Reducing hull weight

jcstiefel

Member
When I purchased a used Laser I knew it weighed 144 pounds which was about 14 pounds more than desired. I installed an inspection port beside the centerboard slot and discovered that one of the three flotation "bottles" was half filled with water! Emptying that out reduced the hull weight to 140 pounds. Now I am wondering if the flotation in the rear of the boat might also be filled with water. Has anyone had that problem before? If I were to install another inspection port to check that out, what would be the best location for it? Thanks in advance for any ideas.
 
Ive seen quite a few boats with ports on either side of the cockpit. i dont know if that would allow you to really inspect the tanks well but it would seem like an OK place to put them.
 
Silly question, but what's the best method for accurately weighing a hull? I assume you are not measuring water displacement. Do you stand the hull on its transom on top of some bathroom scales :rolleyes:?

I am sure my hull is well over weight, and it would be nice to know by how much.

Thanks.
 
I set my hull up on three blocks, then went around one by one putting the scale under each block.

I went around twice averaging it out, because the act of lifting up the block and putting the scale under it seemed to shift the weight balance around a little bit.
 
I weighed the hull by using two bathroom type scales on which I placed a 2 X 6 about 6 feet in length. Then I turned the hull upside down and placed it on the 2 X 6, moving it until I found the balance point fore and aft. Then I recorded the poundage on each scale and added them. The sum was the total weight of the boat and the board, according to my reckoning. So then I just had to weigh the board and subtract that figure from the total...voila! If someone else has an easier method, please let us know.
ALSO, if there are other opinions regarding my original concern, I would greatly appreciate hearing about them.
 
find yourself a scrap metal dealer. take the vehicle and trailer in and get it weighed without the boat. go back and get the boat and get weighed again. the will give you a slip with the tare on it. costs about 5 bucks and it's really accurate.
 
Weighting a boat can be easily done without all this effort. Place the boat on one set of bathroom scales, balancing on the gunnale. The scales will read accurately as long as their is no wind and the boat is balanced for a few seconds without you having to hang onto the boat.
 
Great idea...weighing made simple and with only one set of scales! Thanks!

Now if anyone can provide me with information about the precise location, number and size of the flotation tanks at the aft end of the boat, I'd really appreciate it. Before committing to an inspection port to access them, I'd like to have as much info as possible.

--Jack
 
Thanks all for the hull weighing suggestions

jcstiefel -- I've been doing some of the same research for flotation recommendations. Here is a link to a page explaining the flotation "cubitainers" and prices. It is my understanding that they are not affixed to the hull but simple wedge against each other. There should be 3 10 liter containers for the fore hull and 3 20 liter containers for the aft. Many of the postings I have read suggest a rear inspection port between the traveler blocks in the middle of the aft deck. I plan to put one there for my hull so I can replace the aft flotation. I anticipate that location will also be useful for adding through-bolt plates inside the hull for the trav-blocks which have loose screw threads. Same plan for the rear drain plug.

http://www.apsltd.com/c-2236-laser-deckandhullfittings.aspx

Hope this helps.
 
perlsailor--thank you for the extremely helpful posting. The APS link was great in several respects.
I am going to hold off for a while on the installation of an inspection port and assume for the time being that the flotation cubitainers in my boat are sound and NOT filled with water. But if you do the work on your boat, I would really appreciate hearing how it went. Thanks again!

--Jack
 
Maybe if you just tilted the boat from side to side, say while resting it on some lawn, you'd be able to hear any significant amount of water sloshing around ?

Also if water has got into a cubitainer in the back end, then there must be a hole in the container, so if you left the front inspection port open, then tilted the boat in to different positions (upside down, on its side etc) so that eventually some water dribbled out of the container then ran down to the back drain hole or front inspection port ?
 
Thanks, abenn, for the good ideas! I have already tried your first one; I heard no sloshing which is encouraging! I will certainly try your second idea as well.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
 

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