JW's Upgrades for 2016 - Tender

[jfm]

Yup. I would buy two lumps of teak (not iroko) from kj Howells, 180x50x600, cut thé shapes, and attach to ss strips. Much cheaper and nicer. I'll post a few pics of mine maybe tmrw to give an idea

For very many reasons I wouldn't want those ones in your pictures even if £7.50 not £750. They don't support the tender wonderfully well and the 4x angle brackets in second pic are very ugly and not suitable for a yacht IMHO. The biiiig radius ends are truly pointless And make the chocks width much bigger than the width that actually does anything useful. You need ss and teak cut to a more supportive shape IMHO

 

[Hurricane]

Yup. I would buy two lumps of teak (not iroko) from kj Howells, 180x50x600, cut thé shapes, and attach to ss strips. Much cheaper and nicer. I'll post a few pics of mine maybe tmrw to give an idea

For very many reasons I wouldn't want those ones in your pictures even if £7.50 not £750. They don't support the tender wonderfully well and the 4x angle brackets in second pic are very ugly and not suitable for a yacht IMHO. The biiiig radius ends are truly pointless And make the chocks width much bigger than the width that actually does anything useful. You need ss and teak cut to a more supportive shape IMHO

Thanks
It would be useful if you would post some pics of yours.

I decided last night not to buy the ones in the photos above.
I also have a harebrained scheme to construct a cantilever chock arrangement to overhang bathing platform so maybe making something will get me nearer to that idea.

 

[Hurricane]

For very many reasons I wouldn't want those ones in your pictures even if £7.50 not £750. They don't support the tender wonderfully well and the 4x angle brackets in second pic are very ugly and not suitable for a yacht IMHO. The biiiig radius ends are truly pointless And make the chocks width much bigger than the width that actually does anything useful. You need ss and teak cut to a more supportive shape IMHO

So, you wouldn't buy these either then?

Sorry, I didn't ask the price!!

 

[Nick_H]

So, you wouldn't buy these either then?

Sorry, I didn't ask the price!!

I'm with jfm on this, those chocks are ridiculous. Imagine you had just the centre section with the two large black pads and the small section of base plate below it. Now look how much more metal there is to get an extra 80 sq mm of contact with the tender on each side!

You just need to find someone with a bandsaw, mark out the shape on some teak chocks, then ask the guy to follow the line.

edit: if you send the patterns to KJ Howells, they'll probably supply the teak and cut them for you for a reasonable price

 

[jfm]

So, you wouldn't buy these either then?

Absolutely not. The bolted on angle brackets are hideous. The shape is nuts - what purpose do the big stuck out curved ends serve, as Nick says? And it's mounted on a hi-lo. If -as is case with JennyWren- you're not mounting on a hi-lo then you can if you want use chocks that are designed a bit for beauty and not just function - I'll post some pics of my Laser chocks on the weekend to show an idea. But with a hi-lo you have to consider the fact that the dinghy hull will often strike the chocks hard during tender recovery, before you've even lined the thing up perfectly. With those shiny chocks in the above picture, the dinghy's GRP hull can strike stainless steel and the gelcoat will need repairs all the time. They're totally unsuitable for a hi-lo. With a h-ilo, the keel of the dinghy must be able to strike the chock anywhere, quite hard, and not be damaged, and simplest way (though not the only way) to achieve that is wooden block chocks.

Below pics show my hi-lo chocks. First one is aft end of dinghy, pics 2+3 are front end of dinghy. Imho there is no need for rubber soft strips on the teak: if you round all the edges of the teak you get no gelcoat damage if you put the dinghy gelcoat straight onto the teak, even in quite a hard strike. In 15 years of teak chocking (!) I have never used rubber on the teak. As I say I'll post Laser chock pics later

 

[Hurricane]

