Hi, I am planning a circumnavigation and am in the process of buying the appropriate boat as large as possible for two to handle. At the moment it looks like an X-562 will fit our needs fine. It can be delivered with a 2.8m draft and a 2.5m draft. I am going North Europe-Canaries, West Indies, Galapagos, Fiji, NZ, Australia, India, Red Sea. Can you give me an indication of the draft which in your opinion allows us to go the most nice places on the route?
Hi Mogens: Draft is the toughest of all questions. This really depends on your tolerance for risk, faith in charts, and desire for performance which in itself is a safety factor. We sailed around the world with a draft of 2.3m (7’2″). But when the time came to do our next boat, we dropped her draft to 1.85m (6′) because we wanted to be able to cross river bars in the event of a hurricane to seek protection in the mangrove swamps, and we’d had some very close calls with the first boat where a little less draft would have made a lot of difference.
Today we have 2.4m (7’9″) draft–but this is on a 23m (78′) boat. In your own case, the extra 0.3m (12″) of draft would really help performance. But there are some areas in Australia, and the Indian Ocean/Red Sea where the extra draft might be the difference between safely crossing a shoal and running aground. If I had to make the decision myself, I think I’d go for the shallow draft fin–and give up the performance to windward. Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
May 6th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Hi Steve,
As a long time builder, user and owner of aluminum alloy boats perhaps you can answer this question: How does the odd bit of raw 6061, above the waterline , but on the exterior, fare visually over time in comparison to 5086? In particular, we’re building a Dix 43 Pilot House and I’m looking at using a 3″ half pipe extrusion as a rub rail down each side and it is only available in 6061. The hull plating is 5086 H116. The alternative is to buy vastly more expensive 5086 schedule 80 pipe and rip it on the table saw. I don’t mind spending when it’s justified but don’t want to waste money. We love the look and practicality of unpainted alloy, but my experience in non-salt environments with 6061 is that it can look pretty nasty after awhile. Perhaps it’s just a matter of an occasional scotchbrite rub-down.
The other place we’ll be using 6061 is for the rudder shaft . It’s a spade rudder with a 115mm diameter shaft and Jefa self aligning bearings. Appearance is not an issue here, and I think the 6061-T6 will be stronger than 5086 . Do you think corrosion could be an issue on the 6061 rudder shaft? We will have a comprehensive anode system.
Thanks so much-I love the new site format!
May 6th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
The 6061 is fine for the rub rail. It will corrode a bit more than the 5000 series alloy, but as you have figured out, a few hours with Scotchbrite sorts that out.
Regarding rudder shafts, the 6061 in welded condition is weaker than 5083/6 welded. However, you can always allow for that in your engineering. We typically aim for twice ABS on rudder shafts in general.