Banish BR wet locker misery

[Graham W]

I finally managed to ship large amounts of water over the side, during the first race in Sail Caledonia.  The race started before we were ready and we only had one reef in when we probably should have had two.  Thanks to the seals, not one drop entered the lockers.

[Colin Lawson]

Graham, Good to hear that you had an exciting sail and have banished wet locker misery. 

Looking at the photos by John Macpherson (photo number 097 link below) for sail Caledonia 2012 it looks like there was a capsize. Was that a participants boat or just someone out for some fun. If it was a participants boat are there any lessons to be learnt?

Colin

photo link: http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/e3QEKaUS/1/5625633_6396245#imageID=159621033

[Matthew P]

I regret to admit I was the skipper of the capsized BR20 and the fault was entirely mine, not the boat and not the crew.

The capsize occurred because in the rush to start the race I misjudged the strength of the wind gusts and the capability of the crew and skipper.  In my haste to start the race I did not use water ballast (and I don’t think any of the other BR’s did either) and failed to reef so in we went when we jibbed and were a little slow to shift the crew weight upwind.
 
On the plus side we rapidly received assistance from the Sail Caledonia rescue boat.  I was able climb onto the hull from the stern and kept my fingers out of the centre board slot that temptingly offered a finger hold as I pulled myself on, before the raised centre board wacked back into the hull like a guillotine.  If anyone needs to climb back onto an upturned hull they MUST keep away from an extended centre board as they climb onto the hull.
 
I was easily able to get the centre board out of its slot and vertical thanks to the notch designed into its foot and three of us quickly righted the boat by leaning on it towards the self-flooded tank on the port side (starboard when inverted!) of the boat.  I am confident that two or even one of us could have righted it.  I certainly advocate practising a capsize in controlled conditions (with assistance at hand), it is great boost to confidence in the boat.

Thanks to simple but effective securing of the locker lids and all loose gear in the boat tied-in we did not lose any gear except an unsecured mooring warp.  I strongly recommend fastening locker lids, mine have simple Velcro straps that take up no space, are easy to use and worked when needed.  I have not fitted seals to the locker lids and they filled with water -in the circumstances seals I don’t think seals would have kept them dry – but maybe Graham can prove me wrong.
After righting the boat we were able to sort out the mess, fill the ballast tank and get sailing again. We completed the course, slowly, with full tanks, no reefs and no major harm except wounded pride.

Given that the other BRs apparently relied on reefing (and better seamanship) without water ballast, I am interested in expert opinion as to whether reefing is more important than water ballast for stability in various conditions.

My only other comment is that apart from my embarrasing start, the Sail Caledonia event was great fun, I learned a great deal and the other particpants were a interesting, friendly and forgiving bunch of people. 

Matthew

[Graham W]

I am interested in expert opinion as to whether reefing is more important than water ballast for stability in various conditions.

I am no expert but I would say that for comfortable cruising, especially when solo, ballast first and then reef as necessary.  For racing with crew, reef first and only ballast if essential.

In the spirit of scientific enquiry, I was out solo today in an F6, ballasted and double reefed.  The boat behaved impeccably but I got very, very wet.  There was so much water flying around that a spongeful even found its way, for the first time, into the starboard locker.

[Colin Lawson]

Thanks for the feedback on the capsize Matthew - very useful to pool experiences.  The last time I was in an accidental capsize (not a BR) was a similar situation - a minor error by the skipper was magnified by the inexperienced crew who did nothing to help the situation and their weight on the wrong side resulted in a capsize. So lesson for us all - be aware of how much crew weight they can/cannot rely on in an emergency and sail / use ballast etc accordingly.

Colin

[Guy Rossey]

To report on my experience on wet lockers and as mentioned by Antony Huggett earlier and also having watched here above the interesting video of Simon Knight, I cut out the corners of the covers so as to allow water flushing out from the sides easily. I also glued foam on the back edge. This modification worked well recently. In a gust my gunwales went well into the water and the boat caught some 3-4 baskets of water. As in a previous experience, this would have brought a lot of water inside the lockers. But in this recent case I had only one inch of water. But also I could watch two real fountains  flushing out of the sides.

Guy

_________________
Catchando Bay (BR48)

[Simon Knight]

Guy,

Thanks for reporting your experience and posting the picture - I really must do the same to my own boat.

Simon

[Llafurio]

Guy,
well done.
Every step and detail towards reducing the water intake rate there in heavy weather is surely helping. I wish the yard itself offers guidance to all owners, and solution for new boats.

[Llafurio]

I have today done like Guy has suggested above, cut out the lower corners of the locker lids, plus I have cut 20mms from the lower edges of the side flanks in order to open the drain channel a bit more.

Full success, the draining rate increased xfold.

It was easier than I had feared. I had feared the electric jigsaw would create serrated cutting edges. But no, all is smooth, and looks professional.

I used an old jigsawing trick though: First mask the area to be cut with some duct tape, then mark the cutting line on that. CUT through material and tape WITH A SPECIAL BLADE FOR CERAMICS. Subsequently sand with 120 - 180 sanding paper on small triangular sander. 

[Llafurio]

This is what my lid cutouts look like.

[Simon Knight]

Hi,

Thanks for the pictures.  Just so that I am clear these pairs of waste have been cut from the edge of the locker lid that sits in the deck groove.

Did you have to remove the lids from the boat to do the cutting?

best wishes

Simon

[Llafurio]

...Just so that I am clear these pairs of waste have been cut from the edge of the locker lid that sits in the deck groove.
Did you have to remove the lids from the boat to do the cutting? ...

Yes. And yes. C.

[Matt Newland]

Dear All,
Thank you for all your helpful comments and suggestions on this topic. We have found that the best course of action, and one that we will be fitting on all future boats is:
Cut away the side flanks of the locker lids, about 20mm off, up the edge, making sure your cuts wrap around the corners
Fit a self adhesive neoprene tape (20mm wide works) to the back and side edges of the lockers. We dont bother with a mitre joint at the corners, a simple butt works well.
Fit a locker catch to hold the lockers closed. This is needed because with the neoprene in place you will probably find that lockers do not close fully under their own weight, but it is also good to avoid loosing contents in the event of inversion.
The neoprene also has the happy advantage of stopping the GRP grinding noise when you step on the outboard edge of the locker lids.
Please see the attached photos. We tested by locking an employee inside while throwing buckets of water simultaneously at the seat. We also taped tissue paper round the whole of the inside perimeter to give tell tales of any leaks and not a drop came in.
For more information please contact me.
Best wishes,
Matt