Outriggers extension on trailer

[tricruiser]

Hello,

Does anybody knows if it is safe to extend the outriggers with the boat on the trailer??

I need to do it to do some maintenance work.

Many thanks

Tricruiser

[Ron]

YES. But I'd take some precautions first. The 4 trailer deck supports should probably all be set - 2 holding up the main hull deck near the bow, and the other two the aft portion of the deck. Lower the 4 ama supports just enough to allow the ama's to unfold. Put a saw-horse or equivalent (with a square of plywood on top) under the central portion of each extended ama - just touching, not much weight on it. I don't think all of this is a real requirement - more like insurance. And it will allow you to walk on the main deck. Not sure if I'd want to walk on the ama's though. Maybe if you blocked them in two places rather than one.

I've had mine open for a week to two at a time with the above. The above will prevent the main hull from rotating on the trailer bunks. If you open it for a few minutes just to look at the boat they may not be needed.

[tricruiser]

Hello Ron,

Thank you very much for the reply.
When I visited PC few years back, I saw a boat with the Outriggers extended, but I was not sure if it was necessary to have some support of the outriggers while extending.
What would we do without the group?
Give us a lot more confidence to do things around the boat.
Now that PC is not available anymore, the Group (and especially those like you who have the expertise) is invaluable to all users.
Many thanks
Frederic

[Ron]

Frederic -

Thanks. That was always the intention of the Association. I'm not sure what Tony will do with the Telstar. He's told me that he would gladly build more if there was a domestic market for it. He didn't think that he could build a boat here where most of them went overseas. If the economy recovers then it could work. We must have over a dozen serious "lookers" in the association who would do just that, plus maybe a dozen more who only joined the forum.

The main reason for blocking up the ama's while extended on the trailer is to prevent the assembly from rotating on the bunks. The aka's are strong enough to support them and the center hulls two big bunks were designed to take all of the weight.

[Cathyalan]

FWIW

I extend the Amas, one at a time, often and then support them fore and aft with saw horses and some padding. Works well for doing maintenance, cleaning, waxing, tightening the tramp, paint touch ups, bilge pumping the ama or generally just opening the hatches and letting the Ama breath a bit.

Cathyalan

[drsm]

We routinely extend the amas without any additional support based on what we were told at the factory when we purchased Buen Tiempo. We do not walk on the amas or put any significant weight on them, just clean or work on them. I always retract them after working on them for the day.

Steve