Absolutely not. The bolted on angle brackets are hideous. The shape is nuts - what purpose do the big stuck out curved ends serve, as Nick says? And it's mounted on a hi-lo. If -as is case with JennyWren- you're not mounting on a hi-lo then you can if you want use chocks that are designed a bit for beauty and not just function - I'll post some pics of my Laser chocks on the weekend to show an idea. But with a hi-lo you have to consider the fact that the dinghy hull will often strike the chocks hard during tender recovery, before you've even lined the thing up perfectly. With those shiny chocks in the above picture, the dinghy's GRP hull can strike stainless steel and the gelcoat will need repairs all the time. They're totally unsuitable for a hi-lo. With a h-ilo, the keel of the dinghy must be able to strike the chock anywhere, quite hard, and not be damaged, and simplest way (though not the only way) to achieve that is wooden block chocks.

Below pics show my hi-lo chocks. First one is aft end of dinghy, pics 2+3 are front end of dinghy. Imho there is no need for rubber soft strips on the teak: if you round all the edges of the teak you get no gelcoat damage if you put the dinghy gelcoat straight onto the teak, even in quite a hard strike. In 15 years of teak chocking (!) I have never used rubber on the teak. As I say I'll post Laser chock pics later

Thanks
I didn't realise how simple they were.
I think I've been trying to make them too complicated.

I'll probably wait until I actually get the dinghy and then I can get some actual dimensions.
I'm going down to the boat this month (strange route to get there though!!) - it would be good to try and use the old deck fixing points but they might be too close together for the new dinghy.
More measuring needed

Thanks also to NickH

 

[MapisM]

Absolutely +1 on everything N_H and jfm said.
I'll see if I can find a pic of my chocks, because if you're choosing the custom made route, there's another point you might wish to consider.
Will revert asap.

 

[jfm]

Doesn't add much but fwiw here is chock for walker bay on my old sq58. The lanyard on the lock screw was handy. The string doesn't twist as you turn the screw because it is attached by passing thru a small hole in the s/s tab with a knot the other side, so the string can rotate in the hole. And the other end of the string appears to disappear into the teak - there is a cavity inside the teak reached by removing the s/s strip, and a knot is made there. The s/s strip was too thin - I think it was 50x3mm, but I prefer 50x5mm which I have on current boat

 

[MapisM]

there's another point you might wish to consider.

Found a pic!

The chock in the pic is the stern one, and as you can see in the lower view, it was made with a border. This is meant to:
1) allow a more immediate placement of the dinghy in the right position;
2) not overhang the dinghy stern (which is obviously the heaviest part), risking to bend the hull if the chock is placed further towards the center.

Nowadays, practically I'm not using the dinghy anymore, but when I was in Croatia I used it a lot, and on my boat this little trick worked well for me.

 

[jfm]

Interesting idea Mapis M. Three things come to mind:
1. Hurricane has trim flaps (a deal breaker!)
2. IMO you need to be able to get to the bung so you can unscrew it while boat is on chocks (rain drain, etc) and screw it in just before launch. You could cut away some of the border piece to allow access to the bung - you seem to have 2 cut outs
3. On a hi-lo, the impact when you recover the tender in waves might be enough to smash the border off. I realise that aint relevant to your case and Hurricane's, so I'm just throwing that in a bit randomly

Those are just a few thoughts for people who might be looking at chock ideas generally - I'm not criticising the concept. I like how your s/s fittings raise the teak chock leaving an air gap. It avoids that zone being always a bit wet and inclined to change the colour of the teak

 

[MapisM]

Re.1, yep, that would be a deal breaker on current Hurricane tender, but does also the Novu have flaps?
Re.2, actually I can reach the bung in my tender, in spite of it being centered. The 2 cutouts that you see are for a reinforcement steel plate attached to the transom, whose borders interfered with the chock, but that's very peculiar of my rib.
Re.3, you'd be surprised by how strong that border is. And even if it's hard to tell from the pics, it's slightly rounded and angled, so in case of a sudden side movement, the tender can "climb" over the border, before breaking it. In fact, the carpenter who made those chocks is right at the top of the things which I'm missing, of the days when I was based in the Adriatic.

