How much of an incline

[trevera25]

As some know , I recently bought a Debutante 21 and now have it sitting pretty on a trailer at the side of the barn . The problem is that I've realised that to move it forwards I have to negotiate an area of land that has an incline to one side as it goes down a slope . It's not a major incline but I'm worried about her falling over so does anyone know if this is likely or am I whittling for no reason

[malcb]

If you guestimate where the centre of gravity, then as long as that is unlikely to pass outside the bilge keels then it shouldn't fall over.

[searush]

OK so we can't see the lie of the land, but bilge keelers are designed to dry out. And, apart from Pendine, there are very few flat bits of land under the sea. I have had a couple of bilge keel boats (Westerly 25 & the larger Pentland) and frequently dried out on the edge of a channel.

I have occasionally been at such an angle I could hardly stand in the cabin. I don't know the Debutante that well, but she has a good designer as far as I know so should be equal to a slope of 15deg at least without problems.

I would be more concerned about the downhill keel sinking into the ground due to a greater share of the load on it. You will need to provide boards/ blocks under the keels any way, why not build up the downhill side a bit to even it up. The other risk I guess is she may slip on boards that are not level - or are you just moving her across the land on the trailer? In the latter case, strong ties to the trailer will prevent any problems.

[trevera25]

I must admit that I hadn't thought of the fact that she'll be drying out at an angle anyway , but it's only a short distance here so maybe just strap her down as tightly as possible will do it , as advised elsewhere too .

[kilter]

Depends how inclined you are to risk it..do you have a leaning to a particular method?

Maybe I should just slope off now! ;D

[malcb]

Remember the weightof the trailer will lower her centre of gravity.

Also, you could use a technique that is used with small tracked diggers. Rig a long pole across the boat with most of it on the uphill side, attach as much heavy stuff to the pole as possible, that will move the COG towards the uphill side.

With mini diggers you move the bucket across as far as possible to the uphill side for a similar effect. Where did I learn that, in France when I dug a swimming pool out, c'est la vie

[petecooper]

I don't know the lateral stability on a trailer, but some years ago we ran a Silhouette down a slip to let it float off as the tide came in. We were probably going too fast because when we stopped the trailer the boat slid off the back and landed on its bilge keels. We were fortunate that a) the owner wasn't there, and b) because no damage was done.

[trevera25]

Well , she made it without toppling so thanks all



tried to get one to show the incline but it's not clear on a pic