Whaler 110 Sport, too heavy?

dhays said:

I have a dinghy/motor/gas/battery weight of about 300lbs. I have a crane rated at 600lbs. I wouldn't want a crane rated at anything less. I am conservative by nature however.

Click to expand...

That's a good match. We don't have 100% extra like you, but where we do use a crane, we have nearly 50% extra margin.

HughMc said:

Yeah, 460 is the figure I found on the Boston Whaler site. I'll take it down and weigh it on the trailer and try to calculate the total weight. Not much historical info on their site, I might give them a call.

Given that the Californian weighs in at 32,000 I guess another 600 isn't going to capsize it.

I'm thinking I might add a couple of additional supports for the boat deck, I could put two SS poles in forward, near the ladder to the fly bridge, without taking up much usable space on the aft deck. Maybe replacing the crane motor and cable is also a good idea.

Click to expand...

I'm working on a more definitive answer. 32,000 was the advertised weight of these, I'll guess with standard engines. What power does your boat have?

What follows is probably a lot more than anyone wants to know on the subject.

I made a computer model of a hull that's an approximation of the Californian 43. It's 43'8" overall, beam is 13'3", and displacement is 32,000 lbs in the lightship condition.



Every time we add or take a item off the boat, it's total displacement changes, draft, trim, and freeboard change, and stability changes. My effort here is show the magnitude of the change instability caused by adding fuel down low or a dinghy on the roof. This is not a precise calculation because I don't have precise data on any particular Californian 43. To complete these calculations I've made a number of assumptions based on experience. As such this post is just my opinion of what happens and anyone is free to disagree.

For arguments sake.....

Lightship is the bare boat, 32,000 lbs
Full Load is the bare boat plus 2856 lbs of fuel and 1166 lbs of fresh water
The dinghy is 700 lbs.

After the hull model I created a simple table of weights and moments, to quantify the effect of adding fuel and the dinghy. All weights are in Long Tons of 2240 lbs. Note that filling the fuel (400 usg) and water (140 usg) lowers the VCG (vertical center of gravity) by approximately 2.5". Adding the dinghy up on the roof when the tanks are empty moves VCG up 4.75". Adding the dinghy when the tanks are full moves the VCG up just under 2".



The Righting Arm Curve at Lightship shows a max righting arm of almost .7' and zero stability at 61 degrees heel.



With Full Fuel and water RA is about .85' max and zero stability is at 66 degrees heel.



Lightship plus the dinghy shows a .6' RA and zero stability at 58 degrees heel.



And Full Load plus the dinghy shows RA at .75' and zero stability at 64 degrees heel.



Once again these numbers are just an indication of what will happen under these circumstances. Real life will be different. Adding a heavy dinghy on the roof will reduce stability on this type of boat. The reduction in stability shown here is not (IMO) enough to cause concern under most typical cruising conditions. In marginal conditions I would find it cause for concern and would take action to improve the vessels stability.

When I was about 10 (1968) on the Thousand Islands, the marina/whaler dealer's son of the same age ran around in a 13' whaler with a 25 on it. He had free run of the St. Lawrence as long as his Golden retriever went with him. Made my 12' aluminum star-craft with 9 hp look sad .
I've wanted a little Whaler like that ever since.
If you can make it work get one. You'll probably use it as much as the big boat.It will take two hours to make a 5 minute grocery run.
At the same time the little USCG station there ran a big whaler with two 200s. Made me want join up!

Tad: Those graphs are exceptionally helpful as reference points. I think all of us can gain some insight through our own rough comparisons, but it emphasizes the effects of weight added above the CG. Thanks.

Thanks to all

CWO - You are right I do use it as much as the big boat. We live close to the big boat so many evenings we would take the Whaler out for sunset instead of the big one. We also started to run to the beach with it or just run out to visit friends at anchor. Still haven't got the crane thing down but I have a roof crane rated at 750 LBS so that isn't a problem. I'm thinking of swim platform davits/Cranes for the whaler and putting my sailing Walker Bay on the roof. This winter project is to fabricate the supports and braces for two St Croix cranes to sit about a foot higher than the swim platform to keep the dinghy up high enough to not be a problem. For most times I will tow it, as I have done all summer, between anchorages and just lift it when going to marinas.

