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Hunter OEM Parts
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Adding Ballast
posted 04-26-2023 by patbratton
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This is a photo of one of two 26 gallon Plastimo water tanks that I bought from Defender. There is an owner review by Sandy Grant explaining how he added needed weight to his H240. I followed his example. This adds an additional 433 lbs to the existing water ballast.
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This is the tank installed in the port side of the boat, under the cabin seat. There is another on the starboard side. The assorted array of pipe fittings were required to close the openings provided by the manufacturer. The tanks were designed to add potable water storage to the existing water supply.
Parts for Plastimo Tank Install:
Plastimo 100 L Flexible Tanks, Defender SKU: 500204, $104.37 ea.
Clear Vinyl Tubing 1/2 ID, 5/8 OD, 10 feet (enough for two tanks) Lowes
Cap-Nylon 3/4 (one per tank) West Marine
Barb-Nylon 3/4 x 1/2 (one per tank) West Marine
Barb-Nylon P/H 1-1/4 x 1-14M (one per tank) West Marine
1-1/4 Schedule 40 Cap (one per tank) Lowes
Poly Firm Tubing 1-3/8 ID, 1-5/8OD, 5 (Enough for many tanks) min order, McMaster-Carr 5181K13
Misc Stainless Steel Hose Clamps and Teflon Tape, Home Depot
Parts for Plastimo Tank Install:
Plastimo 100 L Flexible Tanks, Defender SKU: 500204, $104.37 ea.
Clear Vinyl Tubing 1/2 ID, 5/8 OD, 10 feet (enough for two tanks) Lowes
Cap-Nylon 3/4 (one per tank) West Marine
Barb-Nylon 3/4 x 1/2 (one per tank) West Marine
Barb-Nylon P/H 1-1/4 x 1-14M (one per tank) West Marine
1-1/4 Schedule 40 Cap (one per tank) Lowes
Poly Firm Tubing 1-3/8 ID, 1-5/8OD, 5 (Enough for many tanks) min order, McMaster-Carr 5181K13
Misc Stainless Steel Hose Clamps and Teflon Tape, Home Depot
Click for larger view
These are the size tanks that are available from Plastimo. The 100 liter is the 26 gallon.
My daughter Jessie and I took the boat out afterwards in 18 mph wind with 25 mph gusts. We sailed without reefing but with no jib. She is less tender but still heels 12 degrees before becoming stiff. If you have sailed with six people on board, that is how she handles. We set the jib coming back between the island and the shore (this reduced the wind) and she sailed beautifully in spite of the chop. The high freeboard along with strong wind makes her difficult to bring about without the jib. Next time we will try her with one reef and the jib up.
These are Sandy Grants comments,
Sailing characteristics As designed, the boat is too tender for our conditions where often we experience moderate 15-20 knots of breeze. In a relatively shallow tidal bay a decent sized chop can develop and the boat was slow and uncomfortable. The addition of the water tanks described above is a huge improvement.
Bing a Laser sailor too I sail with a lot of vang upwind to try to stop forestay sag (no backstay). I have also found that you can open the leech of the mainsail on a really heavy day by tightening the topping lift a little. This helps spill the wind as the boat (thankfully) has no mainsheet traveler to trip over.
My daughter Jessie and I took the boat out afterwards in 18 mph wind with 25 mph gusts. We sailed without reefing but with no jib. She is less tender but still heels 12 degrees before becoming stiff. If you have sailed with six people on board, that is how she handles. We set the jib coming back between the island and the shore (this reduced the wind) and she sailed beautifully in spite of the chop. The high freeboard along with strong wind makes her difficult to bring about without the jib. Next time we will try her with one reef and the jib up.
These are Sandy Grants comments,
Sailing characteristics As designed, the boat is too tender for our conditions where often we experience moderate 15-20 knots of breeze. In a relatively shallow tidal bay a decent sized chop can develop and the boat was slow and uncomfortable. The addition of the water tanks described above is a huge improvement.
Bing a Laser sailor too I sail with a lot of vang upwind to try to stop forestay sag (no backstay). I have also found that you can open the leech of the mainsail on a really heavy day by tightening the topping lift a little. This helps spill the wind as the boat (thankfully) has no mainsheet traveler to trip over.