19,000 Pounds of fun.

[jmontani]

Just pulled the boat for a bottom job and it weighed in around +/-19,000 lbs in the slings. Solstice is a MKII, Tall rig, Fin Keel. Water and holding tanks were dry and the Fuel tank was full.

Is that about where the boat should weigh in? Anyone know what the ship weight was from the factory?

This is about 71% displacement/weight to float the boat.

There is also an interesting link on comparing boat specs at http://www.image-ination.com/sailcalc.html

[cillman]

Jack - In September, my C34 Std Rig, Fin Keel was +/- 18,000. Maybe 20 gal fuel & 20 gal water, plus my usual cruising stuff, except the dinghy/motor. I don't know where Catalina got the 11,950# on the brochure. Maybe without rig, sails and motor or possibly the keel.

Craig

[LCBrandt]

My Mk II was hauled by a crane a few years ago and the operator said the weight was in the high 18,000s. Sounds reasonable to me. Once all optional equipment is added, provisions, cruising gear, books/charts, bottom paint, water and fuel tanks are topped off...I can imagine it. I always treated the number with a bit of skepticism, though, as I have little faith in the accuracy of a crane to accurately weigh an object of that size. Far more accurate would be to get a trucker hauling a C36 to go through the DOT scales.

[serena]

Jack, the lift operator indicated that Serena weighed in excess of 18000 lbs when we pulled her for a bottom job. So, I suppose that your quoted weight is somewhat correct.

Mike
Serena hull 2137

[deising]

Just pulled the boat for a bottom job and it weighed in around +/-19,000 lbs in the slings. ... This is about 71% displacement/weight to float the boat.

Jack,

I am confused by your sentence. Any floating object will always displace an amount of water which weighs the same as the boat.

[jmontani]

Duane,

Thank you for the correction.

I found it odd that the specs state the displacement is 13,500lbs and the weight of the boat out of the water is 19,000lbs. Meaning that the displacement according to the specs turned out to be 71% of the actual weight of the boat out of the water. I just thought that it was a huge spread from the specs.

Just got me wondering where they came up with 13,500 and what that number truly represents.

I did find an intersting thread on the SSCA forum...

http://www.ssca.org/DiscBoard/viewtopic.php?t=7777&sid=e1b3e950ed40d00cf6ced3947fc87f4f

Thanks.

[Steve Frost]

In the aircraft maintenance business we often are asked to weigh aircraft. It is important on an aircraft for weight and balance purposes, it also determines the useful load of the aircraft as the more the basic airplane weighs, the less it can carry. It is a thankless job much a kin to charging woman to weigh them, they never like the answer.

Aircraft too almost always get heavier over time, equipment is added the weight of which is often miscalculated, dirt builds up in nooks and crannies, new interiors are often heavier and paint to adds weight.

Our boat hulls do absorb water, even hulls that show a fairly low moisture content, this adds to the total weight. It may be interesting to ask the travel lift operator for a read when the boat goes back in the water after being on the hard for a few days.

A gain of 5000 lbs does surprise me. The manufacturer may be a bit optimistic and trying to push the racer in the cruiser he is selling. It may explain why so few people can get their 36 to sail to its handicap number as it may be more handicaped than we think.

It does make for a nice comfortable cruiser and if we think of buying or selling the boat by the pound it is now a better value.

[deising]

You are welcome, Jack. I'm glad you didn't take it as a criticism. While the physics are very simple and clear, it can be a confusing subject when commercial and marketing interests get involved.

[jmontani]

I sent an email to the "experts", maybe they can chime in with some factory detail. In Fleet 15, those that I have asked, 18k - 20klbs seems to be the spread while age of the boat is not a factor.

Either way we love the boat, performs very well in PHRF racing in medium to heavy winds, and I have no intentions of selling the boat based on how these numbers were established.

[LCBrandt]

What IS the actual weight of beer, anyway?

[Bill Colmer]

We just purchased our Catalina 36 about six weeks ago and it supposedly weighed 19,000 lbs. It has extra fuel tank, and unknown weight of the water tanks and holding tank, extra gear, pots and pans, dishes, anchor and chain, windlass motor, and probably a thousand pounds of assorted goodies on board. I suspect the figure you got from the crane operator is about right, there are apparently a lot of owners who got similar numbers.

[Nimue]

My 1983 hull #75 weighed in between 18 and 19000 on the last haul out - disappointing but I think it is pretty common. J/35's have been known to vary by over 1000 pounds when weighing in for one-design racing and they were actually supposedly paying attention to the weight when they built those...

[bstreet]

When the boat was pulled last Tuesday the crane operator stopped as soon as it got in the air and said that it weighed 19,000 lbs and he was concerned he couldn't reach over to the cradle with that much weight. He wanted guys watching the outriggers when he did it. I meant to ask if his insurance was good. The boat was empty then too, full fuel but nothing else, no mast, sails and rigging, not even upholstery.

That same day they lifted 34, 37 and 38 Hunters, a CS 36 Merlin, Niagara 35, 36 Gulfstar and an Island Packet. None of them were over 15,000 lbs. I was pretty surprised by that weight, but I'd rather have it heavier than lighter.