Yacht legs :- pricing

[Plum]

Our boat weighs 8.5t.
I used 2 3/4" heavy walled alum. pipe; wall thickness is 3/8". The legs are 7' long and joined in the middle with a sleeve near enough the inside diametre with a min of 2.5 the diametre overlap per side. Use a pin or bolt to hold the halves together.

Add steps to suit on one side, if desired. I used 15mm stainless threaded rod, holes drilled all the way through the tube with nuts to hold in place. Cover with water hose for comfort, washer and acorn nut on the end so you don't slip off the end with your foot.

The hull fitting is made from solid alum. bar, drilled and machined ( read belt sander) to shape. It is held on by 4x M10 SS bolts with a 3/4" ply backing set in epoxy on the inside of the hull. The top pin is a 1" SS bolt with the head removed and a kerf (recess) machined (read angle grinder) into the end. The pin is held in place by a u-shaped piece bent of 4mm rod that fits through the holes in the fitting and catches the recess in the pin.

The pads are two layers of 3/4" ply, 8x8" and simply screwed to a short length of angle bar.

Aluminum can be easily worked with common wood working tools.

Nice job! Thanks for sharing. How much shorter are the legs than the keel? You obviously want to allow the keel to settle into a sandy bottom before the legs take too much load versus too much heel on a concrete hard.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Frogmogman]

Nice job.

 

[Praxinoscope]

Does anyone use them in the UK nowadays? I can't remember ever seeing any in use here , except in boatyards.

My last boat which I owned for over 20 years was fitted with Yacht Legs made by the YL company, as she was a long keeper in a drying harbour the legs were an essential part of her kit, never had any problems with the legs neither did the previous owner who moored her in the same harbour for five years before I bought her.
YL legs certainly weren't cheap, part of the problem I understand was that tooling up to manufacture some of the parts was expensive , especially for a relatively limited market, having said that I always found the company very easy and helpfu
l.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I also made a set of legs when I was building my boat.

Mine are made for square tube each in 3 pieces for storage then galvanized.

These slides also support a boarding ladder

Upper locking/support

 

[Little Dorrit]

I paid £800 for a set of adjustable ones and have used them enough times now for me to have justified the cost. I don't know if non adjustable legs would work on an uneven or sloping beach because as you can see in the pictures to keep the boat reasonably upright one leg sometimes needs to be set longer than the other.

 

[Laminar Flow]

Nice job! Thanks for sharing. How much shorter are the legs than the keel? You obviously want to allow the keel to settle into a sandy bottom before the legs take too much load versus too much heel on a concrete hard.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

Correct observation. I actually calculated the pad area versus the the keel area to ensure minimal pad loading. I first made the legs1.5" shorter than keel depth, later I cut off another 2". On a concrete surface one is likely to block up the boat; it is a simple matter of blocking the legs as well.

 

[PaulR]

we had and used a set on our freedom 35 and also have and use a set on our current wingkeel starlight 35 excellent bits of kit

 

[Kelpie]

Re: length of legs
If the legs are a good bit shorter than the keel, the boat will ground completely and then slowly tip on to one leg. So if there is any movement, e.g. yawing at the anchor, or a slight swell, it is the keel that is taking all that load
Then when you refloat, the boat will firstly right herself so neither leg is touching, before lifting completely off the bottom.
The first time I used my legs, I was wary of letting the boat tip over too far, and didn't shorten the legs very much. Then when the tide came back, the wind direction had changed. As the boat began to float, she dragged one foot across the bottom. The legs aren't designed to take that kind of load, fortunately no damage was done but it showed me exactly why you need to keep the legs short.

 

[Laminar Flow]

Re: length of legs
If the legs are a good bit shorter than the keel, the boat will ground completely and then slowly tip on to one leg. So if there is any movement, e.g. yawing at the anchor, or a slight swell, it is the keel that is taking all that load
Then when you refloat, the boat will firstly right herself so neither leg is touching, before lifting completely off the bottom.
The first time I used my legs, I was wary of letting the boat tip over too far, and didn't shorten the legs very much. Then when the tide came back, the wind direction had changed. As the boat began to float, she dragged one foot across the bottom. The legs aren't designed to take that kind of load, fortunately no damage was done but it showed me exactly why you need to keep the legs short.

Not to mention the bizarre and jarring hippo dance you get when on the verge of refloating.

 

[mainsail1]

Sorry to hear that the Yacht Leg company no longer exists.
Our yacht legs have been used 2 or 3 times a year for 25 years and are wonderful.

 

[Goldie]

Sorry to hear that the Yacht Leg company no longer exists.
Our yacht legs have been used 2 or 3 times a year for 25 years and are wonderful.

The company still exists, but they have concentrated on building their (excellent) cradles and sadly, discontinued their range of legs; thus my search for a good pair of FA4s continues...