Sailboat Lift?

plenny7

plenny7

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Oct 3, 2014
261
Marlow-Hunter MH37 Lake City, MN
While in Illinois earlier this week for work, I had some time to kill. Lake Carlyle was nearby so I spent some time checking it out.

I found a marina full of sailboats. One thing that caught my eye was that several of the slips there were outfitted with lifts which raised the boats several feet out of the water

I'm curious .. what's the point? It seems like an expensive way to avoid fenders. I must be missing something.

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rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,370
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Jet Ski jackasses like to go in the coves and cut circles so the waves pile up in the middle as they bounce off of the shores, then they jump the waves. No amount of fenders can protect your boat from that. I have a place on a lake here in Virginia and we are in a small cove. I almost got into a fist fight with one of these jackasses. When I motored my sailboat over to him and started cussing him out, he was genuinely surprised and clueless to the fact that he was banging up about 50 boats in the cove.
 
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Parsons

Parsons

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Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
Looks like it's not common as the majority of the boats are not using these lifts. I've not seen this around here. Perhaps it's just a fad, or a smooth-talking salesman passed through town: "There's trouble right here in River City, and you need a lift to stop your bottoms from getting wet!" Perhaps they're saving on bottom paint?
 
JRacer

JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,333
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Race boats - keeps the growth off the bottom. No need to bottom paint if you are on a Hydro-hoist.
 
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Justin_NSA

Justin_NSA

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Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
JRacer said:
Race boats - keeps the growth off the bottom. No need to bottom paint if you are on a Hydro-hoist.
Click to expand
:plus: Nice smooth hulls are faster. One of the members in the club did a cost based analysis on installing one versus hiring someone to clean and paint on a regular basis. He went with the hydro-hoist. He wasn't even a racer.
 
plenny7

plenny7

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Oct 3, 2014
261
Marlow-Hunter MH37 Lake City, MN
That makes sense. I just hadn't seen them used for sailboats in my limited experience
 
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,773
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
These Hydrolifts are very common for boats kept behind private residences in salt water, especially along the ICW. Less so in marinas, unless they are 'owned' slips.
 
shemandr

shemandr

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Jan 1, 2006
7,074
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
The new-to-our-area Seascape 24 runs up on some pontoons which lifts the hull out of the water. I think it is a centerboard or dagger board so I guess that is up too.
 
Captain Larry-DH

Captain Larry-DH

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Jun 14, 2010
2,096
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
Voice of experience: My prior boat was purchased for $35k -- it would have been worth $125k if it had not been storm-damaged. All the damage came from blowing off a lift. I had to put a lot of time, effort and $$$$$ into it before it would pass survey.

Mast up + lift + high wind pressure in crosswinds = insurance loss and/or high repair bills (or next owner's bargain project boat).
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
ALL the J/24s, J/22s, and J/70s at WYC sit on lifts. Beyond keeping the bottom super clean, it helps keep the boat weight down as the glass does not absorb water while sitting.
 
Nodak7

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,249
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
Here you go! Our 41DS on its lift! Saves on the bottom and makes it nice when working on thru hulls. No way to justify it economically. You can hire a diver every week for many years before it would justify itself. BTW you cannot leave the boat on it during a bad storm. After about 50mph I tend to get a bit nervous. So we float her when we know a big blow is coming.
 

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JRacer

JRacer

.
Aug 9, 2011
1,333
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Jackdaw said:
ALL the J/24s, J/22s, and J/70s at WYC sit on lifts. Beyond keeping the bottom super clean, it helps keep the boat weight down as the glass does not absorb water while sitting.
Click to expand
My J24 was on a HH for all of the 30 years I had it. Never painted the bottom, just the keel and then only had to keep the bottom foot of the keel scrubbed down. Wish I had one for the "Big Girl" but no room in the 12 foot slip to accommodate it with her "wide-body".
 
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