What is this BayRaider 20 hole for?

[IanEagland]

Hi

Curious as to the purpose of this in the stern as it does not seem to give access to anything?

[Peter Cockerton]

Ian

I really wanted to put a link here to a previous post within the forum which quoted from the BR20 manual, unfortunately I couldn't get it to work and on top of that the link within the library for the BR20 manual seems to direct me now to the wrong page as well. All not lost though as I have searched for "capsize drain" within the library, found the posting and cut and pasted the explanation, see below :-


To quote from the BR20 manual:

"Self Righting, Side Decks, and Asymmetric Capsize Buoyancy

"If you capsize when the ballast tank is empty, the boat will lie on her side with the rig on the water. In normal conditions she will not turn over completely. If she does, due perhaps to wave action, or crew members hanging onto the sides of the up turned hull, then she can be recovered single handed if necessary, thanks to her unique Asymmetric Capsize Buoyancy (ACB).

"Side decks are very important to create a boat that is self righting from 90 degrees, but unfortunately, they hinder recovery of a vessel that has fully inverted. The BayRaider mast is a hollow sealed unit, aiding recovery, but without ACB, the boat is still too stable in the inverted state for one man to be able to right alone.

"ACB allows one side deck tank to flood, thus destroying buoyancy on one side. A baffle on the port side under the foredeck (EPOXY PLY BOAT ONLY) protects the tank from flooding in the 90 degree knockdown case, but when fully inverted, the tank entrance is exposed and water pours in. On GRP, GRE and CRE boats, the inlet for this water is the wooden lined hole on the port side next to the mizzen. Once the boat has been righted, the majority of the water pours back the way it came in, landing in the floor well (or Outboard well - GRP boats), from where it can flow out the outboard well. The remaining amount floods into the floor well via a small drain hole into the port side seat locker. You can feel for this with your hand in the locker, reaching outward and upward (epoxy ply only).

"If your boat is capsized with the water tanks full, she will of course self right. It is unlikely she will ever get as far as a full invert in this state as her angle of vanishing stability is an impressive 120 degrees, but if she does she can be recovered in the same way as if the ballast tank were empty."

[Graham W]

The four known members of the Honourable Society of Turtlers would probably disagree with the first two sentences of Peter's quote from the manual.  Once an unballasted BR20 has capzized because it's been blown over by a strong wind, the sails and especially the top of the mast are pointed downwards into the water, below 90°.  This is because the unballasted boat is so buoyant and the centreline is some way above the water.  The capsized hull makes for substantial windage and can drive the tip of the mast further underwater.  So after the initial capsize, the boat could well keep going over until fully inverted. 

On the other hand, Society members can also attest to the ACB working as intended, after a small wait for the port tank to flood.  Also that if ballasted, you're very unlikely to turtle or even capsize, as long as you're properly reefed and not out in very unsuitable conditions. 

Once the boat has been righted, the notch in the rudder for climbing back on board over the stern is an excellent safety feature that is easy to use.

[IanEagland]

Many thanks. I have now seen the connection through to the port side tank.

Are there any drawings any where of the layout of all the tanks on the BR20. I keep finding water in some of the tanks which seems to be more than you would get from a leaking hatch and I am trying to understand where the seams are that could be leaking.

 

[Graham W]

Ian,

If water is collecting in the two side tanks at the back (the ones with the big horizontal access hatches), then it's probably the hatches that are leaking.  Water collecting on the aft part of the side benches would normally flow forwards and then down the side of the locker lids into the cockpit.  However, if the boat is bow up on a trailer, that water instead puddles around the access hatches and then leaks through to the tanks below, either through the hatches themselves or around the sides of the hatch bases.  You can end up with a surprisingly large volume of water in there.  Several of us have tried to prevent this (new seals, more sealant) but without success.  If water is collecting in different tanks to those two, then there may well be other causes.