Installing lifting rails

[CEShawn]

So looking to install lifting rails on my RP35. I know its more than just thrubolting them or using Plexus.

I hear that you want to end them about 5' from the transom to let the boat/rail/water break free and not act as a drag...

I also hear that if you put them in the wrong spot that you can actually create drag...

Seems funny because I hear how they all need to be positioned right and then I see some builders put them on before delivery not knowing where the water line or weight is going to be.

I was thinking last resort was finding an RP35 that had them and measuring where they were. Putting them there...

I am an engineer by trade so I know to spend about $1000 and fuel at $4/gal, the payoff will eventually come even if its minute.

The other thing I have heard, please correct me but I have some light spray coming in on the extreme end of the cockpit, have heard that lifting rails can correct that as well...

Any input would be great, thank you...

 

[samhop]

this is "as i remember" from talking to Willis B. a couple of years before i stretched my 31.

run a straight edge from the keel to the tern in the bilge. that is where the rail should be. from about 6" forward of the bulkhead to your stopping point.

then there is do you go inside, outside or center the mark and what size and which way do you mount the rail.

i went inside 90 in right to the stern, in retrospect out and out might have worked better



.

 

[F/V First Team]

Every hull is different, a roll of blue tape is your friend

 

[CEShawn]

Ideally its there to break the surface tension of the water correct? it should be right there...

I was thinking of marking some points on the hull on the curve, etch some of the paint... Then get up on cruising speed and have another boat come alongside adn snap some pictures on the hull... but I think I am getting crazy...

 

[F/V First Team]

lifting rails act like a parachute, holding the pressure down under your boat to effectively lift it higher in the water column

 

[Eastporter]

34' Wilbur- Lifting Rails Installed

Blue Bill

Here's a good overview of lifting rails that were installed on a 34' Wilbur.

 

[atlanticblue]

I have lifting rails on mine, bow to stern! The previous owner had done it.

 

[CEShawn]

That is an awesome article however the 2.2 gain seems a bit much, that is awesome if true.

I was thinking getting the 1258-R or one of those from Hamilton and throwing it on there for next year.

I agree with it all, to me its like wasted energy, like why we use kort nozzles on a prop, so it doesnt slide off the edge.

My cockpit is nothing like that, get a mist for the last three feet of the cockpit...

Funny but my camera idea doesnt sound CRAZY!

I will probably just mark the stern/transom where the water is at running speeds, that will give me my aft position...

Thanks

Atlanticblue, what kind of boat do you have? Have you had other boats out there? Name reminds me of someone out there... used to run a boat that we would visit Nantucket twice a year for tournaments, REACTION a HH40.

 

[F/V First Team]

I still haven't figured out why anyone would cut their lifting rails before the transom, if you've got lift why give it up right at the end?

 

[CEShawn]

I dont know, thought I read it somewhere, to let something break free... if you carry it to far aft, does end up acting like a track for steering or something weird? Your the pro here, I know just enough to be dangerous...

 

[F/V First Team]

If you let it go too far around the turn of the blige it can become another keel. Also to overcome this obstacle you need more horsepower to get the rail back to the surface

 

[CEShawn]

Hence a drag correct? So it should be mounted right below the waterline at cruising speed right? so that rail almost digs into the water under the hull to keep it there...

 

[atlanticblue]

Ceshawn, I have seen the Reaction in Hyannis also. I used to fish out of my 27 Blackfin combi for a long time. Now I have a 35 Bruno .Congrats on that rig, I'm sure I will see you out east!

 

[traditions]

I have them on my 35.I put them low,like on the boat that Mainly Boat is building now.He just had pictures on here a month or so ago.I put mine down low so I wouldnt tear them off with gear,be it traps or dredge.I ran a strait edge from the keel to the turn,andput the rail just belowwhere the strait edge contacts the tuen.They will not contact the t-lift straps.I dont have a speed boat by any means.I run a cage all lobster season.and carry alot of weight in the winter.

 

[hmscapecod]

So a spray rail that starts at the bow, crosses the water line about 10 feet back and becomes a lift, should run all the way to the transom?

Then, as far as how low it goes under the water, you want it just below the waterline, or like half way down the turn like say on a 35 duffy? Half way down would have the rail sticking out at about a 45 degree angle.

 

[CEShawn]

Thanks traditions... there is no one to get in contact with at RP anymore, they are gone right?

 

[F/V First Team]

What is this 10 feet back stuff?

Half that

 

[CEShawn]

Looks slick and you clearly know what you are doing... what rail is that? I take it, its bolted up front, but at the turn, is it glued from there back or just missing the bolts in the angle...thanks...

 

[CEShawn]

I wish I took a picture this weekend in Montauk, but saw the old Tuna Tangler... Man it has something on its hard chine if you will, like a 3"x3" rail underwater... I imagine this must help out with rolling maybe and more? Wish I took a picture but it was dark out... Anyone know what the old Tuna Tangler was?

 

[F/V First Team]

Screwed in place with elastomeric sealant between the rail and the hull, glassed over on the inside in a continuous strip with 2 layers 1.5 oz mat and 1808 structure tape with 1.5 oz mat feathered over the edges, exterior of rail bunged for reduced drag