Weight and balance

[Ibetitsthisway]

hi there

I can only contribute this:

we have a 25ft Albin Motorboat. swedish. very seaworthy for its size. in order to make her go smoother through choppy waters we place 3x 20l water cans right on the bow next to the anchor.

as soon as waves approach 2m hight, going right upwind she is heaving a hard time with the water ballast. we remove the cans. bring them aft. and she behaves better, taking on much less water on foredeck.

cruising weight is 2,5t. so... 2-3% weight distribution make a considerable difference.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by NorthernMac

Honestly I doubt all of my stuff and upgrades to the boat will be close to 1,000lbs, so that’s good, I’ll just try to keep the weight close to forward of the mast, think I can get the AC up there as well as getting a fridge with a remote compressor, forgot the name of that one though, and maybe put its compressor forward as well.

I think you will be quite close to and extra 1000lbs fully loaded as a live aboard. Weights in Kgs as its easier for me:

100kgs-water
30kgs - dinghy
12kgs - outboard
30kgs - food
50kgs - clothes and posessions
76kgs - diesel
20kgs - AC
20kgs - fridge
20kgs - dog
30kgs - scuba
20kgs - solar
30kgs - sails incl storm jib and cruising chute/spin

So that is 438kgs or 963lbs. However, its not all bad news as that weight can be spread around the boat and some of it is movable to balance the boat fore and aft, side to side.

The other thing we do is cruise with half full tanks. Since water in NW Europe is plentiful, good quality and free, if we know there is an easily supply at our next destination, then we are quite happy to leave with what's in the tank. Same for fuel. We could motor at cruising speed for 48 hours continuously, but we never have, so the tank is only half filled.

Finally I was watching some YT videos of folk provisioning for the ARC, Canaries to Carib. You can see them armed with a small shopping list on nothing bigger than a envelop, then grab 4 or five trolleys and do a supermarket dash, ending up 800 Euro poorer. What concerned me is the lack planning, how did they know they had enough of something and would it run out half way?

Well I guess it doesn't matter. Assuming they are provisioning for a crew of 4 or 5 and the trip will take 3-4 weeks on a 50ft yacht. If they run out of peanut butter or cheese in week 3 then they just eat something else and choose the menu each day from the supplies. The boat is big enough to take it without too much trouble and the weight drops each day. Though I did wonder at one couple who bought 48 yogurts for just the two of them. How long will they last and how big is the fridge with all the other stuff?

On our boat coastal cruising I know the water will run out on day 5 so we don't stock up for more than 3-4 days other than a some emergency rations, dog food, spag bol, chilli CC, wine etc. Keeps the weight down and we can buy fresh food more regularly.

Pete

[NorthernMac]

Originally Posted by meirriba

The CG should be above the keel centre.
You will like it to be as low as possible.
So - install everything as low, as clise to boat centerline and as close to the middle of the boat.
The above is usually very hard to achieve.
Anyway, I believe that you are not racing, so the ideal weight distribution is important but not a must.
Think about four crew members moving around on the deck - how their weight distribution is constantly changing.

Gotcha, thanks!

I’ll work on trying to shift weight to keep it low and on point.

I may not be racing, but that’s no reason not to strive for perfection