But I fully agree, all good points to consider - which would be impossible anyway, with some non-custom chocks like those above.
Asking 750 quids for them could be used as a perfect example of what shameless means... :ambivalence:

 

[jfm]

Yep hurricane is having flaps on his Novu and Bartw already has them. I don't and MYAG doesn't, but I do want to get some stern lift during hole shot so some extra aft hull area is on my jobs list

 

[BartW]

Yep hurricane is having flaps on his Novu and Bartw already has them. I don't and MYAG doesn't, but I do want to get some stern lift during hole shot so some extra aft hull area is on my jobs list

John, I believe you wanted some pics from these flaps,
I'm at the boat right now, but the tender is and was 6 weeks in the water , (long boaring story)
It will go out tomorrow, but I"m not sure if it will be cleaned and good enough for pics this weekend,
until I have new pics, here is one at the factory in Florida.
If you need some details or dimensions, pls asc while I'm here

 

[Nick_H]

Bart, do the smart tabs work well? I've just ordered some for my new tender.

 

[jfm]

Many thanks Bart. The hull will be dirty! Your pic tells me everything I think. I can see the flaps and dimensions on the Bennett website. Their "at rest" angle looks like 45 degrees downwards, right?
Best wishes for weekend

 

[BartW]

Bart, do the smart tabs work well? I've just ordered some for my new tender.

tbh, I never tryed without, but it seems that they do what they are supposed to do.
I have to admid that getting on the plane is not "immediately" when heavy loaded, so I think they improve the situation just a little, should compare without to be sure.
Novu has installed them without me ordering nor paying them, they "stronly advised" todo this.
I told them that I have a old pair at home (I still have) , but I"m glad to have a brand new pair, as the old pair looks "old"

 

[Hurricane]

Not sure if these are the same as I've ordered

http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/smar...ign=standard&gclid=CIHYgbW7_McCFaoEwwodpaMMVw

 

[Nick_H]

Many thanks Bart. The hull will be dirty! Your pic tells me everything I think. I can see the flaps and dimensions on the Bennett website. Their "at rest" angle looks like 45 degrees downwards, right?
Best wishes for weekend

Bart's look like the Nauticus SX tabs, as per Hurricane's link. I've ordered the original stainless smart tabs from them, as I need to mod them due to the shaped stern on my tender. The angle of both types is 25 degs at rest.

What would be really good is a ballast system that pumps water into a container in the bow. My tender runs like a dream with 50+ kgs in the front, but I can't leave permanent ballast in there as I'm on the limit of my crane's capacity

 

[Hurricane]

When I was doing my research, I found this Youtube clip.

The most interesting bit is at the end with the split screen showing before and after the tabs were fitted.
However, I'm not sure if the tabs will be more trouble than they are worth.
I was thinking of installing a bathing ladder on the transom but I think that the tabs will be in the way.
More importantly, they may foul when lifting the dinghy onto the flybridge or when launching and recovering from the dock/lift.

 

[Hurricane]

Out on the boat at the moment and one of my jobs this time is to measure for the chocks.
But I've hit a bit of a problem.
I was expecting this to be a bit of a tight fit so this isn't a surprise.

The crane has a shoulder that obstructs the dinghy as it swings out.
The old Walker Bay wasn't a problem because it has a narrower beam and there is plenty of space to set it about 300mm further aft.
However, the new boat is slightly wider and it would be nice to use the crane's "shoulder space" to store the dinghy.
The crane's shoulder is not a problem once the crane is folded away.
I could show some pics but I think that description outlines the problem.

A solution that I have thought is to install the new chocks on a slide or a track - something that allows the chocks to stick out about 300mm.
Then the new dinghy could be loaded onto the chocks using the crane - the crane could then be folded away and the dinghy could then be slid back and secured.

So, I wonder if anyone has had any experience with a sliding mechanism in this environment.
It seems from a quick "google" that the devices are called "linear roller bearings".
Any ideas on how this could be achieved?