AVS explained

[Happy1]

Barry, I got the details out, if what you say is correct it should be OK for the IOW. I guess I will feel ill before the boat has had enough!!

Length: 20’ 1-3/4” (6.13 m.)
Beam: 94-1/4” (2.39 m.)
Depth: 50” (1.27 m.)
Approx. Weight: 2852 lbs. (1283 kg.) w/5.7 GS Volvo Penta
Cockpit Depth: 35-1/4” (.90 m.)
Transom Width: 90” (2.29 m.)
Transom Deadrise: 19 degrees
Draft (drive down): 33” (.84 m.)
Fuel Capacity: 45 gal. (170.3 L.)
Maximum Persons: 8 or 1150 lbs. (518 kg.)

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[hlb]

I see those figures as a reciepe for disastar. Theres no hope. Save there soles. AARRGggg save there souls from disaster
PLEASE GEt proper boat that wont sink first time it gets wet . Message ends. Hmm. Not the message I intended to send. But never the less.......................

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue> Haydn

 

[hlb]

Happy 1 Please get shut of boat and start again. End of message............../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue> Haydn

 

[kimhollamby]

More caution required

Few things, having read all of this:

a) you cannot realistically upgrade to Cat B and it would be a nonsense if you tried to because you would then become legally liable for the ceritication process without getting anything out of it (you would be in effect trying to make your Glastron suitable for mean wave heights of 4m and peaks of 8m - if you take the RCD seriously Cat B should also have adequate range and facilities for offshore passages). Plus you would probably invalidate the warranty;

b) the only bit of the CE plate I would take particular note of is the stated maximum load and numbers of people - I've never heard of a test case but I would never embark more on a CE-marked boat than those numbers, simply because if anything happened, however unrelated, it provides an easy device for the uninformed to use as a stick to beat with;

c) most likely cause of capsize on a motorboat is not getting caught in bad seas but by swamping or water ingress through major hull damage - what is known as free surface effect of water sloshing about causes the problem. On your boat you would be swimming by then anyway and AVS wouldn't have helped you;

d) if you wanted a self-draining deck you should have bought a RIB or perhaps a ring deck boat where the deck level is above the waterline. You haven't so you simply relax and enjoy the consequences of that and join the 99 point nine something per cent of people that take similar boats out in appropriate weather and come home to tell us about it afterwards;

e) US boats are often accused of not being designed for North European waters but the reality is that wave conditions on American lakes can often be more severe than the Solent on a bad day. Some of the coastal and estuary waters in the States make England's South Coast seem like kindergarten. Of course if you'd bought a bass boat with 3in freeboard and a 250hp outboard on the back the lake boat thing would be relevant and we'd all be asking for a go -- on Lake Windermere before the speed limit kicks in;

If it's any consolation you have a single-engined boat which will have better stability characteristics than a twin engine; the boat is also low slung so the advice here not to worry about AVS is sound.


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[qsiv]

Without a lines plan and a table of weights it is just not possible to calculate it. Even with the data it is a tedious calculation in the absence of a computer - I still remember with 'fond affection' doing the calculations by hand as part of my Naval Architecture degree. Trust me - you dont want to do it!

You can of course do the same as the Open60 racing yacths, and perform a practical in a dock to confirm it - but this could be expensive in the case of an open motor boat.

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[Happy1]

Kim & qsiv thanks for very informative replies. Something that concerns me is that the manufacturers give a maximum load of 8 persons 518kg, BUT the CE mark on theboat gives a maximum of 6 persons and 510kg. I thought Americans were all bigger than us lot, so where have the other two people gone between the USA and here?

And WHICH one is right?

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[Happy1]

WHY, did you never want to know all about your boat, safety and it's capabilities? If you put some questions on here I am sure (even though you are rude) you will get some replies. It's never too late to learn you know /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[Happy1]

Haydn, I only have 13 days left to get everything ready for the boat. I go on holiday for two weeks on the 6th March, when I come back it is delivered, SO there is not much time left to prepare.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[kimhollamby]

Neither is right, nor wrong.

The US figure almost certainly will have been calculated on the basis of the company's own benchmarks and/or interpretation of US Coast Guard requirements. The CE plate number will have been calculated according to the boat's RCD C category. I'd stick with the six peeps rating - not because the US one is unsafe (litigation does for America what the Europeans try to do with legislation) but purely because that is the term under which the boat has been sold by the vendor - in this case Racecourse Yacht Basin(?) who is in effect legally responsible for RCD compliance as it has sold the boat to you.

There are in fact instances of boatbuilders offering two load factors on RCD compliant boats - one for, say Cat D which offers more load and one for Cat C. That is not such a bad solution on small boats where passengers can make a huge difference to stability....or for that matter on relatively small flybridge boats where a lot of people clinging to the lid certainly have some influence on handling.

Also the whole category thing has been given too much emphasis in marketing hype. For example there are Category A boats on the market that you would not take on voyages of the type envisaged for category A...not necessarily because of stability but simply because they do not carry the range, or type of crew accommodation, that would make an extended ocean passage feasible.

Theoretics aside, any more than six in a 20-footer at sea is going to be plain uncomfortable - best way to work out how many to take is to count the number of genuinely practical seats on the boat that offer a handhold or more and that stay dry when the spray flies (most rear cockpit seats do not). Then multiply by the novice factor where more novices equals higher risk of fun not being had if one of them discovers that morning's greasy spoon offering for the second time.



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[kimhollamby]

Throw the towel in please...

...from both corners -- this is only going to end in tears.

Sitting so firmly on the fence that it is likely to give me modification of hind quarters, there are valid views on both sides. Haydn absolutely right to say relax a little and stop thrashing every last detail out of the thing lest you lose track of the original purpose (and also lest you lose track of the fact that safe boating is art as well as science); Happy right to be cautious.

End story?

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[Happy1]

Wouldn't be easy if they made all this things simple, no wonder people get confused, I fully understand what you are saying, but as you say in some circumstances it still does not make sense. I will stick to my six which is more than enough, just wondered how 8 big Americans would have got on it /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>

 

[Guest]

Oh for God's sake, Grumps. We used to cross to the IoW in a bloody 12 footer with a ropey 60hp outboard, and freeboard so low you could put your hand in the water while driving. Got caught in crap weather one time and she slammed so hard we broke through the seat bases. Bizarrely, we're still here to tell the tale.

Your transoceanic epic to the Isle of Wight will not begin in the Medway, as you will be trailering the boat to the Solent. In all probability, you're going to launch in Lymington, whence Yarmouth is swimming distance.

As for 3 miles out, yes of course, if the weather's good. Our 12 foot Fletcher used to cross B'mouth bay from the Needles to Swanage in the right weather - that puts us about 8 miles out at the furthest. And on a bad day, we were nearly swamped without getting out of Christchurch harbour. Use some common sense, please.

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[qsiv]

I wouldnt worry about 8 kilos difference! You'll get that much difference in your beer cooler (not that you will have any alcohol around if you are going to be out and about , of course!)

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