Neringa the Cruising RL28 Improvements Part 2 -Adding Ballast

[@thisneurodiverselife]

Awesome video, hopefully the ballast has made a difference to the ride. One Life, One Search, Shane

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

The RL28 has a more vee shaped hull than most so heels quickly. The ballast did 2 things, it settled the motion in rough seas a bit and even though the boat heels quickly to 15 degrees still it resists going past that much more than it did before. These boats were used as charter boats and had 100 to 200kg of ballast added to their hull to make them meet survey requirements. I added 140kg to ensure full self righting in the event of a knockdown but trying not to make the boat too heavy on the trailer. It worked out pretty well and I am very happy with the result. Cheers Mark

[@aaronpetch2737]

Great video Mark, thank you for your efforts. A well thought out improvement and well executed, as usual. I'm looking forward to your comments regarding the additional ballast in your next sailing video.

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Hi Aaron. Before adding the ballast permanently I sailed with the ballast in place twice in a variety of conditions and in winds gusting to 30 knots one day on corio bay. The difference in gusty conditions was the boat didn't change heel as quickly and for a given wind and sail heeled a little less. In 20 knots from abeam I could definitely hold more sail and got maybe half to three quarters of a knot greater speed. Like all these things it is very hard to quantify and prove the differences but my own feeling of how the yacht sails is a slightly more settled motion and a little less tender in heeling. Haven't sailed any new locations recently so haven't made any new videos. Did sail geelong, melbourne .swan bay recently but not sure if I took enough footage. Since I haven't sailed due to boat trailer brake problems, waiting for parts.

[@aaronpetch2737]

Hi Mark, thank you for taking the time to respond to my comments. You've achieved the all your desired components of the additional ballast, plus more speed, something I hadn't considered. Congratulations on improving so many aspects of the best ever Australian made trailer sailer cruiser. All the best sorting the trailer brakes.

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

I agree with you in that the RL28 is the best ever Australian made cruising trailer sailer. Looked at nearly all out there and nothing really came close for space, comfort but still with reasonable performance. I even looked at Macgregor 26's but they still don't measure up to the RL in many ways.

[@DocLois2010]

Great session showing your work on a beautiful boat, Mark. The RL28s are hard to come by and hold their value. I have watched all your videos. Neringa is in great shape, a credit to your passion for her. It would be wonderful to see some of the quirks a skipper has to watch out for while sailing the RL28 in your next videos.

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Thank for the comments. I'll see what I can do in future videos. I'm not quite sure what you mean by quirks, mostly the trips are mostly problem free. That's not to say when solo sailing that I do a lot of hasn't got its challenges.

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

Always great seeing your videos and the very good work and thinking that goes into the details. Like making the lead at 45* to make a nice finish.

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Thanks Mark. I figured when well heeled the 45* top lets you put you foot on it when moving around the cabin and it looks better and like it is an intentional part of the boat. Haven't got much other sailing in lately. Brakes on the trailer are playing up and I'm having trouble finding parts. Still trying to make a video of sailing around new year but struggling for footage which I was a bit slack on geelong-Melbourne-swanbay.

[@julesmoto9022]

Hi, enjoyed this video thanks. Can you elaborate upon where is the most economical place to purchase the lead and also how you melted it?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

I got mine as scrap being sold on gumtree. Took a while to find enough but got it for $2 a kg which these days is cheap

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Forgot to say I melted it in an old cooking pot over a has ring burner and molded it in rectangular tin down pipe with one side cut off and supported in a sand bed

[@tonywoollcombe1799]

A possible wind vane for Neringa its named the Hebredian, one can buy the plans on line. Some you tube videos available cheers Tony W

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

I have looked into all sorts of designs of windvane for Neringa including the Hebredian. The challenges on Neringa are the daggerboard rudder that needs to be able to be lifted in shallow water and for trailering which requires the space above rudder to be free and the davits and solar panels that make it challenging for the placement of a vane. The other consideration is that it has to be trailerable with relative ease of packing up. Having said this I am working on some ideas, even if very slowly, that use a half length auxiliary rudder attached to the rear of the rudder box controlled by cables to a control lever on the tiller handle. My first design of rudder blade didn't work well with too much area forward of the axis of rotation, so I have redesigned it and will try it on my next outing over easter when I will be down at the gippsland lakes. If I can get this auxiliary rudder working well with light pressure needed on the control lever to steer the boat I will then think about how to overcome the problems with the vane placement. Cheers Mark

[@akkiller8454]

so would adding weight in the center and low on any boat work

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Any weight low and in the center of any boat will increase its stability. Obviously the lower the weight the greater the effect hence why most boats have keels well below the boat. Many boats have a combination of weight in the hull and weight in the keel. If the weight is placed too high in the boat it will have little effect and if above the lateral line of rotation (line around which the boat rolls) it would make the boat less stable. Other things to consider are the added weight generally calms the movement a bit but can also slow acceleration and speed sometimes. Its all a trade off, the ability to carry more sail can overcome the reduction in speed. Cheers Mark

[@akkiller8454]

@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES thank u I'm planning on building a small weekender and the plans dont have any balast on them so I was just wondering how I could thank u for the info

