Yacht legs - tubes

[oldbilbo]

What we need is some balsawood, an Xcraft knife, a bit of glue, several pints of beers, and a forum team to have a brianstorming session

I suspect you have that in inappropriate order.....

And yes, legs can be hollow....

 

[vyv_cox]

I've no idea how high the centre of gravity is on a Cutlass, but they draw 4'6" and have a 50% ballast ratio. If I guess at it being bout 5' above the bottom of the keel, that means it can heel about 35 degrees before the centre of gravity passes over the point of contact between the loaded leg and the mud. Just before that point, I guess nearly all the weight of the boat will be on the leg and beyond that point, it will fall over anyway.

The dimensions of mine are very similar, except for the boat beam. What you say just doesn't happen. I doubt if we have ever heeled more than about 5 degrees. Provided the legs are splayed out a bit, which they always are with the Yacht Legs design, all will be well. Yacht Legs have been in existence for many years and I know of no examples of a boat falling over on them. Their experience is obviously far greater than mine, but they say the same.

 

[viago]

Oh, BTW, I'm also visualising what something made up of epoxy-laminated multiple ply might look like. 'Twould probably take a nice coat of varnish better than some angular hollow section aly tube..... Just musing....

the vast majority of boat legs are indeed home made from wood and shaped to the form of the hull. i saw a beautiful design recently whereby the lower bolt holding the legs to the hull was removed and the legs swung up aft and, using the same bolt, bolted through the hull in the horizontal position for transit. storage sorted.

but that's for those rough fishermen and mobo types, not for the more well to do middle class yachties.

 

[LadyInBed]

Laminated ply could also be hollow.

There's a thought, you could box in your Ally tube to stiffen it up and then add the extra functionality - ladder etc., and stable flat hull pads.

 

[thalassa]

Interesting. Before you started this thread, I was contemplating making two beaching legs out of the lower sections of two carbon windsurfing-board mast. I've already made a 3 m whisker pole from one, cost me 10 EUR - came from the recycling shop, where they turn up regularly in Autumn... I was amazed how well the mast withstood bending forces (as in jumping up and down the middle) with a wall thickness of only 2 mm.

 

[oldbilbo]

Some seem to manage quite well without.... :encouragement:

 

[Blueboatman]

Up some of the Fal creeks, on permanent foreshore moorings on firm ground, a sort of open ended, 4 pole 'box' or upturned table into which one parked the boat was seen quite often ..

Of course, a pita if you move moorings every couple of years...

 

[Plum]

The dimensions of mine are very similar, except for the boat beam. What you say just doesn't happen. I doubt if we have ever heeled more than about 5 degrees. Provided the legs are splayed out a bit, which they always are with the Yacht Legs design, all will be well. Yacht Legs have been in existence for many years and I know of no examples of a boat falling over on them. Their experience is obviously far greater than mine, but they say the same.

I would appreciate your views on the following beaching leg design before I start. The boat is 3tonnes displacement with a draft of 1m:-
1) The legs will be splayed out by 10degrees and will be 100mm shorter than the keel to ensure the keel touches first which will mean that if on a very hard surface the boat will heel by 10degrees before a leg touches. In most cases the keel will settle slightly so the heel could be less.

2) The legs will have 125mm square feet (don’t want them to resist sinking too much otherwise they will take undue load if the keel sinks more)

3) They will be made from 48mm diameter, 4mm wall thickness, galvanised steel tube (scaffold!) with a total length from hull attachment point to foot of 1.5m

Many thanks..

Colin solocoastalsailing.co.uk