My new to me 322 is based in The Bahamas and I regularly sail across the Gulfstream and further afield. The seas are often boisterous and the winds brisk.
I went from a full keel boat with an hourglass hull to the 322 with a relatively flat bottom. The 322 slams when coming off a wave (as do flat bottom boats) and 3500 pounds of kinetic energy (both up and down) is transferred from the keel to the attachment area in the keel sump.
I will not be hauling the 322 until next summer and at that time I will strengthen the keel sump with several additional layers of glass as well as a new cross hull beam. In the meantime I want to create a new keel "retention" system that I am installing next week and your input would be welcomed and appreciated. The retention system is simply to keep the keel from falling off. It's to "sort of" keep the keel dangling and stopping an immediate capsize while I have a few minutes to deploy the liferaft and EPIRB. I'm not an engineer.
Here is the system:
I bought a 16,000 pound nylon towing strap - 4 inches wide. I have melted a 1 inch hole into it - I clamped a 1 inch washer on top and underneath using 2 vice-grips to keep them in place. That worked well. I bought 3 new 1 inch nuts and a 3/4 inch nut as well as washers.
I am going to take the strap and attach it to the front keel bolt (studs stick up 2 inches beyond the nuts) and then run it over the cross beam and onto the second keel bolt. I am making a second cross beam and will go over that to the the third 1 inch keel bolt then a third cross beam and onto the aft keel bolt.
Do you think it stands a chance of keeping the keel "near" the boat for a few minutes?
I went from a full keel boat with an hourglass hull to the 322 with a relatively flat bottom. The 322 slams when coming off a wave (as do flat bottom boats) and 3500 pounds of kinetic energy (both up and down) is transferred from the keel to the attachment area in the keel sump.
I will not be hauling the 322 until next summer and at that time I will strengthen the keel sump with several additional layers of glass as well as a new cross hull beam. In the meantime I want to create a new keel "retention" system that I am installing next week and your input would be welcomed and appreciated. The retention system is simply to keep the keel from falling off. It's to "sort of" keep the keel dangling and stopping an immediate capsize while I have a few minutes to deploy the liferaft and EPIRB. I'm not an engineer.
Here is the system:
I bought a 16,000 pound nylon towing strap - 4 inches wide. I have melted a 1 inch hole into it - I clamped a 1 inch washer on top and underneath using 2 vice-grips to keep them in place. That worked well. I bought 3 new 1 inch nuts and a 3/4 inch nut as well as washers.
I am going to take the strap and attach it to the front keel bolt (studs stick up 2 inches beyond the nuts) and then run it over the cross beam and onto the second keel bolt. I am making a second cross beam and will go over that to the the third 1 inch keel bolt then a third cross beam and onto the aft keel bolt.
Do you think it stands a chance of keeping the keel "near" the boat for a few minutes?