Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

hi all

I have a Halvorsen Island Gypsy 30 displacement cruiser built in 1978. The
boat has the original Ford 120hp engine. I have owned the boat for a couple
of months. Someone has placed about 10 ingots of lead in the bow "v" which
sit unsecured but somewhat wedged and immobile.

The boat sits quite level (if anything with a slight bias toward being low
in the bows - not surprising) and floats within its marked waterline
(apparently fine).

Does anyone know if this is a standard fitting or has someone just had a
bright idea at sometime and should I take it all out? I would have thought
this would have been glassed in if it were deemed necessary by the
manufacturer . . . Kong and Halvorsen.

regards Shawn
"Scallywag"
Brisbane Australia

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

Maybe it was build with an oversized and therefore overweight engine
(120 hp is unusually large for a 30' boat) and the weight was
necessary to level it out. Maybe the engine was a replacement - not
the original engine - replaced since 1978? Maybe with full water and
diesel tanks it's not bow heavy?



On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 21:56:17 +1000, "Shawn"
wrote:

hi all

I have a Halvorsen Island Gypsy 30 displacement cruiser built in 1978. The
boat has the original Ford 120hp engine. I have owned the boat for a couple
of months. Someone has placed about 10 ingots of lead in the bow "v" which
sit unsecured but somewhat wedged and immobile.

The boat sits quite level (if anything with a slight bias toward being low
in the bows - not surprising) and floats within its marked waterline
(apparently fine).

Does anyone know if this is a standard fitting or has someone just had a
bright idea at sometime and should I take it all out? I would have thought
this would have been glassed in if it were deemed necessary by the
manufacturer . . . Kong and Halvorsen.

regards Shawn
"Scallywag"
Brisbane Australia

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

thanks Wally

The engine is the standard fitting for the boat and sits approx midship.The
boat is still being made in 32ft mode (although I suspect they are just
measuring the hull length vs waterline length and it is the same) and is
powered by a 220 approx cummins i think, these days.

The boat sits as per my email below (level with if anything, a slight low
bow bias) with full fuel (mid ships) tanks and full water (aft)

I'm thinking of taking the lead out and trying it - its loose so I can put
it back if needed. I was just hoping to understand if this was a standard
fitment or someone's "great idea"?

I once had a little 22ft yacht with additional lead atop the keel and after
a year or so I took it out to see if it made a difference and gained half a
knot on a reach with no loss of stability.

regards Shawn
"Scallywag"
Brisbane Australia



"Wally" wrote in message
...
Maybe it was build with an oversized and therefore overweight engine
(120 hp is unusually large for a 30' boat) and the weight was
necessary to level it out. Maybe the engine was a replacement - not
the original engine - replaced since 1978? Maybe with full water and
diesel tanks it's not bow heavy?



On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 21:56:17 +1000, "Shawn"
wrote:

hi all

I have a Halvorsen Island Gypsy 30 displacement cruiser built in 1978.
The
boat has the original Ford 120hp engine. I have owned the boat for a
couple
of months. Someone has placed about 10 ingots of lead in the bow "v"
which
sit unsecured but somewhat wedged and immobile.

The boat sits quite level (if anything with a slight bias toward being
low
in the bows - not surprising) and floats within its marked waterline
(apparently fine).

Does anyone know if this is a standard fitting or has someone just had a
bright idea at sometime and should I take it all out? I would have
thought
this would have been glassed in if it were deemed necessary by the
manufacturer . . . Kong and Halvorsen.

regards Shawn
"Scallywag"
Brisbane Australia

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 10:42:43 +1000, something compelled "Shawn"
, to say:

I'm thinking of taking the lead out and trying it - its loose so I can put
it back if needed. I was just hoping to understand if this was a standard
fitment or someone's "great idea"?

I can't imagine a reputable boat builder doing this. I'd remove
it and see what happens. As you state, you can always put it
back.

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

thanks Steve

regards Shawn

"Steve Daniels" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 10:42:43 +1000, something compelled "Shawn"
, to say:

I'm thinking of taking the lead out and trying it - its loose so I can
put
it back if needed. I was just hoping to understand if this was a standard
fitment or someone's "great idea"?

