Hoist launching a Picnic Cat

[zippy4457]

We have a hoist for launching daysailers at our marina and there are times when it would make be easier to launch the PC that way rather than from a trailer.

I'm thinking of using a three leg bridle between the shroud attachment points and the mainsheet padeye on the centerboard box.  The legs of the bridle would be long enough to get the pick point above the boom while it is resting on the cross brace.   Just eyeballing the boat it looks like the balance point should be somewhere between the shrouds and the mainsheet so I would be able to adjust the bridle to get it level.

Has anyone ever done this? 

Anyone have any other ideas?  I would rather not lift it with straps under the hull.

[Tom L.]

I don't know if the chain plates are strong enough to pick the boat up. I would contact Com Pac and get their thoughts on how to lift the boat.

Tom L.

[Salty19]

With a 500lb weight and 6 inch draft (board up), I can't see any situation where launching via trailer would be difficult, especially so at a "real" boat ramp. This is one of the easiest craft to launch.  Is your vehicle really small or something?

Can you describe your launching problems?  Perhaps we can help figure this out rather than seeing you dish out lift fees.

[bruce]

I know of a couple of PC sailors on the Yahoo list who have used a lift. In both cases, ramps were not available.

After consulting with Com-Pac, they both reported using a bridle system attached with carabiners to the shroud chain plates and aft mooring cleats. The first guy emailed Gerry in 2008 and was told that Com-Pac lifts the boats this way at the factory, empty of course. Gerry felt that the pad eyes were probably OK, but recommended that he install additional pad eyes aft since the cleats aren't designed to be used for lifting. The owner didn't want to install additional pad eyes.

The second owner called Com-Pac in 2013, and they said it would be fine to use the cleats. He did decide to have additional pad eyes installed at the stern. He had Defender make up a bridle to his specs using four 3/8" Dyneema, each about 80" long, spliced to a sling link with carabiners on the ends for attachment. At the end of the first season, this was a new boat, he reported that the system was perfectly balanced and had worked great.

Besides the wood screws, the sheet attachment is a 3/8" bolt threaded into a nut welded on top of the SS centerboard trunk. Should be good, but it's hard to inspect. Not sure about balance.

[zippy4457]

With a 500lb weight and 6 inch draft (board up), I can't see any situation where launching via trailer would be difficult, especially so at a "real" boat ramp. This is one of the easiest craft to launch.  Is your vehicle really small or something?

Can you describe your launching problems?  Perhaps we can help figure this out rather than seeing you dish out lift fees.

No problems, its more of a convenience issue.  Our marina is laid out so its very easy to push a small trailer over to the hoist vs. hitching up the car and dragging it around to the ramp.  We have an area where we can store the boat with the rig up and ready to sail.

It would also be an easy way to get the boat up in the air to inspect the CB and change the line.

[zippy4457]

I know of a couple of PC sailors on the Yahoo list who have used a lift. In both cases, ramps were not available.

After consulting with Com-Pac, they both reported using a bridle system attached with carabiners to the shroud chain plates and aft mooring cleats. The first guy emailed Gerry in 2008 and was told that Com-Pac lifts the boats this way at the factory, empty of course. Gerry felt that the pad eyes were probably OK, but recommended that he install additional pad eyes aft since the cleats aren't designed to be used for lifting. The owner didn't want to install additional pad eyes.

The second owner called Com-Pac in 2013, and they said it would be fine to use the cleats. He did decide to have additional pad eyes installed at the stern. He had Defender make up a bridle to his specs using four 3/8" Dyneema, each about 80" long, spliced to a sling link with carabiners on the ends for attachment. At the end of the first season, this was a new boat, he reported that the system was perfectly balanced and had worked great.

Besides the wood screws, the sheet attachment is a 3/8" bolt threaded into a nut welded on top of the SS centerboard trunk. Should be good, but it's hard to inspect. Not sure about balance.

