martin hartley
Has anyone ever used the plastic coated wire for guard rails. I am worried that the stanchions will chafe the plastic.
Also has anyone ever removed the keel bolts for inspection – any advice please.
Thanks
StevenRolland
We were asked to remove the keel bolts by the surveyor when we bought the boat last year. Managed to avoid doing it so far. We spoke to a few Sonata owners including a couple of people on the committee and could not find any one that managed it succesfully. I spoke to Hunter boats who said they would “strongly advise against” removing the keel. Unfortunatly they would not put it in writing for the insurence company.
It sounds a bad idea to me, but I think it could be quite and issue in the next few years as insurence companies start asking for surveys.
Administrator
Anyone planning to race under Offshore Racing Council (ORC) safety regulations, in any category might like to note the following quote from the special regulations:
“Lifelines shall be stranded stainless steel wire of minimum diameter as given below (3mm for a Sonata). Grade 316 stainless steel wire is recommended. Lifelines installed from 1/99 shall be uncoated and used without close-fitting sleeving.”
“Notes 1: in the context of this section, the word ‘guardrail’ may be taken as a substitute for the word ‘lifeline’.”
My copy of the special regulations is a few years old so if anyone has an up to date copy, they might like to confirm that the recommendation hasn’t changed.
Even if you’re not racing under ORC reg’s it’s not a bad idea to get hold of a copy and study the safety recommendations. The reg’s along with other safety information are available from the RYA in publication YR9 for
Ghostbuster
ORC Cat 4 Safety regulations can also be found at:
KaatjeFlodder
Hello Martin,
I have plastic coated metal wire. Your assumption is correct. First the stanchions will chafe off the plastic, then the metal wire chaves off the stanchion… I havn’t found a real solution yet.
Robert