I have a '79 Laser that is heavy? There are no foam blocks that I can see from the inspection port at the centerboard. The hull and deck are sound. The mast step was repaired at one time and looks to be well done. Looking through the rear drain there seems to be no problems visible. The boat is noticeably heavy when you lift the stern, like 30 pounds or more. Any ideas why or what has caused this and what could be done to resolve this issue.
Heavy Laser, WHY
- Thread starter eadake
- Start date
I'd recommend you get it weighed properly first, in a sling or at least on some bathroom scales. Then you won't have to guess. After that, make some comparisons to a "light" boat. Set the boats up side by side and roll a piece of 2" iron pipe under them and measure where the balance point is on each boat. Then you'll know whether any extra weight is forward or aft of halfway.
You might also want to consider your bodyweight as a part of the total weight. A heavy person on a heavy boat may effect performance negatively compared to a light person on a light boat. But if the combined weight of boats and skippers match, there may be little point in chasing the weight issue inside the boat unless there is obvious signs of waterlogged whatever.
You might also want to consider your bodyweight as a part of the total weight. A heavy person on a heavy boat may effect performance negatively compared to a light person on a light boat. But if the combined weight of boats and skippers match, there may be little point in chasing the weight issue inside the boat unless there is obvious signs of waterlogged whatever.
sorosz
Member
I've found with older boats there can be a fairly big difference in weight. Previous repairs will add weight. If the boat is wet it will add weight (a gallon of salt water weighs about 8 lbs so it doesn't take much!). Also I think the older boats had larger variations in their individual weight. I think about 130 to 135 lbs is pretty standard now but I've seen boats as much as 20 pounds more (sailing school boats so they were ridden hard and put away wet. . .).
A Chainsaw suggested accurately weigh it first to find out how much extra weight you're dealing with. If it seems wet inside, work on drying it out and fix any other possible leaks (like around hardware).
A Chainsaw suggested accurately weigh it first to find out how much extra weight you're dealing with. If it seems wet inside, work on drying it out and fix any other possible leaks (like around hardware).
I have had two boats side by side and like I said this one is extra heavy. Very noticable. I had a coomputer fan running in the inspection port for a week and saw no difference. It seems dry inside from what I can see. Could one of the plastic jugs be full of water? There is no visible water (like half full) that i can see.
lasergeez
New Member
What is the proper way to weigh a boat? It seems kind of unweildy to attempt balancing the boat on end on a bathroom scale. I've tried and I'm not sure how accurate that was. Can you use two or more bathroom scales and use the additive property? Do you hang it from a sling attached to a spring tension scale?
Some info here:
http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=3736&highlight=hull+weight
You can weigh a laser on it's edge, resting on a bathroom scale. Also, take pictures by reaching in thru the port, look for squirrel stashes or mud wasp nests.
Drying out a soaked deck, where water has gotten into the foam, can take 6 months. Bottom up in the summer sun can help heat up the inside.
Al
http://www.laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=3736&highlight=hull+weight
You can weigh a laser on it's edge, resting on a bathroom scale. Also, take pictures by reaching in thru the port, look for squirrel stashes or mud wasp nests.
Drying out a soaked deck, where water has gotten into the foam, can take 6 months. Bottom up in the summer sun can help heat up the inside.
Al
Its some time since I did school maths and physics but I would have thought you could weight the bow, then the stern and add the two together. i.e. turn the boat over and support the stern on a block of wood and bow on the scales (so the hull is horizontal and clear of the ground). Then wood to bow and scales to stern and take the 2nd reading and add the two together.
Am I being totally daft here of overlooking something obvious (and should I be totally embarrassed).
Ian
Am I being totally daft here of overlooking something obvious (and should I be totally embarrassed).
Ian
Deimos wrote:
weight. It's a simple physics problem.
The only caveats are that the error in the measurements is also additive,
and that you need to subtract the weight of the other objects (wood
blocks in this case).
Let's say you make two measurements, one at bow and one at stern. If
the error from the scale is +/- 1 kg, then your error in the measurement
due to the scale would be +/- 2 kg. That's fairly small compared to the
weight of the boat.
There is also an approximation here that says the angle that you raise
each end of the laser to measure also needs to be small. This error
goes as the sine of the angle. For small angles, the sine is close to
zero.
This method is useful for weighing large items (like the laser) and also
for weighing heavy items which would break the scale if weighed all
at once.
Yes that would work. The sum of the forces (weight) equals the total
weight. It's a simple physics problem.
The only caveats are that the error in the measurements is also additive,
and that you need to subtract the weight of the other objects (wood
blocks in this case).
Let's say you make two measurements, one at bow and one at stern. If
the error from the scale is +/- 1 kg, then your error in the measurement
due to the scale would be +/- 2 kg. That's fairly small compared to the
weight of the boat.
There is also an approximation here that says the angle that you raise
each end of the laser to measure also needs to be small. This error
goes as the sine of the angle. For small angles, the sine is close to
zero.
This method is useful for weighing large items (like the laser) and also
for weighing heavy items which would break the scale if weighed all
at once.