Hull Integrity

[foggysail]

Yesterday the marina where I keep my boat was involved hauling boats to safety from Hurricane Irene. One cat about 65' in length was absolutely beautiful!!!! But then again, there are buts....

One of the slings on the travel lift that hauled the boat crushed the hull ripping a hole through the cat's side! The tear was huge, about 2 feet! But what really amazed me was the fiberglass layers ( 2 layers) thickness was about 1/8" thick.... some others said it might be 3/16" thick. There was about 1" of plastic foam sandwiched between the 1/8-3/16" inner layer and outer layers of fiberglass.

I am not a marine engineer, is this the construction technique that one can expect for big bucks? I personally would never go out to sea in something so fragile.

OK, maybe the travel lift should have used more slings. I have no clue. I also did not learn who manufactured the boat. To me, it was an example of no concern for safety by the manufacturer. Happy it was not my money.

Foggy

[Vasco]

Sounds like the spreaders were not wide enough for the cat. Construction does not strike me as unusual. Got to keep the weight down on those cats.

[44'cruisingcat]

They must have put the slings in the wrong place. Doing that can damage mono's too.

If that kind of "fragile" construction is such a worry to you, I suggest you never get on an aeroplane.

[barnakiel]

Hard to say how good the construction is and whether the lift operator made a mistake or not. The test of a boat is not in being lifted anyway.

Think a 747 being lifted like this - one sling under each wing. Would there be any damage? And yet, they fly safely!

b.

[Cheechako]

1/8 on a 65 cat? way too thin in my thinking. I know my 42 lagoon was almost double that. begs the question though.... why didnt the core distribute the force? (it must have crushed)

[Intentional Drifter]

Sounds like incorrect lift points. You can do it wrong on just about any boat and break it. Shoot, that's also why high heels are strictly forbidden on my boat.

ID