Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Does anybody have experience with heavy-ish loaded 250's?
Can these boats handle a bit of loading as in another 500 pounds or so of cruising gear like house batteries, solar panels, dinghy motor, Engel cooler, microwave, ect...
I was thinking you may be wondering about how the boat handles heavily loaded in waves. The Alton, Il to Kentucky Lake trip was flat water.
I also did a week long vacation in Michigan. On this trip, we had four boats traveling as a group. Mid Week, the weather forecast was no wind on Tuesday and about 15 knots on Thursday with 4 - 5 foot waves on Lake Michigan. We decided to do a guy's trip out to South Manitou, Island (42 miles away). The wives were not interested. So, I moved my wife on to a friends boat and took on three Adult guys and a 10 year old boy. We motored the entire way to South Manitou on Tuesday. Spent the night at the island and then sailed back on Wednesday. It became a fairly wild ride and we were down to just the main with two reefs. The boat handled great. I had no concerns in regards to the weight we had on board.
I race my Cal 25 with a crew of 3-5 adults. 500 lbs of movable ballast (crew) improves the boat's performance in both light and heavy air. IMO, 500 lbs. of inert ballast (storage) isn't particularly helpful, but it doesn't hurt performance much, especially if it's stowed low and securely.
Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind" previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22 Past Commodore
Appreciate the link... I had not explored that area of the forum. So happy to see you embarking on an epic journey on the great loop. The loop is on my bucket list.
Also appreciate confidence boost that the little 250's canbe filled up and still perform.
All the crap I'm about to load won't be movable so no benefit like rail-meat for me.
A 67(?) Cal 25 was my first sailboat. Loved it.
Best,
quote:Originally posted by Steve Milby
I race my Cal 25 with a crew of 3-5 adults. 500 lbs of movable ballast (crew) improves the boat's performance in both light and heavy air. IMO, 500 lbs. of inert ballast (storage) isn't particularly helpful, but it doesn't hurt performance much, especially if it's stowed low and securely.
Once again, it's at least somewhat useful to know about your boat--a signature in your profile can tell us whether you're a WK or a WB each time you post. They are different boats.
That said, Arlyn Stewart, a past and long-time participant here, cruised a water ballast C-250 on the great lakes--specifically Lake Huron from Michigan to Ontario. Presumably he had a fair amount of "stuff" aboard for crossing Huron and beyond... He also suggested here that the WB model had an advantage in the significant seas of L. Huron due to the for-and-aft distribution of its ballast, which he believed reduced the pitching of the boat. That water is, of course fixed ballast (unless you don't completely fill the tank, in which case it becomes "negative ballast" that tries to capsize you.)
Search for posts by "Arlyn Stewart" in our archives on his Great Lakes cruises--he might be the foremost C-250 cruiser among our participants.
However, the WK model is generally considered to be "stiffer" than the WB overall--relating to its ability to stand up to the wind. Fixed ballast (stuff in the boat) won't affect that much, but I'd say Arlyn proves that you can load a C-250 for a significant cruise, and get where you want to go successfully.
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
Most of my major mods are in place and the weight did have an effect... a big-ish list to port. Hopefully several lead ingots or a few bags of landscape rock placed starboard can bring her back on center...
I know you have put a lot of work on your boat. The C250WK is known to be stern heavy. You might consider moving both of your Group-27 batteries forward of the fresh water tank. It's just a thought.
I dropped a sack of stone into the port settee hold (while on the trailer) - I'll see the results tomorrow when the boat is launched.
Thought about locating the batteries up front but the relative inaccessability due to having to remove the fore seatback and whatever is on the cushions then the cushions to get to the hold was not an attractive choice as I purchased flooded batteries. Easier to check electrolyte level in the settee holds.
Also ordered a triangular 15-gallon bladder water tank for the forepeak. Depending on the results it may be time for another sack of rock up front.
How much more weight can the 250 handle and still not have weird performance behavior?
I'm probably over thinking the situation anyway - all the weight added is probably less than the weight of four big fellas onboard which I assume the 250 can handle without breaking a sweat.
Funny, I also have the tri-shaped water blatter forward. Another project is access to the forward storage. On my boat the plywood cover was one piece. This means removing everything to get to anything. Since the cushions are divided left/right, then you can cut the plywood to match the cushions. That way you only have to move one-side for access.
That kinda helps. Also, keep you charger and switches on starboard, just move the batteries. How often do you have to get to the batteries anyway.
Russ... I keep nothing in the forward hold due to the inaccessability.
The boat required two 60-lb bags of gravel to bring her back on keel.
Crazy - but happy for all of the improvements that caused the list and perhaps someday in the future finding some affordable lead ingots that will replace the gravel... probably a lot of air space in those gravel bags.
Carl, I have added 500 pounds of lead ballast in the bilge below the floor and couldn't be happier with the results. The boat rides on its lines and now doesn't get pushed around by a cross breeze. I also have two batteries in the forward hold. The stern is at water level and the mast compression post in the cabin is perfectly vertical. The ablative paint on the stern is above the waterline if you look closely.
Some put 300 pounds in the forward hold which is forward of where I placed the ballast to accomplish the same static position. I preferred to place more weight closer to the CG. It works for me.
Thanks, John
Regards, John Westlawn Institute graduate Yacht Design and Naval Architecture 04 Catalina 250 WK Standard rig w/wheel steering Yanmar 9hp diesel
I wonder if Catalina company is in possession of any design synopsys that has a dialogue from the navel architect that designed the 250 series with their design goals...
Acknowledging that adding weight to a newly sold boat must be a fundamental design consideration... how much weight did the designer anticipate being added to the 250 and what design considerations were made with that.
In John's case below - he's adding maybe 8% of the boat weight as additional dead-load... is that pushing it? Perhaps John's observation that the boat floats on its lines is a clue to the amount of load carrying capacity designed into the boat... add weight until the design waterline touches the water and you've found the design load carrying capacity???
John... thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Looks like I have a few more chores to do until I bring the lady down to her lines...
Best,
Carl
quote:Originally posted by WK 727
Carl, I have added 500 pounds of lead ballast in the bilge below the floor and couldn't be happier with the results. The boat rides on its lines and now doesn't get pushed around by a cross breeze. I also have two batteries in the forward hold. The stern is at water level and the mast compression post in the cabin is perfectly vertical. The ablative paint on the stern is above the waterline if you look closely.
Some put 300 pounds in the forward hold which is forward of where I placed the ballast to accomplish the same static position. I preferred to place more weight closer to the CG. It works for me.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.