how light can i go safely?

[martynwilley]

hi all,

happy new year to all, been a while since iv posted on here, but the time has come to really get cracking preping my hull for this seasons races.

right so over the winter iv made a few mods to my XR2 to try an give it a few more ponies but am now thinking of ways to lighten my hull,

after lots of set up and testing iv found my Ring20c performs much better when the balance of weight was shifted forward (fuel tank) the boat performed much better with the tank strapped to the deck directly behind front seats rather than in its proper place at the back, because of strapping the tank to the deckk (and the deck being old) the deck has started to de-laminnate off the hull and also looks quite old an rotten.

i have sorced another s/s fuel tank that is long and skinnny as aposed to my large almost square tank i have at present, my thoughts was to use the long skinny tank in a similar position to where my tank is strapped now but unnder where the present deck is in he bottom of the V (thiis should also cut down on the ppendulam affect i seen to have with the tank strapped high up on the deck?)

my real question here is how much strength does the deck give to the hull? would it be a good idea to compleatly remove the deck in the back, just leaving the pedistal for the front seats and the small section of deck for the foot throttle and foot board, connditions for guernsey racinng are rarely smooth so dont wanna comprimise on saftey or strength to much. so basicly i am asking if from the seats back would be compleatly bare apart from a fuel tank and 1 board laminated somewhere to mount fuel rig/trim pump would thiis be ok?

always worked on engines and donne a lot of cosmetic work to boats but donnt know a great deal about the stenngth of a boat and what can be stripped out.

sorry for thhe essay, just wante to make sure i explainned myself so evveryone could unnderstand.

[Carl_B]

Originally Posted by martynwilley

hi all,

happy new year to all, been a while since iv posted on here, but the time has come to really get cracking preping my hull for this seasons races.

right so over the winter iv made a few mods to my XR2 to try an give it a few more ponies but am now thinking of ways to lighten my hull,

after lots of set up and testing iv found my Ring20c performs much better when the balance of weight was shifted forward (fuel tank) the boat performed much better with the tank strapped to the deck directly behind front seats rather than in its proper place at the back, because of strapping the tank to the deckk (and the deck being old) the deck has started to de-laminnate off the hull and also looks quite old an rotten.

i have sorced another s/s fuel tank that is long and skinnny as aposed to my large almost square tank i have at present, my thoughts was to use the long skinny tank in a similar position to where my tank is strapped now but unnder where the present deck is in he bottom of the V (thiis should also cut down on the ppendulam affect i seen to have with the tank strapped high up on the deck?)

my real question here is how much strength does the deck give to the hull? would it be a good idea to compleatly remove the deck in the back, just leaving the pedistal for the front seats and the small section of deck for the foot throttle and foot board, connditions for guernsey racinng are rarely smooth so dont wanna comprimise on saftey or strength to much. so basicly i am asking if from the seats back would be compleatly bare apart from a fuel tank and 1 board laminated somewhere to mount fuel rig/trim pump would thiis be ok?

always worked on engines and donne a lot of cosmetic work to boats but donnt know a great deal about the stenngth of a boat and what can be stripped out.

sorry for thhe essay, just wante to make sure i explainned myself so evveryone could unnderstand.

I think you will find the deck is as important to the rigidity of a boat as is the roof is to a car (Unless its a convertible then the chassis and lower body is strengthened) cut the roof off and the body will flex all over the place. I think you would be better getting the boat repaired or another hull. If you want an exact answer you could always ask the man who built them,send Mick a pm

[martynwilley]

ok so half hour with a crow bar and big hammer has seen just over 22kg of unwanted weight in s/s and wood, thats without the rotten deck to still come out!!

i took a pic of the deck de lamiation and the old fuel tank pad.

any advice on what i should do would be appriciated, im not shy to a bit of rip saw ply work and am up for having a go at glassing the bare minimum that will provide ridgidity as i really dont have the money to get a proffesional boat builder to do it

also the hull has a moullded bow tank, i dont use this as when i tried it out it just made the boat liist to nav's side, almost to the point we were runnning on the bump strip!! also moving the fuel tank seems to of caceled the need for a bow tank (never like the idea of water inside the boat anyway) lol

could i start skillfully weilding an angle grinder in the front and remove the moulded bow tank or does this provide the bow of the boat more strength?

[martynwilley]

sorry had to re size images

[Alacrity]

Just to avoid confusion Martyn, that is the floor you are talking about there not the deck. The deck it the top bit that stops you getting wet (in theory at least).

[martynwilley]

yup ok, floor then. lol
and the deck doesnt seem to keep me dry, thats all down to the waterproof race overalls

anyone any ideas on the bow tank removal? gagging to get cramp and all itchy with an angle grinder in the bow tommorrow

[Hydrostream]

Bow tank can come out if its just a fibreglass box mounted on the floor up there.
Although, I'm not sure I would, its not heavy and you may find you want to use it some time. There will probably be days that you want a few extra kgs up front.

The floor in the back can be lowered, you will still need something to sit the tank on and fasten it to.