Inverting the F/S hull

Location

Weatherby Lake MO
United States
US

I am planning to invert my F/S from the traler.to clean and bottom coat the hull

Any suggestions on how to scure the centerboard / we will not remove the centerboard

Bob Mulhall 

bobmulhall@sbcglobal.net

816-756-7440

kevin.a.kunz's picture

I flipped mine over this past winter.  Here is a video of us re-inverting it upright.  It's about 2 minutes long, and is a time-lapse.  https://youtu.be/dWuQLxmbV8M

The main thing to consider is the chain plates sticking through the deck.  Don't set the boat on them or roll the boat over them.  Essentially, you have to lift the hull, flip it in the air, and set it down again.  To do that, I built a gantry crane 10' high, 9' wide, and used 2 chain hoists on a unistrut track to flip the boat.  At the half-way point, you'll want to rest the boat on the ground (lots of pads!) and move your hoist positions.  We used a single belt underneath the boat.  This required a bit of adjusting to find teh balance point.

While I did not secure my centerboard with anything beyond the hoisting line, I do recommend adding padding to both sides.  This can be as simple as lots of rope, but I would recommend towels.  They'll fall out, so use some painters tape to hold them inside the trunk between the trunk wall and the board.

Have at least 1 other person around.  If the boat tips and traps you, you may not be able to get out.  I rested my boat upside down on a custom cart, with resting arms just in front of the mast and aft of the cockpit.  It was very stable, and I added wheels to the cart so I could move the boat around.

Send me an email if you want to do an off-line chat.  I don't look at the forum much.

Kevin dot a dot kunz at gmail dot com.