Osmosis on Hanse

I think that all these comments are very relevant. There has been a lot of reaction to this particular topic.

It is very concerning that someone can purchase a boat and after 4 years have osmosis diagnosed.

As i said in one of my earlier messages we had huge problems with our boat - including c..p gelcoating, damaged mast, wrong size boom, damaged flooring in the main cabin, leaking freshwater and holding tanks,a clearly used sail for the self tacker, - the list went on.

Fortunately this dealer is no longer a Hanse dealer......

The dealer did not want to have anything to do with us - he wanted to wipe his hands of us. What was to have been a really happy time for us was made into a disaster. SO WHAT DO YOU DO?????

I actually mailed Germany - asking for their support, they did not reply to me at all.

It was actually Peter Thomas who is the now the main UK Hanse dealer who helped us out.

Going back to the osmosis issue - ANXIOUS OWNER - I really do hope that you manage to get your boat sorted, we are supposed to get many years pleasure from our boats. Really - - -  GOOD LUCK

But please HANSE you really do need to be making some comment about these issues because it looks very much as if you could be loosing future valuable customers - because ..... who is going to recomend a boat builder that makes very good sailing boats BUT fails to support the customer.

Sue 

Hi everyone,

We are really delighted with so many reactions on the osmosis-topic and so much understanding (thanks again).

Some comments on former postings:

* Meanwhile we discovered that our hull has been laminated and finished with an "Isophtalic resin" (Isophtalsaureharz) that is ment to give an extra protection against Osmosis.

* Martijn, I agree with you. Osmosis on such a young boat is not a normal thing. We suspect that Hanse has made a big mistake when producing our boat.

* Frank, Osmosis can best be ascertained by measuring the dampness of the hull. Specialists have done so with our boat. When there are bubbles as well, you should open them. If you smell vinegar (like Ralf said), you are in real trouble : osmosis.

* Detlef, you are right bij stating that the dealer is the first one to help you with solving the problems. But, when your supplier is not the official representative of Hanse anymore, you should at any time have the possibility to fall back on the producer. Isn't it just normal that a producer takes it's liability for the products he makes?

* Rob, of course we agree that Osmosis is not the end of the world. Although many specialists have many different ideas about origin and solution, we think that this might not occur on a boat that is rather new. It should be OK for at least 25 years. It can be compared with corrosion on cars. For many years one knew that this problem might manifest itself. Nowadays nobody accepts rust on its car, even when it is 7 years old f.e.  

Beside the fact that it will cost you a lot of money (we have an offer to have it repaired for an amount that exceeds € 6.000,00) the question is :

Is it acceptable that after such a short time since production 

1) these problems turned up?

2) the owner is the one that has to run the risk (and the costs)?

3) the builder investigated the problem (did some technical tests) but did not give an official reaction on this issue?

Many yachtbuilders give a guarantee on the hull (including osmosis) for 5 years. No special epoxy-primers or other prevention measures are required for this. In this setting it looks not more then just reasonable that Hanse: solves the osmosis-problems of the recent past in a decent way and gives new owners a guarantee of at least 5 years. 

Assumed that The Quality People really believe in the quality of their own products (as many other yachtbuilders simply do and underline it with good consumer-freindly conditions), won't it be time for Hanse to follow the market and do the same?

Regards to you all,

Anxious Owner  

Hi Rob,

Thanks for all your info about a good preparation of a new boat, before launching it.

I don't know what makes you think that we are NOT the original owner, because we ARE (what does it matter in this discussion anyway?).

We still have the original papers and it shows us that the hull had been prepared with an epoxy primer and well renowned antifouling after that. This all had been done by the official Hanse dealer. And as we said before, every winter our Hanse had been ashore and every spring we renewed the antifouling.

So what else may be expected from a new (first) owner of a quality-product?

For all the other Hanse owners, we hope that our problem is a "storm in a teacup", and not symptomatic for all products of Hanse.

Let's hope for you all, that the osmosis on our boat has been an incident and is caused by an unfortunate mistake while producing our yacht.

But, the certainty about this can only be given by "Greifswald". As you know we are still waiting for that, after many, many months.

Regards,

Anxious Owner    

Hanse !!!!!

Greifswald !!!!!!!

I think it would be fair to say that WE are all waiting for some response from you.

Anxious Owner has sparked what could be a problem - do you not think that we deserve some feedback.....

Getting another increasingly "Anxious Owner"

Sue 

Hello

 Osmosis is a severe problem and to get grip of the problem and to understand what's happening theres a very good PhD paper writen on the subject i Sweden.

The repair mausure that has to be taken is to remove the gelcoat below the waterline, then use a heating lance an heat up the hull to get the styrol out. Then replace the gelcoat- it costs. This is how most Yards in scandinavia treats these damages these days.

W.R