Plastimo Liferaft cradle

[JohnR]

I am looking at liferaft cradles for mounting on the side of the vessel. Has anyone any experience of the Plastimo Universal Cradle. Can it be used with a hydrostatic release? The picture in the catalogue is not clear.

 

[zefender]

I have a universal cradle. Assuming they haven't changed it recently, mine has two 'arms' that come over the top of the cradle from hinges. The end of each arm is curled to fit into a slot at the other end - which is adjustable to fit different raft sizes.. The main fastening is a single lever clip. I'm not sure whether it would work with a hydrostatic release system since even if it could replace the lever, you still need to ease the arms out of the slots. This only takes a second by hand, but I'd have thought an automatic system would run the risk of catching something. That said, I remember the chandler saying it would work with one (I'm not entirely convinced).

Suggest you contact the manufacturers to be sure.

 

[JohnR]

Thanks - it was the arms that made me suspicious. No point ccontacting the manufacturer, they are French.