip is flat and the flat then takes on a kind of concave. That would be nearly worn through. You repair by laying up 6-8 layers of mat glass and resin. Trim while still green (not yet hard) and then grind or file back to shape. There are keel shape template trawings in the support section of our website.

Matt, thanks for the information, I just finished sanding both hulls to a 800 wet sand and the image I posted was the worst defect on the boat. I'm going to wax and get ready to sail.

Ron

My dad finally realized that he didn't use his H16 enough and passed it on to me. The hulls are worn enough that I am taking on enough water to concern me on long days of sailing. There is no gelcoat left on the bottom of the hulls and the fiberglass seems to be folding in slightly in the worst spots.
I saw that you recomend 8 layers of glass repair and more sanding than I like to think about. What is the best way to start. Is there a manual on your site somewhere that I can look at to see what I am getting into? Also, where on the website would I find the keel shape templates?

Hey bro... couple of things.

Based on what you're saying, you probably use this boat a whole lot, but maybe not for racing? Well anyway, having jacked hull bottoms isn't good for speed. Some pics of your hulls might be helpful but try this...

In your case, what I might go ahead and do is take an angle grinder and clean out the areas where the glass is "folding in."
Get yourself probably a gallon of West System epoxy resin and some fast & slow hardeners, as well as some high density filler.
I'd lay a couple layers of glass (maybe 3-4?) flat across the hull (don't worry about the template, just make it as easy on yourself as you can.)
Then use the high density filler to fair the hulls to whatever template you want, if you want. Otherwise just smear it over the glass to fill in the weave (and be sure to make it thick enough that it'll protect the weave for a while.)

I've done some glass work with my buddy and posted sort of a journal on my website. www.JaimeZX.com
Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.

The "Product support" area has the templates.

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/images/tech/hulltemplate.jpg

6-8 layers of glass. Trim when green to save time in sanding. Once hard, use a grinder or rough file to take more off, saving lots of time, and then sand for smoothness. The shape is not that critical for recreational sailing.

There is one additional issue. If you wear to the point that the two sides are no longer attached, you should lay up a layer or two that connects the sides. You would grind some of the gell on the sides so the patch can wrap around the corner and attach to the side glass. Better to do the bottom job before it gets to that point. Would be leaking like a sieve.

Yeah, that's what I had in mind for him.