Hull weight

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David Leslie

New Member
I have in my garage a 1978 model boat, based on the number on the transom, built by Performance Sail Craft. My son sailed it a bit a couple of years ago, and complained it it is a heavy boat (and that’s why it is so slow…go figure). Anyway, I’ve had it in my garage for the last 4 days, with a fan going through it, so now should be close to dry. So I figured I would weigh it, to dispel the myth that it is heavy. Anyway, hull only is about 100lbs, which I thought is extremely light, compared to what I have read on this forum. Then I added the mast, boom, dagger and rudder to re-calculate. With all that sitting on the deck, it is 155lb. Then I weighed the rudder and daggerboard, which are about 15 lbs together. So that implies the mast / boom combo is about 40 lbs. Does this seem in the ballpark? But why is the hull so light?
 
Check your scales!

As far as I know, the target weight of a Laser/ILCA hull has always been 59 kg. There is no publicised minimum, but the builders have to stay within an undisclosed tolerance. This may have changed during the years, and some builders may have produced consistently lighter or heavier boats than others. But more than 20 % lighter sounds highly implausible!

I assume your boat was built by Performance Sailcraft Australia. They’re the other of the two 1970s builders that are still in business, so you might actually ask them directly: Contact us

The weather here isn’t good for doing it today, but once it is, I’ll go to the club and weigh my spars. Sounds like yours are on the heavy side.

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What's a good method for actually weighing such an unwieldy object as the Laser hull?
 
sunfish_weighin.jpg

What's a good method for actually weighing such an unwieldy object as the Laser hull?
Click to expand...

Since the picture was taken, I got a set of bespoke lifting straps with sewn eyes and no metal bits. Tree not included with scale...
:)
 
It seems to me that using two bathroom scales, one at the bow and the other at the stern would be workable for those of us who have no more elaborate way to weigh a Laser. Of course the boat should not be in contact with anything but the scales. The boat weight is the sum of the scale readings.

Perhaps David used a proper method, but assuming his scale(s) are accurate I don't see another explanation for his result.

Also, if the boat had absorbed water into any areas with foam I wouldn't expect 4 days would get it dry even with a fan blowing, thus making the low weight even more of a mystery.
 
That's a cool and accurate-looking method. Not having a tree here, I balanced my Laser hull on its gunnel on top of my bathroom scale. I recall it was a bit heavier than 130 pounds, but I have added significant amount of fiberglass reinforcing within the hull.
 
Thanks for the replies. Well I’m going to re-weigh, more along the method in the photo, except I’m going to hang from my garage beam. I used the two scale method (using hanging scales), but I don’t trust it. Too light. I’m going to working with the fan as well. I’m in SoCal, and it is really dry here, though over the weekend was damp, so I’m not convinced I have all the water out of it. Standby for a new weight reading.
 
David Leslie said:
I’m in SoCal
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Ok, so what I said about PSA doesn’t apply in all likelihood :oops: (You might want to update your profile :rolleyes: )

What is your transom code - does it include ”PSL” or ”ZDF”? There is a rumour that the Canadian builder at the time (ZDF) did build some superlight boats. Maybe we have evidence now!

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