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

@@akkiller8454 Always happy to talk boats. Most trailer sail boats have between 20 to 40% of the total boats weight as ballast. If you are making all the ballast in the hull I would be looking at making this between 30 and 40%. So if your total boat weight is 1000kg then at 40% 400kg would be ballast or at 30% 300kg would be ballast. Just remember the ballast is a percentage of the total boat weight (boat + ballast). Most fishing trawlers and ships work on internal ballast in the form of weight and things like engines etc kept low to form the ballast, it how they seem to defy gravity and stay upright. If your boat is not a sail boat with the weight of the mast up high you could reduce this ballast to much less. Cheers Mark

[@akkiller8454]

@@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES thank u agian I'm getting alot of info from u I havent found elsewhere I'm building a weekender by stevenson projects I was thinking of adding a steel plate in the keel or a void for some because its a lamination of 3 bords so it would be easy to do that

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

@@akkiller8454 Either would work. Just remember if your boat is a sail boat you need some keel to stop the boat slipping sideways too much when under sail. So the keel can be steel with the weight or if the ballast is in the hull the keel can just be timber or fiberglass. Sounds like you have some sort of plans to work from so they probably include this sort of detail.

[@gerrys6265]

OK, so now for the important part?...how did it affect the boat?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Hi Gerry, I have referred to the result in a few subsequent videos. RL28s really only use their ballast when they get to around 15 degrees of heel when they lay their high cheek in the water and give the balllast more to lever against. The hull shape on the RL will always heel easily to 15 degrees no matter how much ballast is added. So up to 15 degrees heel there has not been a huge effect from the ballast other that the boat doesn't react as quickly as it used to in gusts. There has been a noticeable stiffening of the boat past 15 degrees. In 20 knots the boat used to sit at 20+ degrees of heel where it now sit around the 15. This is also with increased sail area from my mast head rig conversion. After 20 knots I start reefing sails to maintain 15 degrees which in my view is the boats optimum heel for good performance especially to windward.? This also has resulted in better overall speed and reduced twitchiness of the boat. Rob Legg talks about sailing at 25 degrees happily but not great if you enjoy cruising. Cheers Mark

[@tonywoollcombe1799]

Thanks Very informative. Is the RL 28 a stronger yacht than Halcyon?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Overall the fibreglass is thinner on the RL in non critical areas than halcyon who had a pretty consistent 10mm + in most of the hull. With the added ballast the RL is slightly more ballasted than Halcyon but the difference in shape of the 2 hulls the RL probably have a stronger righting force if knocked flat. The cabin is generally stronger on the RL. I suppose the answer is that they are similar in strength with differences in their respective strengths and weaknesses.

[@michaelsimpson9779]

Well thought out an executed, nice work.

[@tonywoollcombe1799]

Next question ......would you attempt a circumnavigation of Australia in a RL 28?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

With correct preparation and strengthening my answer would be yes although many would disagree. Circumnavigating Australia the biggest challenges would the the WA west coast and across the bight below aust. Trailer sailers aren't built for such stretches but handled carefully they could do it. I have often thought about these waters and the only way I would attempt them is to carry a parachute anchor and sit hove too on the parachute every time the weather turned really bad. RL 28s have sailed across the top and to indonesia. Southern cross/northwind 23 has sailed from the gold coast to perth across the top through some pretty horrendous contitions at times. The boats could fail if handled badly but in my opinion it is the skipper not mentally prepared that would fail first. Many sailers who drown at sea who panicked often have had their boat found floating and intact. Gorge Bass sailed an open wooden whale boat (row boat with mast and sails) slightly smaller than an RL28 from sydney to western port and back safely. The seamanship of the skipper is far more important than the boat. Would I have another try, maybe if I could find the time before I get much older. A slab of 2 years would be needed to do it safely in a trailer sailer.

[@tonywoollcombe1799]

Is the pivot bolt on the keel really only finger tight. And how near is the bolt to your new addition of ballast?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

The bolt is lightly tightened, a bit more than finger tight but not much. The new ballast starts about 10inches rear of the bolt. It runs the full length of the keel housing within the main cabin. The keel on the RL28 only deploys at an angle with most of its mass not far from the centre of the keel housing in the cabin, so the ballast is approximately in sync if slightly to the rear of where its should be but not significantly.

[@tonywoollcombe1799]

Can't the vane be off set to one side of the rudder? Have you seen Tamie Norrie you tube?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Yes I have watched some of the Tammy Norrie videos. He has an inboard rudder leaving room at the rear for the pendulum servo mechanism. The vane could be off set to the side but compared to most boats on youtube with windvanes, Neringa is quite crowed at the back with the davits, outboard rudder, outboard bracket for the dinghy motor, the rear boarding ladder and a permanent mast support in the center above. All niceties for cruising but challenging to incorporate a wind vane system. I like the pendulum servo type windvane but they are bulky and wouldn't trailer well, hence why I am still working with the trim tab/auxiliary rudder idea on Neringa with all of the other challenges. All those challenges make Neringa a much more comfortable cruising boat so I suppose there has to be a trade off somewhere.

[@rogermace4516]

Great idea and a nice neat job

[@phillipcarr49]

Hi Mark, have just bought an RL28 in Paynesville Vic. and am very impressed with all your well thought-out mods. Will follow future posts with interest. Just wanted to know if a hatch was ever designed for the anchor locker as i'm finding the open "well" a bit of a tripping hazard ?

[@TRAILERYACHTADVENTURES]

Hi Phillip, Over the years I have seen some hatches designed and molded by their owners some good and others pretty average. I thought about it but decided in the end that in a rough sea it gave better security for footing. If a wave breaks over the bow it does add alot of weight until it drains. I will be using it to store jerry cans in my up coming Kimberley trip so it has its uses. Cheers Mark