yacht legs

[viago]

ok, i am now considering making my own yacht legs! £1500-£2500 seems a little rich!
i have many problems here, considering my prior posts concerning safety.
some designs are perpendicular to the hull but i favour a 20 degree spread.
also, my leaning is towards a 12 x 12 foot plate and he favours a 6 x 6 plate, inches that is.
i am reluctant to proceed without further advice.
i thank you for any advice.
the thing is, i can finish my project ashore, but am desperate to get on the water and still be able to work on my boat, but i cannot afford marina prices.

 

[viago]

i forgot to tell you that im planning to moor in a drying creek! the bottom is suitably muddy!

 

[viago]

what about a larger plate downstream and a smaller plate upstream?

 

[Wansworth]

Is there not enough mud to cradle the boat?For legs to function saftly a fairly hard even bottom is a good start.

 

[vyv_cox]

There's information about my some of experience of fitting and using Yacht Legs on my website here. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a site that shows some very good home-made ones.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

There's information about my some of experience of fitting and using Yacht Legs on my website here. At the bottom of the page there is a link to a site that shows some very good home-made ones.

Vyv,

How stable is the yacht if one was standing on the stern e.g. would the weight of a normally sized adult tip the yacht back, if say using the stern ladder to board?

Thanks,

BlowingOldBoots

 

[vyv_cox]

On our boat we have stood four people as far forward as possible to test the legs' stability. No movement at all. Certainly nothing happens when climbing up the stern ladder. We have overwintered twice on them, experiencing the usual strong winds, maintenance activities, etc, no problems at all. The only additional precautions we took was to tie the legs together under the keel in case someone managed to knock a leg out sideways.

 

[davidej]

I am staggered that it is safe to leave a yacht on legs like these to over-winter on hard standing.

I live opposite a boat yard and have seen yachts in very substantial cradles capsize in a winter gale.

Maybe taking the mast down is the answer

 

[Blueboatman]

Two h'apporth

I viewed a boat that had collapsible( no, telescopic) legs arranged to stow on the forecabin side shelves, with two circular holes cut to allow part of each leg to go into the anchor ( non deck opening) locker. Quite neat.

Perhaps 12 sq inch feet are not normally used because of the stowage considerations?

I cannot see the point in damping except perhaps a one inch slab of solid rubber on the underside of each foot.

The throughbolts really need to be big thick enough to resist shear bending, I guess 25mm dia but what kind of boat/ keel is it?

The best ones on wooden boats were shaped on one face to match the curve of the topside and fit really snugly( with chaff protection) but this might mark the gelcoat.
Great idea though. One saved marina haulout will pay for them!

 

[rich]

Two examples here, These 2 have been on legs full time since 1963/65,
do not make the pads to big, the legs must sink into the mud with the keel,they should be about 4/6 inches shorter than the draft. the legs most of the time have very little weight on them.

 

[vyv_cox]

From memory the feet on my Yacht Legs are about 10 x 6 inches. There is a rubber foot underneath the plate, I assume to resist skidding on concrete. I doubt if it compresses very much. I have the telescopic legs but AFAIK the fixed legs use the same feet.
The pin holding the legs into the socket on the topsides is 25 mm in diameter.

 

[alahol2]

Here is a pair I made from 4" Fence posts and some offcuts. They were lashed to the centre cleats at the top and had fore/aft/athwartships lines at the bottom. I used them several times on a hard, flat slip and the boat sat on them ashore for one winter.
Obviously I double checked the fixings of the centre cleats and I doubt I would trust it on an open mooring full time. But it was a cheap way of trying out the concept and worked extremely well.

 

[viago]

many thanks guys. some valuable info and all (somewhat surprisingly) pretty positive. my boat is a long keeled hurley 27.
i note that machining the hull attachment would be difficult and to that end i am considering two options:
1. two steel plates bolted either side of the hull with a straight tow bar passing through the plates/hull and bolted. this would attatch to a round unbraked lockable tow hitch which would be bolted through the legs.
2. insert a solid aluminium bar 100mm into the top of the 70mm x 5mm tubing and drill a hole through. bolt a 5" hull roller bracket to the hull.
in both cases i would apply the hull roller solution to the bottom end.
any ideas here would be welcomed but i think both methods would cause no more stress on the hull than the method used by other manufacturers.
i had also considered 4 x 4 fence posts for cost reasons but thought stowage and weight were not great.

 

[Wansworth]

A mate of mine has a Nic 32.It has a hole in the topsides to take a bolt which runs thruthe leg .On the insde of the hull its beefed up to make it thick to take the bolt,basicall the time worn system found on any wooden boat.

