Hauling a Norman Cross 50'

[freelance 83]

Hello out here, is there anyone with a Norman Cross that has been hauled out with a SLING, pictures? I FINALLY have a yard here in So. CAl that is considering it. (I would have not bought it, this boat if I knew it was going to take this long). They have a crane & Sling set up only, the owner is a little apprehensive about doing it... Afraid it will crush in on the amas. It is a 50' with a 26' beam, the wings, if lifted by the main hull, are 35'. He thinks that is too far apart or does not have the capability.
It was built by Southbay multi-hull, SD. back in 1983. I think it is of really good construction.

Thanks

[PushingThePen]

Originally Posted by freelance 83

Hello out here, is there anyone with a Norman Cross that has been hauled out with a SLING, pictures? I FINALLY have a yard here in So. CAl that is considering it. (I would have not bought it, this boat if I knew it was going to take this long). They have a crane & Sling set up only, the owner is a little apprehensive about doing it... Afraid it will crush in on the amas. It is a 50' with a 26' beam, the wings, if lifted by the main hull, are 35'. He thinks that is too far apart or does not have the capability.
It was built by Southbay multi-hull, SD. back in 1983. I think it is of really good construction.

Thanks

What harbor are you in? Newport Beach has one that can handle it and your not going to deal with the micro metal issue your get in Long Beach or Wilmington if you're planning to do any gel coat.

[freelance 83]

I'm in Wilmington, Leeward bay Marina. The yard is right around the corner from me. Cabrillo Boat Yard.
What is the place you're referring to?

[freelance 83]

He does of course, a 30' spreader. keeps saying the same thing, worried about the amas. It would be 2' on each side away from the amas side hulls, pushing in on the bottom tip. I guess he's new to this, the yard he just took over. Really a picture would be great, hope someone has one??

[Paul Howard]

Here at the Toronto Multihull Cruising Club we have many trimarans, though the largest are a couple 40ft. Brown Searunners, and a few Cross tri's. the largest a 40ft built in the 1980's.
We crane haul out and launch with slings for winter storage, catamarans with spreader bars and trimarans without spreader bars.
The larger tri's usually just put a sling around the main hull forward of the wing deck through where the netting attaches to the hull at the wing deck and another sling around the main hull at the aft end of the cockpit where the sling lays against the wing deck. No slings go around or under the amas.
Thus no loading on the amas and no spreader bars.
I agree with the yard that putting pressure on the amas might cause crushing. Slings on the main hull only works. The club has been doing this for nearly 50years.
A couple tri's lift from straps attached to the chainplates with shackles, but one had dropped a few years ago when a chainplate pulled out of a rotten bulkhead.
I couldn't find a photo to send.

[jdazey]

Yes, slings on the main hull only!

[Dsanduril]

Here's a photo of a Cross 40 in the air. Sorry about the quality, but this long predates digital photos online so I had to scan a very old photo.

Note the straps are only on the main hull. We hauled and launched this boat in this manner probably half a dozen times before trailers became more common (and once in Wilmington).

Note at the bow there are blocks on the hull to hold the strap away from the hull, these are placed opposite an internal bulkhead and keep the strap from hitting the deck fairing between main hull and ama. Otherwise the strap would be further forward and not on the bulkhead.

At the aft end the strap is carefully guided between the rudder and the prop strut to get it in the right position.

Hope it helps.



[Edit] One more note, this was a cutter, with the mast up we had to remove the backstay to get the spreaders in place correctly, the mast was mostly held in place by running backs, with halyards run to the end of the amas as temporary backstays. In the ketch, if you have a triatic stay that may need to come down, depends on the reach of the crane and the length of their bridles.[/edit]

[freelance 83]

Originally Posted by jdazey

Yes, slings on the main hull only!

Yes, I'm great with that, he could turn his spreader to his max, 30' down the main hull. but might pull in on the wings. It is 35' of wings fore & aft.

[freelance 83]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

Here's a photo of a Cross 40 in the air. Sorry about the quality, but this long predates digital photos online so I had to scan a very old photo.

Note the straps are only on the main hull. We hauled and launched this boat in this manner probably half a dozen times before trailers became more common (and once in Wilmington).

