Advice For Lifting A Sailing Yacht With a Crane

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KREW2 said:
The crane driver will know what he is doing, as will the boat yard.
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Sadly not always (as in my post above)! But I agree that it is better to rely on them - they will usually know very well what they are doing, and in the unlikely event they don't and get it wrong, there will be no ambiguity abouyt whose responsibility it was.
 
LittleSister said:
Sadly not always (as in my post above)! But I agree that it is better to rely on them - they will usually know very well what they are doing, and in the unlikely event they don't and get it wrong, there will be no ambiguity abouyt whose responsibility it was.
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That is not the crane drivers fault. Whoever organizes the lift should be aware of the underwater profile.
 
KREW2 said:
That is not the crane drivers fault. Whoever organizes the lift should be aware of the underwater profile.
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At least lifting from a truck to a cradle the underwater profile or any projections are not hidden from view.

Lifting from the water can have its hazards. The projecting anode stud in the picture below caused terminal damage to a lifting sling.


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If the clever dick crane driver says you don't need the strops tying together get him to sign a disclaimer to that effect. It costs nothing and is a belt and braces approach.

A bit of forward planning with the control lines allowed these guys to spin the boat around after lifting

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Lakesailor said:
If the clever dick crane driver says you don't need the strops tying together get him to sign a disclaimer to that effect. It costs nothing and is a belt and braces approach.
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The OP does want his boat lifted off the truck onto the cradle. Not for it to be left n the truck while the crane disappears back down the lane.

But I must admit that the shape of a Rival 41 is just the shape that does need at least the forward sling restrained from slipping up the bow.

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Lakesailor said:
What do people have against securing the strops. It doesn't do any harm. probably won't be required, but if there is a slip and they weren't secured. Oh dear!


When they moved the boats at the museum they lifted them over the buildings to a new storage facility in the car park. I think they used a 100 ton crane.


The older boats had custom made cradles

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At what angle of inclination would this boat be launched? ..... or is this an optical illusion?

Other than having the stops strong enough, long enough, placed at strength bulkheads, and secured .... say tied together, what else can go wrong?

I had a yacht lifted by the club's travel hoist. I wasn't there as the lift was early. My monohull is usually lifted with a strop running beneath the back of the long fin keel and another just forward of the keel .... both tied. This time the hoist driver position the aft strop between the spade rudder and back of the encapsulated keel ... this part is no more than a fairing piece added on to the back of the structural keel due to the fineness of the moulding. Before the yacht was launched, the driver notice a crack at the back of the keel .... just before I arrived.

Make sure the lifting points are well marked.
 
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We recently (a few weeks ago) did something very similar - our boat was moved from the haul out yard (where the monthly rent for storage is very dear) to a storage yard about 5 miles away (where the rent is less than a quarter of the haul out yard).
This is a long term plan, as I have a lot of re-fit work to do on her, and it will be very slow, but I hope to get her back in the water by November next year.

She was moved using a low loader equipped with it's own HIAB type crane and lifting slings (but no spreader bars).

The photo below shows her being lifted on to the low loader - we had assembled a cradle (from Jacobs Cradles in the UK, and an excellent piece of kit) in place on the low loader ready to receive her.

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Here she is being lifted off at the storage yard - to save time, we lashed the cradle to the boat, and lifted both together :


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And here she is sitting happily in her cradle :

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BlowingOldBoots said:
Yes, you are correct, a single point lift is from a single connection to the load. Thats not what I meant in this case and thanks for the prompt, it is a four point lift, I was indeed mixed up.
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I had an old Dufour 35 which came with a huge lifting eye on the top of the keel, which used to puzzle me until I found the original brochure and instructions to use strops on the winches to balance the load.
 
Lakesailor .... I didn't see the bilge supports, which presumably are welded or bolted to the cradle. Without those we could be looking at an empty cradle.

Bajansailor ..... The cradle would be pretty flexible. I take it you adjusted the props when it was it its final resting place before the load was taken off the slings?
 
If you dont have a spreader there is a crushing force. Use long chains and this is reduced, but there is still a crushing force.
So use spreaders.

Backstay needs slackening or removing but as long as your shrouds are stayed aft of the mast, as most are, then you can take the backstay off with no problem.

And tie the straps. The boat will be wet and spippery!
 
