Pros and Cons of Hydrostatic Release on Liferaft on a Catamaran

[rgesner]

(I think this is more appropriate here in the Multihull forum than the Safety forum because it is multihull-specific)

I'm getting a new offshore liferaft in a rail-mount container.

Is a hydrostatic release necessary, is there any advantage to it on a cat, or could it be potentially detrimental?

The primary reason for the liferaft on a cat with positive buoyancy is in case of fire, in which case I think you'd have more than sufficient time to manually release the raft before it sank low enough to trigger the hydrostatic release.

The only other way the liferaft would be immersed to trigger a legitimate release would be in case of capsize, in which case the boat would remain afloat and you could seek refuge on the underside of the bridgedeck until a swimmer released the raft (and even then, we'd probably secure the raft on the bridgedeck and shelter in it).

On the con/detrimental side, I've read of at least one instance where premature release on passage destroyed a liferaft.

Thanks - Rusty

[monte]

I'd skip the hydrostatic release Some good info in this recent thread

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-144163-3.html

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by rgesner

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The only other way the liferaft would be immersed to trigger a legitimate release would be in case of capsize, in which case the boat would remain afloat and you could seek refuge on the underside of the bridgedeck until a swimmer released the raft (and even then, we'd probably secure the raft on the bridgedeck and shelter in it).

On the con/detrimental side, I've read of at least one instance where premature release on passage destroyed a liferaft.

Thanks - Rusty

Highly unlikely to sink most cats "catastrophically" (quickly) so not "necessary" IMHO. Quite possible to sink most monos catastrophically so more important on a mono.

Hydro releases trigger a few meters underwater so in most cases I suspect just a capsize would not trigger it.