Adding weight to what used to be a racing/cruising boat - Trapper 950

[Willbe84]

Hello,

A year ago I had acquired a Trapper 950 (cast iron ballast - http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3631 ) and have been working on it ever since. Jobs done: repainted the whole boat in international perfection, re varnished the interior, upgraded the fuel tank by about 20 litres, added 2 120ah and 1 starter batteries, rebuilt the galley and replaced the seacocks. Now, after a lot of reading, I am considering adding a dupont corian countertop. The boat will have approx 80kg batteries on the port side and approx 100-120kg of countertop on starboard, with the additional weight of the diesel tank under the cockpit. Am I adding too much weight?

My intentions are to use the boat as a cruiser, I do not plan to race her.

Thanks
Ian

 

[mrming]

Looks like a very nice (and quite rare) boat. I'd say it should be fine to add that sort of weight to a boat which was probably built quite light for racing.

Maybe check how she sits upon her lines with something of equivalent weight placed in roughly the right place that the proposed counter top would occupy?

 

[sarabande]

that's two extra people on board, in places where the extra mass is not productive or helpful. A worktop of that material is out of context on a boat of that size. You can make something out of wood to look just as swish.

 

[rob2]

I used to crew occasionally on a Trapper 500 (crew of 5) as the races we were invited on were night time channel crossings. The joke amongst the fleet was that there was a spare Trapper stowed in the lockers and it wasn't that far short of the truth! Although it compromised light weather performance, the veed hull shape went very well in moderate seas when loaded like that. A few years after we lost touch, they stripped out all the spares for a two-handed race to Ireland - the crew told me it was a noticeably bumpy ride without the extra weight.

For cruising I wouldn't worry about adding a little weight and it may well offer a smoother ride. The downside with that boat was that the Yanmar 1GM really wasn't up to pushing her into weather and tide.

Rob.

 

[geem]

On smaller boats with less load carrying capacity I believe in keeping everything as light as possible. Building in needless weight on fixtures and fitting is not the way to go in my opinion. If you keep te boat construction light you can carry more stores, fuel and water, etc for when you need it without any real weight penalty. On my last boat, which was a catamaran. We replaced all the loose ply under bunks, heads door and work surfaces with foam cored grp. This cut the weight of these items to about a third of their previous weight. This meant we could carry all our toys on summer holidays as well as lots of fuel and water and still maintain good sailing performance and safety.

 

[Tranona]

I used to crew occasionally on a Trapper 500 (crew of 5) as the races we were invited on were night time channel crossings. The joke amongst the fleet was that there was a spare Trapper stowed in the lockers and it wasn't that far short of the truth! Although it compromised light weather performance, the veed hull shape went very well in moderate seas when loaded like that. A few years after we lost touch, they stripped out all the spares for a two-handed race to Ireland - the crew told me it was a noticeably bumpy ride without the extra weight.

For cruising I wouldn't worry about adding a little weight and it may well offer a smoother ride. The downside with that boat was that the Yanmar 1GM really wasn't up to pushing her into weather and tide.

Rob.

Interesting - but the Trapper 500 is nothing like the OPs boat. Only thing in common is the maker's name, although the 2 different boats were built by completely different companies!