Bajansailor said:
We recently (a few weeks ago) did something very similar - ...... She was moved using a low loader equipped with it's own HIAB type crane and lifting slings (but no spreader bars).
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That's some HIAB! Most are just cherry pickers. The lifting arrangements regarding the slings and 4 x leg chains which you have used is what I was thinking about. It's reassuring to see similar lifting arrangements in action.

Okay, thanks for the help everyone and all your comments, I now have a plan and can move forward with some confidence.

Regards,

BlowingOldBoots
 
LittleSister said:
The crane driver and/or boatyard didn't realise the hull slopes upwards towards the ends, do you think?
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Don't quite see your point. Not all crane drivers are yachties, so unless he was in charge of the lift he has no reason to interfere as to the positioning of the strops.
The crane driver will usually operate under the instructions of the of the banksman/slinger who, if he doesn't know, should make himself familiar with the underwater profile, before lifting.
 
VicS said:
The OP does want his boat lifted off the truck onto the cradle. Not for it to be left n the truck while the crane disappears back down the lane.
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Most cane drivers are not owner operators. I don't think throwing paddy and going off in a sulk would go down very well back at the yard.
 
Elessar said:
If you dont have a spreader there is a crushing force. Use long chains and this is reduced, but there is still a crushing force.
So use spreaders.

Backstay needs slackening or removing but as long as your shrouds are stayed aft of the mast, as most are, then you can take the backstay off with no problem.

And tie the straps. The boat will be wet and spippery!
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You might want spreaders for a flimsy motor boat bur a Rival 41 is a very sturdily built sailing yacht well able to withstand the crushing forces if brothers and long slings are used

Arriving on a truck it its very unlikely that mast and rigging will be in place !

Unless its raining hard or freezing the hull is not likely to be wet or slippery after a journey on a truck .
 
Lakesailor said:
Most cane drivers are not owner operators. I don't think throwing paddy and going off in a sulk would go down very well back at the yard.
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May be not but if he is not an owner operator he will most likely have to go back to his depot for the paperwork/authorization that you suggest.
 
VicS said:
Use a reputable crane company who are used to lifting boats. Tell them the weight and dimensions of the boat. Ensure they know all other relevant details... their responsibility anyway... they may want to visit the site in advance. Trust them. Its their business ... they know what they are doing

If they have to reach at all, ( unlikely if the truck can come alongside the cradle) the crane capacity will have to be considerably more than the weight of the boat.



Crane that used to come to the yard I am based in has a capacity of 25 tonne... The heaviest boat is about 4.5 tonnes but the crane could then reach over the bank to lift them and position them in the storage area where required.


With a solidly built boat and long slings spreader bars are NOT necessary.



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Smaller boat than yours but I'd agree VicS's comment re long slings - but a good operator/company will know that as they should be doing it day in/day out..

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Further to the advice I received from the forum the yacht has now been moved and transferred to her cradle safely. At the send of the day the lift at my refit location was quite stress free, despite being done at night. A local crane operator supplied a Truck with a 20 Tonne HIAB which managed to lift the yacht off the transporter and slew her around and place her into the cradle with ease. The HIAB though does have limited reach compared to a mobile crane because it all has to fit onto the tractor unit. Still, it was an impressive bit of kit and the driver/operator used a remote control and walked around the lift as it progressed. The lift was very smooth and the speed went from so slow that it could not be noticed up to walking pace.

The Rival weighs 10,000 kg and at the 3-4m reach from the HIAB the operator reported 98% of the safe lifting load for that radius, which was 10 tonne. I used a couple of 12 tonne slings, which was for the width as two 6 Tonne slings would have been suitable. With the slings placed closer to the keel/hull joint than the travel hoist position the yacht lifted bow first by about 6". I calculated that the forward sling would have to be about 3 feet from the keel/hull joint for a level lift but there was a stanchion and transporter pad at that point.

The crushing force which could have split the teak cap on the gunwale but this was minimised as there is a GRP rubbing strake feature that held sling off the hull at that point. The slings were 20m long and the lift point was 11.8 m above ground with the wraps under the hull.

Thanks again for your advice,

Regards,

BlowingOldBoots

The HIAB Folded Away Before Lifting The Yacht
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The Rival Being Lifted
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