Extra ballast on CD25-D?

Hickorynuts · Post by **Hickorynuts** » Jul 19th, '13, 15:00

I just bought a CD25-D and the previous owner says he put an extra 500 pounds of ballast in the bilge to make her "sail better." Anyone know about this modification and how it affects performance. I am inclined to remove the weight.
Hickorynuts

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Jul 19th, '13, 15:58

500lbs is a lot. What did he add? Lead slugs? Are they just loose down in the bilge?

Sounds like he just didnt like tender boats, the CD design is meant to heel over and it sails better that way. The boat can certainly handle having the extra 500 lbs, you would likely have at least that much added to the boat when fully loaded for cruising, but the boats ussually sail worse when loaded for cruising. I would ditch whatever it is the previous owner added, sounds weird to me.

Dick Kobayashi · Post by **Dick Kobayashi** » Jul 19th, '13, 21:32

Remove it. Allberg designed these boats very well, tender at first and then not tender at all. Quite stiff at 20 degrees. Get the feel/benefit of the Allberg design and I think you'll be pleased.

One of our members owns a 25D that made the passage from CA to Oz - no extra ballast, I think

Sea Hunt Video · Post by **Sea Hunt Video** » Jul 19th, '13, 22:15

Russell and Dick K.

Is it OK to store Guinness in cans in the bilge

I had planned to store 2 cases of Guinness in the bilge on S/V Bali Ha'i.

Steve Laume · Post by **Steve Laume** » Jul 20th, '13, 07:33

Hickorynuts wrote:I just bought a CD25-D and the previous owner says he put an extra 500 pounds of ballast in the bilge to make her "sail better."
Hickorynuts

Sure, that's why they always add a few tons of loose lead to the bilges of all those carbon fiber race boats.

I would definitely get it out of there. Once you load it in your vehicle, take it to a scrap metal dealer and buy something useful for the boat with the money you get. As time goes on and you add gear and supplies it will exceed the weight of the lead and you will be looking for ways to further lighten your boat, rather than adding weight, Steve.

Hickorynuts · Post by **Hickorynuts** » Jul 22nd, '13, 21:20

Thanks for the opinions on removal of extra ballast on a CD25D. The consensus is what I had concluded myself--remove the unnecessary weight. The boat was designed by someone who knew what he was doing. I will get the lead out.

Neil Gordon · Post by **Neil Gordon** » Jul 23rd, '13, 10:19

LIQUIDITY had a bilge full of lead which, similarly, served no purpose. I sold the lead to a local bait/tackle shop.

Noel Heslop · Post by **Noel Heslop** » Jul 24th, '13, 05:08

Dick, I believe you are correct.

"Breezy" did not have any extra weight when I bought her from Mike Hunter after he had sailed over from San Diego.
Mike did have a large fish hook on board, so I guess fresh fish kept the boat weight down also.

The Cape Dory Board

Extra ballast on CD25-D?

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