Thanks for the info, I hadn't thought about the aft cleats, but that makes sense.  It would certainly give me a broader base than the mainsheet padeye.   I'm going to look at that when the boat comes out of storage.   3/8 dyneema is way overkill, it has a breaking strength over 19,000 lbs.  I would probably use 3/16 which is still rated for 5400 lbs.  Anything smaller gets hard to handle and doesn't save much money.

I had the woodwork off this fall and took a look at how the mainsheet is secured to the centerboard box.  It certainly looks like it could handle all of 500 lbs and probably quite a bit more.  The chainplate padeyes also look sturdy enough to handle the weight of the boat and they're designed to take the load in a vertical direction.   

My big questions are where is the CG, my somewhat educated eyeball tells me its between the mainsheet and the shrouds, but it could be close.  Going to the aft cleats would fix that.  I'm also looking for lessons learned by others, like "watch out for the ______  when lifting" or "make sure you don't ____".

Thanks for all the replies so far.   If I get this figured out I'll post pics and dimensions for my sling.

[nicktulloh]

I don't get this at all. I can't imagine a situation where all of this would be preferable than taking the very few minutes to hitch the trailer to the car. What really baffles me, though, is why you don't want to sling it. What's the reason for that?

[bruce]

Don't disagree about the 3/8" dyneema, but I couldn't relax with 3/16" no matter what the spec!

I haven't weighed my boat, but I'd guess closer to 750 lbs with gear, including the 100 lbs of bagged sand I carry in the forward locker for trim. My guess for the CG for an empty PC would be a foot forward of the sheet. Gently jacking up on the CB trunk flange with the boat loose on the trailer may give you a sense of the balance.

[PasoSailor]

As and FYI, I launch mine at a power boat sport launch (no trailer ramp at Port Harford in San Luis Obispo). No problem using the power boat slings, BUT the slings must be tied together to keep them from slipping apart. We tried without a tie and found it definitly would slip fore and aft and may well drop the boat. I attached a picture. The 4-point harness looks like a very nice set up for use of a small jib crane.

[bruce]

Just curious. That forward sling in the second lift looks like it's back at your midship cleat. Clearly it worked out, but it looks like it's getting close to the CG. The Merc is about 40 lbs, another 10 for the mount mount, so that shifts the weight back a bit. Maybe you've got a fuel tank back there as well. Do you dry sail her, or is this something you just do for maintenance? Looks like SLO has year round conditions!

[PasoSailor]

Hi Bruce - indeed the second photo was a bit off-center....we hauled it easily, but it was a bit bow-heavy. I don't have a lot of "stuff" in the boat lockers and the little motor may weigh 40lbs soaking wet. None the less it wasn't slinged where it should have been. That said, we had no issue. I've only launched the boat a couple time at Port San Luis (round trip is about 15 bucks, and they close rather early). Generally we get to one of the lakes or to Morro Bay (there is a ramp there). I dry sail the boat and it lives in a boat garage in Paso Robles (next to my Cape Cod Bullseye and a couple other misc wooden boats!). I just sailed Huntington Lake with some friends and their cat boat. The lake is at 7500 feet and is an amazing place to sail. VERY consistent wind about 10-15 kts and the wind at altitude seems to have quite a bit less "power" in it. A wonderful place to sail. I'll post a photo.

Good observation for spotting the poor sling job though!

[bruce]

I've always liked the Bullseye, I had a chance to crew on one in club races as a kid. If I wanted a small keelboat, I'd start there. Not as easy to trailer though! A defanged 10-15 kts sounds perfect for the PC. We saw 5.6 kts SOG on a reach the other day, in a steady 13 kts. Our best. I wasn't pushing, but the boat felt good, so I checked the GPS.

[Finbar Beagle]

Zippy,

I just bought the Picnic Cat Bruce was referring to, with the factory installed pad eyes.

Let me know if you need pictures or dimensions.  Previous owner also supplied 2 bridles.  Let me know if you may be interested in info, or buying, as I do not see a need to keep.