Ballast Placement

[briboylan]

I have a 30ft, 8'4 beam, 4'5" draft, 1964 sloop with 4500# of stated ballast and 9500 disp. placed only 3 feet below the floor boards five ft. aft of the main post. The boat is very, very tender and initial moment of heel begins with one foot on board at the dock. If I move 300# of chain from the bow and place it on top of existing ballast how much net weight am I really added to ballast, and will this mediate or reduce the roll problem?

[FSMike]

The only difference that will result from relocating anchor chain from the bow to the middle of the boat is a reduction in hobby-horsing if you also have that problem. If the chain ends up in a lower position then it was it may help reduce the tenderness problem a bit. To really improve the initial heeling you need ballast mounted lower than the existing ballast.
Imho lol.

You don't say where you are or why you need 300' of chain on that boat. In my area I'd take 250' of it off the boat.

Edit: By "main post" I assume you mean main mast and not samson post?

[Sailmonkey]

No matter how you cut it a boat with a round hull and an 8' beam is going to be tender. The only cure is draft composed of more ballast. Older CCA styled boats tended to heel over to 20ish degrees before stiffening.


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[briboylan]

Thanks for the input. I agree 300 ft of chain is over the top but that's what the previous owner had in the forward peak. I will be cruising the SP but plan to move 200 ft further aft and lower but still accessible if I find myself in need of more chain. if I knew the actual CG, I would be tempted to put some of the lead bars under the water tank at bottom of the bilge.

[MarkSF]

The boat is likely to be initially tender, but probably has excellent behaviour at high angles of heel, better than a beamier boat, in fact.

The way to make it much less initially tender is to make it beamier. As this is clearly impossible, learn to deal with it and sail it as is.

Adding ballast is unlikely to give the result you want, as it has only a small effect on initial righting moment. That comes from form stability.

What problems is this tenderness causing?

[Snowpetrel]

What weight is your mast? About the best way to sort out a tender boat is to trim weight from the rig. The difference is truly remarkable. Of course adding weight low helps, but nowhere near like a much lighter mast will.

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[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, briboylan.

[jreiter190]

The original owner of Karen ordered Pearson to add 600# of additional lead to the ballast resulting in an A35 that didn't heel quickly as other A35s. I'm forever grateful for his foresight. You can't accomplish your goal by adding internal ballast above your existing ballast, but, perhaps adding to your exterior ballast would help. Too much though, would make her stiff. Don't know the build of your boat. Consult a naval architect.