O'day 272LE cradle

[dennis young]

I have just acquired a 1987 272LE with a winged keel. The manual pictures these wings as pointing slightly downwards and says that when you haul out you should not let the boat rest on the wings but rather on the CENTRE-LINE of the keel. However my cradle is for sure built so as to support the keel on the wings. Indeed, I can't imagine how you would build a support into the cradle that would carry only the centre-line of the keel. The manual also emphasises that the hull should be supported too, beneath the bulwarks (and the cradle seems to do that ok). I would like to hear how other 272 owners handle this storage problem and what is at stake if you do rest the keel on its wings. How much strees gets applied to the hull at the keel bolts if you get the boat positioned too far forward? What proportion of the weight should be dependent on the hull supports? And so on.

 

[Tom Ehmke]

Advice from the cradle

I own a 272 which I purchased in 1994. Included with the boat was a cradle supplied by ODay in 1986 when the boat was new. If your boat rests on a cradle, the following info may be useful; if not, there are other 272 owners who use boat stands or trailers built to support the hull and keel of a 272.The boat is supported in the locations specified by the owners manual fore and aft by the cradle which is shaped to conform to the shape of the hull at those two locations. The cradle support spots are marked on each side of the hull with small pieces of tape. (Someone told me that the launch crew at our marina put them there, but at any rate, they conform to the locations shown in the manual. These locations are determined by the locations of the bulkheads in the interior of the boat.) After the boat is settled onto the cradle at haulout and moved into its winter storage location, the keel is supported by its own blocking which is stacked beneath the cradle. Most of the weight of the boat is supported where the hull rests on the cradle. The keel support blocking is intended to provide a RESTING place for the keel- it is not intended to support the weight of the keel and the hull. If the bulk of the weight were to rest on the keel, there would certainly be some deformity over a period of years in our climate because the boat rests on the cradle for 6 mo. out of every year, and the weight of the boat would slowly collapse and deform the hull if it weren't properly supported.The blocking that supports the wing keel doesn't cover the entire underside of the keel, but it is placed at the centerline, so I guess you could say that it supports it at the centerline. It is much more important to get the hull situated correctly on the cradle supports .Hope this helps,Tom

 

[dennis young]

Thanks, Tom Ehmke: ref 272 cradle

Tom: Your prompt response to my appeal for guidance on the 272 cradle is greatly appreciated. It looks as if the previous owner modified the cradle without understanding the the factors at play. I shall now be able to haul out with confidence. Many thanks. Dennis