Ama load capacity and balance

[ajaxpc]

I probably carry too much on my boat overall - it's something I've been reviewing quite seriously this season. I remember it being faster when I first bought it ...

I think the Telstar is fairly forgiving, mind you. It just slows down, rather than becoming otherwise unmanageable.

Things I usually carry in the amas:

Port:

Fenders (6 big ones and two or three little ones), quite a lot of rope (four long warps), unpumped bilgewater.

Starboard:

50 litres of fresh water in two containers. (= 50 kilos).

Things I have carried in the past:

25 litres of petrol
Inflatable dingy

Also of interest:

I generally carry a canoe inverted on the starboard side deck. I think it weighs between 30 and 40 kilos. Sometimes I've had this *and* the two water containers in the ama (80-90 kilos in total), and there has been no handling consequence.

Personally, I weigh somewhere around about 110 to 120 kilos, and I guess I would feel perfectly comfortable sailing the boat with a couple of people my size sitting out on the side deck with the ama empty. Everything else follows from this informal computation ...

Going to windward in heavy conditions I've noticed a very slight flexing movement (maybe as much as an inch or so) right at the join at the forward end of the leeward ama, between the ama and the main hull. Bearing in mind that the connection to the main hull is some way aft of this, this doesn't look like something to worry about too much.

I must remember to put the boat's name on *all* of the individual bits that might end up on a beach somewhere ...

[Pat Ross]

Very Helpful!

Thanks,

Pat

[petrel]

I think the short answer as to how much weight can be carried in the Amas is none. And the long answer is, as little as possible. Think torque, 10 pounds X 8 feet (half the beam) = 80 foot pounds.

Knowing this I still put some stuff out there. It is an ideal place for fenders, and a lightweight floating boarding ladder etc. On the occasion when l have put extra stuff out there the reduced performance and agility has been quite apparent. So I try not to load the Amas.

Geoffrey