Boat Capacity Limits

[Bosman]

Ha, the PDF is saved and I plan to digest it at my bedtime. Hopefully tonight. Unless I fall asleep. Thank you dlochner. Thank you Jackdaw for your input. I know of number of boats (sail) that have "floating" CE cert based on the occupancy, for example CE B-4 or C-6.

 

[dlochner]

Ha, the PDF is saved and I plan to digest it at my bedtime.

You'll fall asleep quickly tonight!

 

[Bosman]

You'll fall asleep quickly tonight!

At times I bring home some regulatory guides to read (work related)....I usually fall asleep at very accelerated rate

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Okay, so we've had MULTIPLE responses that boats under 20 require a capacity plate- and that has always been a given, so give it up already. SO, there is nothing to say that boats over 20 can NOT have the plate, they MIGHT, as per Bosman, in post #6 tells us. That is what I asked for in post 4- the possibility someone had it. Lockner's post is the first place I've actually seen the LxW/15 in print, though I cannot see who is the source. My foot tastes fine, T-Bird, and if you'll turn around I give you a sample. My post has been proven several times over, so you can keep the wise-cracks to yourself..

Don't be so touchy! Your response was very snide to begin with so you basically started it. I think it is pretty widely known that a Catalina 27 doesn't have a capacity plate and why do you think jimedwards asked the question to begin with? Bosman's answer isn't really relevant because his boat is a different manufacturer. The fact that it does have a capacity plate does provide the basis for an answer to the question, at least, while your answer did not.
As for the rule of thumb calculation, it has always been in the BoatUS education manual, even called "Rule of Thumb". It used to be easy to find simply by Google, but the references seem to have disappeared over the years, so I suspect BoatUS has stopped using it. I distinctly remember having it taught by the USCG Auxiliary in the required course that I had to take several years ago to maintain a boat license in NJ. Perhaps Maryland doesn't require education so I would understand if you never saw it. If you think you can stick your foot up someplace where the sun don't shine, you would have better luck if you attempted something self-inflicted. I'll use my wisecracks where they apply. Hope you can get over yourself, I used an emoticon to indicate a good natured poke. I don't generally carry any grudges and I never take myself as seriously as you seem to take yourself.

 

[BlowMeAway]

For those of you who might interested in pursuing this topic more deeply, the USCG has obliged. Here's a link to the USCG's Boat Builder's Handbook, the sections that describe (in great detail) the calculation of the safe loading capacity and display of the capacity plate. I particularly draw your attention to page 22 which gets to the meat of the issue. https://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/assets/builders-handbook/SAFELOADING.pdf

My very quick read of this document suggests that 1) boat builders have some latitude in how they display and calculate safe loads, 2) safe loads are calculated based on total weight carrying capacity of the boat. Thus, some capacity plates list the weight and people number where the weight includes the weight of the people. The load capacity is based on the amount weight that can be carried before the boat reaches a predetermined level.

A plate may say 6 persons or 1200 lbs or 1200 lbs persons and gear. So, if 5 200 lb guys get on board, there is only 200 lbs of capacity left for beer and food. At 8 lbs a gallon for beer, that is 25 gallons of beer, or about 5 gallons per person. If the guys are out fishing the beer must be consumed at rate greater than the rate at which fish are being caught, for example, for every 25 lb salmon that is caught a gallon of beer must have been consumed and subsequently placed overboard in order to keep the boat within its rated capacity.

Perhaps I should stop reading these technical papers.........

That’s actually the most fun post I have ever read. Especially the consumption of beer and subsequent placement overboard. To accommodate the fish caught mass.

 

[JimInPB]

For those of you who might interested in pursuing this topic more deeply, the USCG has obliged. Here's a link to the USCG's Boat Builder's Handbook, the sections that describe (in great detail) the calculation of the safe loading capacity and display of the capacity plate. I particularly draw your attention to page 22 which gets to the meat of the issue. https://www.uscgboating.org/regulations/assets/builders-handbook/SAFELOADING.pdf

My very quick read of this document suggests that 1) boat builders have some latitude in how they display and calculate safe loads, 2) safe loads are calculated based on total weight carrying capacity of the boat. Thus, some capacity plates list the weight and people number where the weight includes the weight of the people. The load capacity is based on the amount weight that can be carried before the boat reaches a predetermined level.

A plate may say 6 persons or 1200 lbs or 1200 lbs persons and gear. So, if 5 200 lb guys get on board, there is only 200 lbs of capacity left for beer and food. At 8 lbs a gallon for beer, that is 25 gallons of beer, or about 5 gallons per person. If the guys are out fishing the beer must be consumed at rate greater than the rate at which fish are being caught, for example, for every 25 lb salmon that is caught a gallon of beer must have been consumed and subsequently placed overboard in order to keep the boat within its rated capacity.

Perhaps I should stop reading these technical papers.........

Both the engineer in me & the fisherman in me, really like your perspective on this situation.

 

[Gunni]

The USCG is in the business of reducing distress calls from obviously overloaded rec boat dummies. The USCG don’t build boats and 99% of the coasties are not trained to know a seaworthy sailboat from a Searay bow rider. CE ratings on the other hand include sea state and righting ability and both depend in part on load. American builders may not be required to rate their boat’s load capacity for domestic sales but that is a money decision. Ratings cost money for test and analysis. What a shame.

 

[NYSail]

As my wife says..... Sails 8, feeds 6, sleeps 2

 

[shemandr]

I've already weighed in on this. But I don't and never will understand why the non-boating public is obsessed with how many a boat sleeps. We don't go out for a sail to sleep. We don' t nap, for the most part, during a race. Yet somehow the the value of a boat has to do with how many folks you can jam in bunks to listen to each other snore. I've been in enough regattas in which we stay on the boats, and I don't need to tell the members of this forum, that how many a boat sleeps is not a metric you want to use. I walked off a boat this spring headed for one of my favorite regattas because the boat was going to "Sleep" about 12. No thanks.