I can't imagine a reputable boat builder doing this. I'd remove
it and see what happens. As you state, you can always put it
back.

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

"Shawn" wrote in message
...
hi all

I have a Halvorsen Island Gypsy 30 displacement cruiser built in 1978. The
boat has the original Ford 120hp engine. I have owned the boat for a
couple
of months. Someone has placed about 10 ingots of lead in the bow "v" which
sit unsecured but somewhat wedged and immobile.

The boat sits quite level (if anything with a slight bias toward being low
in the bows - not surprising) and floats within its marked waterline
(apparently fine).

Does anyone know if this is a standard fitting or has someone just had a
bright idea at sometime and should I take it all out? I would have thought
this would have been glassed in if it were deemed necessary by the
manufacturer . . . Kong and Halvorsen.

Placing lead in the bow of a boat is a relatively common practice.
Especially with large boats. The lead helps keep the boat sitting level and
helps it plane easier with smaller engines. I had a 68' Luhrs Sport
fisherman with a 318 Chrysler crown and it had a little over 500lbs of lead
in the bow. You can remove it but will find the boat will not be as stable
in rough water and will not plane as easily. I would leave it and if you
are concerned with it moving around then pour some A/B foam around it. That
stuff is so "sticky" it now use as an adhesive in some applications...

mark

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

With the number of engine options and cabin layouts you can get in a boat I
would think that some sort of ballasting would be needed.


"Steve Daniels" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 10:42:43 +1000, something compelled "Shawn"
, to say:

I'm thinking of taking the lead out and trying it - its loose so I can
put
it back if needed. I was just hoping to understand if this was a standard
fitment or someone's "great idea"?

I can't imagine a reputable boat builder doing this. I'd remove
it and see what happens. As you state, you can always put it
back.

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

There are a lot of boats out there with what is called "trim ballast". Small
boat design is still a combination of art and science and sometimes the science
can be a little off, especially when it comes to displacement calculations.
Trim ballast can be a good thing. As an example if you ever wanted to carry
heavier ground tackle, you could remove the trim ballast and add more chain
etc...
Jared Crane

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

One of the only "manufacturers" that I've ever heard of that allowed for
variations in optioning when ballasting was the much maligned Hank
McCuen (Yorktowns)

He took the finished boat, with a hollow keel (no ballast at all),
floated the hull, on it's side to start with, then added lead pigs to
the hollow keel until the boat floated as it was meant to.

Everyone else would have added to the finished hull in addition to the
original ballast. The loose pigs tells me someone added this to trim
the boat. The manufactured would have fastened it down.

My boat floats galley side down. I am moving the water heater outboard
to try to fix this.
Jim

Shawn wrote:
hi all

I have a Halvorsen Island Gypsy 30 displacement cruiser built in 1978. The
boat has the original Ford 120hp engine. I have owned the boat for a couple
of months. Someone has placed about 10 ingots of lead in the bow "v" which
sit unsecured but somewhat wedged and immobile.

The boat sits quite level (if anything with a slight bias toward being low
in the bows - not surprising) and floats within its marked waterline
(apparently fine).

Does anyone know if this is a standard fitting or has someone just had a
bright idea at sometime and should I take it all out? I would have thought
this would have been glassed in if it were deemed necessary by the
manufacturer . . . Kong and Halvorsen.

regards Shawn
"Scallywag"
Brisbane Australia

Lead ballast in bow - why?
 

"rock_doctor" wrote in message
roups.com...
Placing lead in the bow of a boat is a relatively common practice.
Especially with large boats. The lead helps keep the boat sitting level
and
helps it plane easier with smaller engines. I had a 68' Luhrs Sport
fisherman with a 318 Chrysler crown and it had a little over 500lbs of
lead
in the bow. You can remove it but will find the boat will not be as
stable
in rough water and will not plane as easily. I would leave it and if you
are concerned with it moving around then pour some A/B foam around it.
That
stuff is so "sticky" it now use as an adhesive in some applications...

Edit that was a 1968 28ft Luhrs not a 68 ft luhrs... Someplace somebody is
saying, "I did not Luhrs built boats that large".... :-)