 

[viago]

A mate of mine has a Nic 32.It has a hole in the topsides to take a bolt which runs thruthe leg .On the insde of the hull its beefed up to make it thick to take the bolt,basicall the time worn system found on any wooden boat.

thanks, the only problem i see with that solution is that removal would become tedious and attaching would need a steady hand to get the angle right.
i was hoping for a rapid, hassle free fix.
i cant quite come up with simple means of fixing on the adjustable distancing arm needed to set the correct angle of the dangle. so im desperate for some ideas please.

 

[Wansworth]

thanks, the only problem i see with that solution is that removal would become tedious and attaching would need a steady hand to get the angle right.
i was hoping for a rapid, hassle free fix.
i cant quite come up with simple means of fixing on the adjustable distancing arm needed to set the correct angle of the dangle. so im desperate for some ideas please.

Dont think getting the leg in place a problem.In theory the boats in position with ropes etc about high water,Get the legs out take the bung out of the bolt hole lower the leg and push the bolt in the hole,the bolt is captive.fasten foreand aft loosely then finish tightening the bolt ,adjust leg for vertical ,pleanty of time.

 

[rich]

A mate of mine has a Nic 32.It has a hole in the topsides to take a bolt which runs thruthe leg .On the insde of the hull its beefed up to make it thick to take the bolt,basicall the time worn system found on any wooden boat.
Reply With Quote

That's the way to do it.

 

[viago]

Dont think getting the leg in place a problem.In theory the boats in position with ropes etc about high water,Get the legs out take the bung out of the bolt hole lower the leg and push the bolt in the hole,the bolt is captive.fasten foreand aft loosely then finish tightening the bolt ,adjust leg for vertical ,pleanty of time.

i think it will require me to have to keep going indoors and outdoors tightening nuts and pushing bolts. me thinks that pulling a pin out over the side or pulling a lever is much less of a faff.
on the other hand, such a straight-forward system has a lot less to go wrong. thanks, more thought needed.

 

[Oatcake]

Vyv,

How stable is the yacht if one was standing on the stern e.g. would the weight of a normally sized adult tip the yacht back, if say using the stern ladder to board?

Thanks,

BlowingOldBoots

It's quite alarming the angle that a heavy yacht will settle on legs. My old boat (folk boat type) used to settle at ridiculous anngles and not even seem close to falling over whilst on wooden legs.

 

[LittleSister]

i think it will require me to have to keep going indoors and outdoors tightening nuts and pushing bolts. me thinks that pulling a pin out over the side or pulling a lever is much less of a faff.
on the other hand, such a straight-forward system has a lot less to go wrong. thanks, more thought needed.

Not at all. I had home made (not be me) wooden legs on a Hurley 22 (long fin keel). They splayed slightly out (less than 20 degrees, IIRC), were curved vertically on the inside of the upper part to fit the shape of the hull, and had carpet glued to the inside of the curve to protect the gelcoat from scratches.

There were long bolts fitted through the top of each leg (I think they ere held captive by a nut sunk into the leg) which screwed through a hole in the hull into a nut glassed onto the hull inside with a plywood backing pad between the nut and the hole to spread the load.

Because the nut is captive, you don't need to be going inside at all. You just tie your two lines lossely from the foot of the leg (to ensure you don't lose it if you drop it) - one to a forward cleat, one aft (you will later tighten these so the leg can't be knocked forwards or backwards once in place); drop the leg into position (if wooden it's good to have a small weight on the bottom otherwise it'll they're trying to float), lean over, locate the bolt into the hole, screw hand tight. Get a spanner and pinch gently tight. Tighten your foot lines. Bob's your uncle.

When the legs were removed, the holes in the hull were filled with a stainless countersunk headed screw of the same size/thread as the leg bolts. Mine had been put in with a bit of mastic behind them, and this old mastic was sufficient to keep the holes watertight (even with the rail under) without needing to re-mastic each time.

To emphasise what others have said, the legs MUST be a little shorter than the keel. The keel must take the vast majority of the weight of the boat, and the legs are just there to keep it upright. If you are on a hard surface like concrete the boat will lean very slightly to one side or the other, but as long as this is only by a small amout it is fine. (You will find that you can push a boat of many tons onto the other leg with amazingly little effort - they are not carrying much weight.) If storing long term (e.g. winter) on a hard surface ply pads under the feet to take up the slack.

My boat's legs were all I ever used to stand her ashore each winter, apart from a prop under the bow to ensure it couldn't tip forward if anyone was on deck, and this never caused a problem or anxiety.

I'd recommend having a good look around on the internet and in boatyards to see how it is traditionally done - that's tried and tested. Be very careful with any novel ideas about fixing, construction, or dimensions. Your boat will be safe on a suitable surface with good legs, but it does weigh tons, and could kill someone if it fell on them.