Weights in the bilge

[bletso]

For the life of me I can not find a rational for two 30 kg weights just sitting in the bilge amidships either side of an 60 gal water take and two 20 kg weights sitting up under the transmission?

They can't have that much effect on a boat that weighs 14,500 kg? the danger they would pose in a knock down would be disastrous to think about!!

Could have been weight corrections for racing?

Pardon the orientation, I did not realize it was tilted, I'm doing this on the ipad, computer is down.

[Reefmagnet]

My boat has two heavy looking lead ingots bolted to an internal web spporting the skeg in the rear of the boat. This boat had a different fitout to standard because of survey requirements. I've assumed because of this the extra weight was added to correct the trim. Maybe yours are there for a similar reaon?

[S/V Alchemy]

It's probably for reasons of trimming, or was part of a larger collection of weights, now gone.

I have a number of lead ingots in my bow. As I fill the bow with tools and stores (it's a rather bluff bow), I schlep the weights into the bilges or off the boat.

[gjordan]

If the weights are are not strongly bolted down, they are a real hazard. Enough people on this forum have taken a knock down (including myself), and can tell you that heavy flying objects are very dangerous. Someone probably thought the boat was too tender , and put the weight to stiffen the boat up. Take them out, and see if it seriously affects how the boat sails. If you then feel that it was needed, replace with spare chain, spare anchors, etc., and make sure they are strongly secured. Of course, the previous owner may have thought that the weight was easier than learning how to reef early. Just my 2 cents worth. ______Grant.

[Cheechako]

It was not unusual for trimming many years ago. Not all boats float on their designed lines! But yeah... flying around lead ingots would not be too good!

[Stu Jackson]

This comes up every once in a while.

The very best weights for any trimming are BATTERIES.

Get rid of the ingots, unless they're gold or silver.

[GrowleyMonster]

Its a weighty issue, and nothing to make light of.

[DoubleWhisky]

Originally Posted by bletso

For the life of me I can not find a rational for two 30 kg weights just sitting in the bilge amidships either side of an 60 gal water take and two 20 kg weights sitting up under the transmission?

They can't have that much effect on a boat that weighs 14,500 kg? the danger they would pose in a knock down would be disastrous to think about!!

Could have been weight corrections for racing?

Pardon the orientation, I did not realize it was tilted, I'm doing this on the ipad, computer is down.

For the trim of the boat total of 100 kg versus 14.5 tons of displacement is nothing (if the weights You have are not leftovers).
The same for weight correction, I do believe.
They really may be leftovers of larger collection serving trim purposes once upon a time
Other possibility - weights of 10 - 30 kg were some time ago (sixties - eighties of XX century) used to dampen vibration from machinery on the boat (engine, generator, transmission, pumps and so on). Nowadays this is rather obsolete solution, but it was surprisingly effective if the weights were sized and placed properly. May be Your weights serve this purpose. Anyway - they should be effectively fixed once positioned properly...
Vibration dampening weights were fixed together with the layer of hard rubber or a layer of wood between them and the hull structure.

Regards

Tomasz

[sparrowhawk1]

My boat also has lead ingots lurking loose just in front of the rudder post. there's no way this



will make much difference to twenty-five thousand plus displacement vessel. And I've always tried to keep the weight out of the ends. the only thing I can figure is it's a good place to store lead for when **** hits the fan so I can make bullets. Popcorn

[ryon]

Have you determined what those weights in your bilge actually ARE? I can think of good reasons why you wouldn't want anyone to know about this!

[bletso]

They appear to be pig iron castings, definitely not lead.

[bornyesterday]

They look like the kind of heavy wooden baulks that are often placed under the keel/s when boats are lowered onto the hard.

Iron or lead that size would be much more than 30 Kg I believe.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by DoubleWhisky

...
Other possibility - weights of 10 - 30 kg were some time ago (sixties - eighties of XX century) used to dampen vibration from machinery on the boat (engine, generator, transmission, pumps and so on). Nowadays this is rather obsolete solution, but it was surprisingly effective if the weights were sized and placed properly. May be Your weights serve this purpose. Anyway - they should be effectively fixed once positioned properly...
Vibration dampening weights were fixed together with the layer of hard rubber or a layer of wood between them and the hull structure.
...

DING! DING! DING!

Not to hijack the thread, but with that insight, the light bulb's come on and that's what I now reckon mine are for. I think that they're there to help stop the skeg vibrating if the prop and shaft are out of balance.

[DoubleWhisky]

This is old trick, but sometime useful.
First time I saw it in the boats built for Polish AC team. Long ago...
They were noisy like hell in racing mode, but weights put in place made them much less noisy when not racing.
It can be used even today sometime.
For example - do somebody have really noisy fresh water pump?
Make a sandwich of two sheets of reinforced rubber and a sheet of lead (the lead weight of at least twice the weight of pump itself) and mount the pump on this sandwich. You should sleep much better, with somebody running the water from a tap