That is a great back rest, any idea where it came from?

Wifey B: Tad. Grrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaat analysis. I'd have to really study to understand all the technical stuff and I'm not going to do that so trust it to you pros. However, what I get out of it is the reminder that everything we do changes the boat.

MayorGSD said:

That is a great back rest, any idea where it came from?

Click to expand...

This is not my friend's boat...just one I saw on the internet. I saved the photos as an example of what I'd like to do to the boat if I ever get my hands on it. My friend recently gifted me his 15hp Merc outboard from the Whaler so I'm a little closer to getting the boat....it's just coming my way one piece at a time. He's also given me right of first refusal so I know eventually, he'll sell me the whole damn thing.

When I'm done with it, it'll hopefully look like this.

Love the coming to you in pieces.

When I was young, working in my father's office, we picked up a new client. He brought over a drawer from his file cabinet with all his records. When I asked for something else, he brought another drawer. Then the third and fourth. I then called him and he said I had all the drawers. I said, "I know. Now, would you please bring the cabinet so I have somewhere to put them." He did.

So, now if he'd please bring the boat so you'd have somewhere to put the motor.

hmason said:

Three years ago I purchased a Whaler 110 Sport with a 25 hp Mercury 4 stroke. Mine is a 2013 model and is much heavier than the older one you describe. It weighs in at about 650 pounds. My crane is rated at 800 pound capacity. I changed the crane motor to a new one with a 3,000 pound pull rating and removed the galvanized steel cable and replaced it with Dyneema. I also had a cradle built that was templated to fit the bottom contours of the Whaler. You can see the Whaler in my avatar if you look real close.

I was concerned as you are about the effect of the weight up on the boat deck. I reasoned that it was not much different than having 3 adults up there. But I digress. We live aboard and travel from CT to FL and back each spring and fall. We have had some rough weather at times. The good news is that I don't feel any difference in the handling or stability of the boat. From a physics standpoint I know there must be a difference but I don't feel it. I've been very happy with our set up and love the Whaler.

Click to expand...

Howard,

We were just in Stuart and said hello to Karsten and Peggy the day before they left. I didn't see your boat, so I assume you are already on your way north.

Question on Dyneema. Are you happy with it to lift your dinghy. What diameter are you using.

Thanks, Mike

BandB said:

The weight of a new 110 is 460 lbs. I can't imagine they were that much lighter in 1981, but could be I guess. That would push weight to the 600 lb range with the engine, probably 700 with gear and fuel.

Click to expand...

I just sold a 1989 Whaler 11 foot tender (not the sport version). 280 pounds.

MikeM said:

...Question on Dyneema. Are you happy with it to lift your dinghy. What diameter are you using...

Click to expand...

Mike: We changed from ss aircraft cable to Dyneema 3 years ago on our hoist/davit and will never use wire again. It's very easy to splice. YouTube has has some good "how to" videos. We went with 1/4". We talked to Nick Jackson, our davit manufacturer, first and his only caution was to make sure you have a minimum of 4 wraps on the hoist drum when it's fully extended because of the slippery nature of the Dyneema.

MikeM said:

Howard,

We were just in Stuart and said hello to Karsten and Peggy the day before they left. I didn't see your boat, so I assume you are already on your way north.

Question on Dyneema. Are you happy with it to lift your dinghy. What diameter are you using.

Thanks, Mike

Click to expand...

Since Dyneema is just ridiculously strong, any diameter would work. Generally it will come down to what diameter is the easiest to work with. 1/8" would be plenty strong for your application but too thin and light to be easy to work with. I have 1/4" on my crane and will replace it with the same however 3/16 " would work as well.

Often it is sold in mm so I would look at 6mm line.