Beaching legs and balance

The problem you chaps have and F/Vs don't, is we can reach down and fit leg bolts near the waterline, just above the deck, and in the middle of the shaped cheeks which follow the hull curve. Difficult on a yacht unless you have a second person inside, with access to a bolt hole through linings etc. It would, however, be possible to have a captive nut and backing pad inside the hull and insert the bolt from outside. I would think that square section ally with a wood cheek would be fairly simple to make, but on board storage is another issue. Sorry this is off subject a bit.

that is exactly what Tridents have as standard, a captive nut bonded in to a spreader pad. The legs we have are wooden, 4x4, with steel plates gusseting the holes, and a bleedin' great bolt to go into the hull fitting. Yes, on a 24fter storage is an issue! If we go far enough to nedd them, I think they will live in a tender towed behind us
 
There is a page about them on my website.

I thought I knew what beaching legs are for but obviously I have no idea. Could you please give me a link to your website?

I can't work out why Fisherman said "Also fixed with only one bolt and rope foot stays, so they can move a bit. You wouldn't be able to adjust things acrow style in a beaching/falling tide scenario.

Clive
 
I thought I knew what beaching legs are for but obviously I have no idea. Could you please give me a link to your website?

I can't work out why Fisherman said "Also fixed with only one bolt and rope foot stays, so they can move a bit. You wouldn't be able to adjust things acrow style in a beaching/falling tide scenario.

Clive

A boat had legs with two bolts, as the boat ranged about fore and aft a leg caught the bottom and split, with only one bolt it would have rotated slightly. Ropes fore and aft from the bottom of each leg to roughly locate it vertically. I thought you suggested acrows 'could be modified for beaching legs?' I think probably not, they would need to be fixed length, and difficult if needed to fiddle with as the boat settles.
 
here's one, ropes not in place as it's a quiet location, the bolt is captive in the leg, huge wing nut on the inside to kick tight. The boat fell in on the quay on this occasion.

2d6slep.jpg
 
here's one, ropes not in place as it's a quiet location, the bolt is captive in the leg, huge wing nut on the inside to kick tight. The boat fell in on the quay on this occasion.

2d6slep.jpg

Thanks Fisherman. I think I'm starting to understand: the legs are part of the boat/yacht. The ropes would allow the leg to be moved forward or aft and maybe in/out from the hull?

Gee with a fin keel they'd be a bit dodgy?

Where I live we only have tides of ½m but 2000km North the tides can be 11.8m.

Thanks

Clive
 
Fore /aft but not in/out. The idea is you arrive back in your tidal port and put the legs on, the boat can shuffle around until it settles on the keel, then it falls slightly one way onto a leg which is two inches short so doesn't land until after the boat settles. Or in my case one leg and the wall the other side.
As I said, not entirely suitable for a yacht especially fin keel, where there are fore/aft balance issues.
 
On my last boat with beaching legs, the legs were ~30mm or so higher than the keel. I understand it was designed to account for the keel sinking into sand/soft bed taking the majority of the load, and the legs being there to steady the boat.

Usuually done the other way round: shorter legs allow the keel to touch first on a flat hard surface. Use overlong legs on a dead flat concrete base and something will probably break. Fair enough if you always dry on semi-firm mud/shingle where the overlong legs can sink in a bit.
 
here's one, ropes not in place as it's a quiet location, the bolt is captive in the leg, huge wing nut on the inside to kick tight. The boat fell in on the quay on this occasion.

2d6slep.jpg

pretty much identical to what we have. I have decided that when we use them in anger we will add a loose line fore and aft so they have some potential to move and settle, but cannot fall over. I am also considering a stern leg , but leaving it quite short and only for "emergency tipping" maybe a foot too short, and in aluminium tube - or add a mount to slide the spinny boom down the stern with a foot on it to do the job? It is only to stop a wobble, not to take the weight of the boat after all
 
I thought I knew what beaching legs are for but obviously I have no idea. Could you please give me a link to your website?

I can't work out why Fisherman said "Also fixed with only one bolt and rope foot stays, so they can move a bit. You wouldn't be able to adjust things acrow style in a beaching/falling tide scenario.

Clive

http://coxeng.co.uk/cruising/installing-yacht-legs/
 
pretty much identical to what we have. I have decided that when we use them in anger we will add a loose line fore and aft so they have some potential to move and settle, but cannot fall over. I am also considering a stern leg , but leaving it quite short and only for "emergency tipping" maybe a foot too short, and in aluminium tube - or add a mount to slide the spinny boom down the stern with a foot on it to do the job? It is only to stop a wobble, not to take the weight of the boat after all

That's what I like about using sockets at the chine. Nothing needed to hold them in place.
 
how does that work then? Are the legs profiled to hug the hull above and below the chine thus locking themselves in place?

