Something loose in hull

My boat is a 1999 model, built in late 1998 by Vanguard. When I turn the boat over on the trailer, I hear something rolling around inside. I have not put in any inspection ports, so I cannot get in there to see it.

I assume it is a floatation device of some sort. Does anyone know what was used for floatation at that time? Any reason I should worry about it being loose?

Thanks,

There should be a couple of air-bags inside the hull. Does it sound like something large and soft, or smaller and harder?

Cheers,

Geoff S.

Your boat has large watertight bags that are used for flotation (5 of them) They are not attached to anything so yes they will move around. You may have pieces of glass loose in the boat also. These are no serious threat, just maybe a little annoying.

Geoff,

It sounds more hard than soft. As to the size, I would guess on the small side, maybe the size of a half-gallon milk container.

Maybe it just a piece of f'glass sliding around.

If I ever install inspection ports, I guess I'll find out!

Hi Scott,
your Laser has an inspection port - ok, it´s a little bit smal , but maybe it works.
If you put the hull on it´s trailer (or top of the car), you can try to have a look inside the hull (better choose a sunny day for more diffuse light inside) by watching through the drain-plug at the stern. I often did it, until the time, I made the real inspection ports to my Laser.
If a friend is near, he maybe is able to move the hull a litte bit, for that what is inside the hull is may be to seen. Good luck!
Greetings from Europe + Bye-bye
LooserLu

There are six "Cubitainers" (think packable jerry jugs) in modern Lasers. 3 big ones are in front of the cockpit, three small ones in back. They are blown up and installed in the hull before the deck goes on. They aren't inflated to high pressure since they might pop or blow the screw tops off if the boat undergoes a big pressure change, and they move around a little.

Scott Bosso said:

. Does anyone know what was used for floatation at that time?

Click to expand...

"Cubicontainers" which are, depending upon how you look at it, either a very heavy duty plastic bag with a screw cap, or a soft flexible bottle. Sort of like those 2.5 gallon "Cows" that milk comes in.

Scott Bosso said:

. Any reason I should worry about it being loose?

Click to expand...

Probably not.

so maybe it could be one of the lids of the cubicontainers or if the boat has had a repair made to it, it is most likely to be a piece of cardboard/plastic which the repairer used to get the repair flush to the side!

either the foam they attached to the hull for floation or a wooden block backer behind one of the deck fittings (or worest situation there is a screw lose )

Dave Kirkpatrick said:

There are six "Cubitainers" (think packable jerry jugs) in modern Lasers. 3 big ones are in front of the cockpit, three small ones in back. They are blown up and installed in the hull before the deck goes on. They aren't inflated to high pressure since they might pop or blow the screw tops off if the boat undergoes a big pressure change, and they move around a little.

Click to expand...

Dave, do you know if the Cubitainers that Vanguard sells as replacement parts are soft enough to be stuffed in through an inspection port and then inflated once inside the hull? I've got an old boat that seems to be missing some flotation -- presumably a previous owner pulled it out in some idiotic attempt to reduce weight, and I want to be safe and class-legal (well, essentially legal anyhow: as long as I'm not doing anything unfair, the finer points of satisfying a picky measurer at a big deal regatta don't matter, since I don't sail at that level)

I was thinking of either

1) Putting in cubitainers through the inspection ports

2) Using inflatable bags (like from an Opti) to get the
equivalent 90 liters of flotation

3) Getting 45 (yeah! count 'em!) empty 2-liter soda bottles, capping them,
and throwing them in through the inspection port (rattle, rattle, rattle!)

Advice?

Yes, yes they are. Shove them through the inspection port but keep the top accessable, then blow them up, cap them and try to shove them around until they get stuck somewhere. Then repeat. There are 3 big and 3 small ones in each boat as supplied. You'll never get the small ones to go behind the cockpit unless you have an inspection port or your alter ego is Stretch Armstrong, so just put them all in front.

Dave Kirkpatrick said:

Yes, yes they are. Shove them through the inspection port but keep the top accessable, then blow them up, cap them and try to shove them around until they get stuck somewhere. Then repeat. There are 3 big and 3 small ones in each boat as supplied. You'll never get the small ones to go behind the cockpit unless you have an inspection port or your alter ego is Stretch Armstrong, so just put them all in front.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I always appreciate being able to get on here and get answers straight from the manufacturer...

when i bought my laser (used) the precious owner had some how lost the drain plug @ the stern inside the hull so that it was rolling around in there for a while until i finally got it out

if u bought ur laser used this may be ur problem but i think the cubitainers are more likely the problem

Dave,

Are those Cubitainer caps white? I think I have one rolling around the inside of my boat, too. I assume this means I now have one less effective flotation device inside my boat (a '98). Is this a problem?

Michelle,

A loose cubitainer should not be a problem as to floatation. As long as it is sealed (airtight), it will still displace water, limiting the amount of water that can fill the hull.

yes but michelle thinks the cubitainer's cap is loose so therefore the cubitainer will not be airtight.

Hopefully with a 1998 you should never have enough water in the boat to actually have to rely on the cubitainers...

Somebody that I know forgot to put the bung in her boat, after a little while on the water she soon realised that her boat was sitting a little lower than it should be

i did that for a full race, couldnt quite work out why i was slow downwind but just as fast (i even passed a few people) upwind.

got into the shore and realised i was sitting nice and low so had to drain my boat (for a few days)

macwas16 said:

Hopefully with a 1998 you should never have enough water in the boat to actually have to rely on the cubitainers...

Click to expand...

Doesn't matter the age of the boat, if your holed, the cubitainers are the only thing keeping the boat from becoming an artificial reef. I had that demonstated a long time ago by a port tacker who didn't quite duck enough

The cubitainer caps are indeed white. If you are totally sweating it you could put another one in there. Lasers are pretty bouyant - the deck's core alone will float the whole boat easily.

Dave Kirkpatrick said:

The cubitainer caps are indeed white. If you are totally sweating it you could put another one in there. Lasers are pretty bouyant - the deck's core alone will float the whole boat easily.

Click to expand...

Fortunately I have found a photo of that cubitainers:

Bye-bye
LooserLu

Mine's a 1987 hull (128603). Would I have foam, or the cubitainers?

JacksonAUS said:

Mine's a 1987 hull (128603). Would I have foam, or the cubitainers?

Click to expand...

Hi Jackson,
remember what I said somerwhere else, you have already an "inspection-port" you can (if you can) have a little look through ... the transom bung-whole.
It would astonishe me, not to find the same material at the bow, that you have (and can see) behind the cockpit.
I think you will see 2-10-liter-cubitainers - like described at the "Vanguard-Laser-Locator".

Cheers
Ludwig

Correction:You will see 3 Cubitainers "three" (I was to fast at the PC-keyboard...)
See U
LooserLu

Ok 1 problem with what your all saying(no offence ment) in the australian boats all the floation used in them is foam well at least it is in my boat (178825).
Theres also another possibility to the tything thats rolling around in the hull. if u look into the bung hole and look at the back of the cockpit, around the bailer is a lot of car bog. a bit of this could easily of snapped off from the main piece because of not smoothing it out. but no worries its not a major problem.

Cheers

I also have something loose in my new boat. I only hear it when I roll gybe but have always assumed it was just a piece of fibreglass, or a screw that someone has dropped into the boat (like I did once)