I recently hauled my 430 using a marine rail system at the local marina. The keel rests on a wooden pad and steel arms reach in to grab the bow and stern to steady the boat during the haul out. I had some concerns as the boat came out of the water. The 430’s keel has a rounded bulb and all the weight of the boat was resting on the rear three fins. The balance of the boat was somewhat precarious rocking on the rear keel as the center of gravity is aft of the keel. I called Hunter and was told that they do not recommend more that 50% weight on the keel and that any haul should be done by placing the boat in its original shipping cradle. His concern was the weight of the boat on the hull at the keel joint might lead to structural failure. I was very glad to get the boat back into the water with no damage (??) While I will not use this system again, it seems that the standard jack supports used by all the yards do no more than steady a boat while the bulk of the weight rests on the keel. It also made me very concerned about finding the bottom on an outgoing tide. Shouldn’t a sail boat be designed to be able to support its weight on the keel? I don’t know who I talked to at Hunter or what his design knowledge level is but I did appreciate the prompt return call and the information he provided.