I weld a 2 inch stainless pipe in, flush at the chine extending 8 inches inside,and flush on the outside, with plenty of bracing inside. A line from an eye on the leg ties onto a stanchion. It has no more drag than a thru hull.
 
OK I understand, I thought you meant you were using the chine shape to lock the leg by virtue of its profile. Ours use a threaded socket in the hull, common practice this side of the pond, do ours just slot into the hole then without a thread? If so I assume it is a blind hole? Funnily enough I was looking at a big old wooden fishing boat today, the owner, now 74, was fairing the hull after a recent unfortunate event, a sinking due to a frozen and broken seacock. It's leg sockets were less substantial than our own tiny yacht's. After several decades of ownership and maintenance both as a fishing charter vessel and then his own personal boat, he was pretty sanguine about the whole thing, and it was gratifying to see him and his old mates hard at it with tools in hand,into their eighth decade. There is a joke in there somewhere, but I didn't spot it until I had typed ;)
 
I have just fitted Yacht Leg Company adjustable legs to my 28 foot shallow fin keel boat. Bought them on line unused for £500. List price c£2,500 from memory . Very well engineered and easy to fit. Needed a bracket fitted to the boats side which took a couple of hours because I had good accessibility to fix a substantial backing plate and thereafter can be slotted in place is a couple of minutes. Same as on Viv Cox’s website

They have about 600mm adjustability via a wheel to allow for sloping grounds. To me, sailing in the Bristol Channel, they are a real boom. Benefits of a bilge keeler with fin keel performance. I am lucky in that my keel is c.1.5 metres long and has about 1/2 of the boats weight so that it will settle on the keel well in mud, shingle or sand and the legs provide lateral stability. Good company to deal with as well, they helped me with fitting instructions even though my legs were second hand.
 
I have just fitted Yacht Leg Company adjustable legs to my 28 foot shallow fin keel boat. Bought them on line unused for £500. List price c£2,500. Very well engineered and easy to fit. Needed a bracket fitted to the boats side which took a couple of hours because I had good accessibility to fix a substantial backing plate and thereafter can be slotted in place is a couple of minutes. Same as on Viv Cox’s website

They have about 600mm adjustability via a wheel to allow for sloping grounds. To me, sailing in the Bristol Channel, they are a real boom. Benefits of a bilge keeler with fin keel performance. I am lucky in that my keel is c.1.5 metres long and has about 1/2 of the boats weight so that it will settle on the keel well in mud, shingle or sand and the legs provide lateral stability. Good company to deal with as well, they helped me with fitting instructions even though my legs were second hand.

do the bottoms have "feet" or are they just the same as the leg diameter?
 
With a threaded socket, you have to line up the threads and screw it in, from a dinghy. Much easier to just push it in and tie it to a stanchion. Easier to take out , to by just easing of the line, from on deck.
Yes it is a blind hole, all stainless inside.
Stainless type 3`16 ball valves have given me zero problems in over 40 years of use.
OK I understand, I thought you meant you were using the chine shape to lock the leg by virtue of its profile. Ours use a threaded socket in the hull, common practice this side of the pond, do ours just slot into the hole then without a thread? If so I assume it is a blind hole? Funnily enough I was looking at a big old wooden fishing boat today, the owner, now 74, was fairing the hull after a recent unfortunate event, a sinking due to a frozen and broken seacock. It's leg sockets were less substantial than our own tiny yacht's. After several decades of ownership and maintenance both as a fishing charter vessel and then his own personal boat, he was pretty sanguine about the whole thing, and it was gratifying to see him and his old mates hard at it with tools in hand,into their eighth decade. There is a joke in there somewhere, but I didn't spot it until I had typed ;)
 
With a threaded socket, you have to line up the threads and screw it in, from a dinghy. Much easier to just push it in and tie it to a stanchion. Easier to take out , to by just easing of the line, from on deck.
Yes it is a blind hole, all stainless inside.
Stainless type 3`16 ball valves have given me zero problems in over 40 years of use.

ours are easy to put in from the deck, but the bolts take an age to do up. However tey are wood, and I have not tried them actually in the water yet, maybe the buoyancy will be an issue.
 
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