J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Too Many Holes

Here is why that plate was needed (see first image). I suspect that however this clutch was originally attached catastrophically failed and the fasteners pulled through. The inner skin had been torn and pulled upward into the balsa core. So a plate was likely added to reinforce this area. It wasn't enough.

I also got lucky today. The core was only destroyed in a fairly local area around this clutch. A few inches away it was fine, with the exception that it was full of old holes. So the plan to replace this entire area will take care of this problem.

The remaining inner skin is so thin after peeling the balsa that I will have to glass it first before doing any core replacement. The area that was damaged in the original failure is also going to have to be ground away to just make a flat surface. This decayed balsa was almost as bad as the area around the exhaust.

Now I just need some days of dry weather.