Note at the bow there are blocks on the hull to hold the strap away from the hull, these are placed opposite an internal bulkhead and keep the strap from hitting the deck fairing between main hull and ama. Otherwise the strap would be further forward and not on the bulkhead.

At the aft end the strap is carefully guided between the rudder and the prop strut to get it in the right position.

Hope it helps.

Attachment 258407

[Edit] One more note, this was a cutter, with the mast up we had to remove the backstay to get the spreaders in place correctly, the mast was mostly held in place by running backs, with halyards run to the end of the amas as temporary backstays. In the ketch, if you have a triatic stay that may need to come down, depends on the reach of the crane and the length of their bridles.[/edit]

Thanks for the picture. Yes, that's what he wants to do, it's just his max spreaders are 30'. i guess that would pull in on the wings.
I see what you're saying with the blocks, the spreaders on each side are shorter than the wings.

[jdazey]

OK, I see your problem. Pull the slings slightly forward of the cross-arm fairings so that the angle to the spreaders is straight or at least fairly close to straight. Instead of being straight down, the sling will be angled, but your boat has enough rocker that the slings won't slip.

[freelance 83]

[QUOTE=freelance 83;3629059]Hello out here, is there anyone with a Norman Cross that has been hauled out with a SLING, pictures? I FINALLY have a yard here in So. CAl that is considering it. (I would have not bought it, this boat if I knew it was going to take this long). They have a crane & Sling set up only, the owner is a little apprehensive about doing it... Afraid it will crush in on the amas. It is a 50' with a 26' beam, the wings, if lifted by the main hull, are 35'. He thinks that is too far apart or does not have the capability.
It was built by Southbay multi-hull, SD. back in 1983. I think it is of really good construction.

Thanks[/QUO[ATTACH]

[freelance 83]

[QUOTE=freelance 83;3629413]

Originally Posted by freelance 83

Hello out here, is there anyone with a Norman Cross that has been hauled out with a SLING, pictures? I FINALLY have a yard here in So. CAl that is considering it. (I would have not bought it, this boat if I knew it was going to take this long). They have a crane & Sling set up only, the owner is a little apprehensive about doing it... Afraid it will crush in on the amas. It is a 50' with a 26' beam, the wings, if lifted by the main hull, are 35'. He thinks that is too far apart or does not have the capability.
It was built by Southbay multi-hull, SD. back in 1983. I think it is of really good construction.

Thanks[/QUO[ATTACH]

Attachment 258414

added the picture, you can see my wings are rather unhelpful in this situation...

[freelance 83]

Originally Posted by jdazey

OK, I see your problem. Pull the slings slightly forward of the cross-arm fairings so that the angle to the spreaders is straight or at least fairly close to straight. Instead of being straight down, the sling will be angled, but your boat has enough rocker that the slings won't slip.

Yes, I think it is far apart but as the other gentleman's picture shows, the sling is at an angle to the spreader.

Thanks for all your info/ help.

[Dsanduril]

I suppose this won't help at this point, but after numerous times hauling in slings, and having the exact troubles you are having, we built a set of lifting plates for the boat.

They were bolted to the main bulkheads fore and aft. In your picture looks like those are between the head and galley and between the saloon and aft cabins. These were a lot like chainplates but beefier (our chainplates were nowhere near where you might want to lift). They were toe-stubbers, so they didn't stay installed, could be made from mild steel. Ours about 36" x 3" x 3/8". Four 1/2" bolts connected them to main beam/bulkhead. When not in use had a deck plate to cover where they penetrated deck (also used as additional ventilation when at anchor in tropics). Holes in bulkhead had pretty plugs to put in them.

Eventually got to the point where we hauled almost entirely on trailers and they fell out of use, but deck plates and holes are still there. With the lifting plates it became much less critical exactly how the spreader bars (if any) fit.

BTW, that photo is at Marina Shipyard in Alamitos Bay, right across from the LBYC.

[captnknopf]

we had no problems hauling our cross 53 with slings across all 3 hulls. It was made from Arex but the cross beams were wood. If it is picked up across the bulkheads there will be no problem