International Telstar Owners Association

How much weight can one safely put in your amas? Does anyone know how much this effects performance?

When I did the factory visit, it was claimed that during testing they lifted the boat by the Amas. It was strong enough to support the main hull. That said, several boats have had to repair damage where the arm connects to the hulls. As to weight, heavy hull on the windward side should help righting moment and on the leeway side will reduce it. My guess, lacking any real data, is that as long as balanced it will be no different than weight in the main hull. In general, weight is the enemy of performance.

I agree with Vancouver. Balance it. But I wouldn't want to put more than about 300 pounds in each. And it WILL affect performance.

Thanks for the info guys. Yes I was thinking around 250 lbs, but not sure if there was a given number. I will take your advice and balance them.

I was concerned about the effect on the buoyancy. Particularly sailing on a close haul I would think to much weight would lead to submerging your ama.

Vancouver, as far as your comment on the amas holding the weight of the whole boat....
In the area where the arms attach to the main hull I have quite a bit of caulking around the inner part of the mount. Is this normal? I talked to the original owner and he says no work was ever done there, so it must be a factory thing. I believe this is the case as its caulked under the stainless mount. The strange part is they are different on both sides. I am not familiar with these boats, does yours have this?

here is a quote from the Telstar Owners manual, page 22:

As part of the testing involved in developing the Telstar
design, the entire boat was supported by just the outriggers
with the main hull suspended. The goal was to confirm that
the hinge assemblies would take the weight of the entire
boat - even with four persons aboard attempting to flex the
hinges.

escape wrote:here is a quote from the Telstar Owners manual, page 22:

As part of the testing involved in developing the Telstar
design, the entire boat was supported by just the outriggers
with the main hull suspended. The goal was to confirm that
the hinge assemblies would take the weight of the entire
boat - even with four persons aboard attempting to flex the
hinges.

Thanks Michel, that info may come in handy when trying to paint the the areas that you can't get with the boat sitting on the trailer.

The weight in the leeward ama will reduce its buoyancy, but the weight in the windward ama will make it harder to raise that ama. So I guess the efforts counteract each other. But total weight no matter where it is slows the boat.