Hints to Transporting an S80 by Road

 

The S80 Grand Piano acquired by the S80 Yacht Association of WA on 14/12/17 acts as a good example of the process to be considered in transporting by road. The following comments and commentary were made by our Vice President Jeff Crookes. Refer to accompanying photos.

We asked Jeff a few questions about the experience:

For interest was the boat and jinker pulled up the truck bed slope using a whinge [sic.]?

We ‘whinged’ a lot and drank lots of coffee when the truck was 1.5 hours late. But yes, the vehicle is a car transporter and loads by tipping the tray and using a winch, pulls the jinker up –s-l-o-w-l-y . The mast was loaded and lashed down under the pulpit of the boat to ensure height clearances. As you might see from the detail, the boat was lashed down to the jinker using several 2.0 tonne capacity ‘ratchet’ type tie-downs and then the jinker lashed down to the truck using ten 2.5 tonne capacity tie downs. Anyone into physics can work out the total load-forces at work there, but lots of lashing

Were there any heart stopping moments?

From the moment the truckie started the winch until to the time it arrived at the other end!

What were the dimensions of the truck?

Ten tonne capacity (boat and jinker < 2 tonne) length of tray about 9+ metres – just long enough with mast overhang at both ends

What path did the truck take to RPYC?

From Winthrop via Leach Hwy and Stirling Hwy. (reverse of journey taken in March 2016 when it was purchased from David Yu) This is not the quickest route, but only one bridge (Claremont footbridge outside MLC). Truck travelling too slow for freeway. Many S80s have been under the Freo traffic bridge, GP is possibly the only one to have gone over the bridge twice!

Where exactly is the boat sitting at the moment at RPYC?

At RPYC on the jinker and adjacent to the limestone wall awaiting allocation of a hardstand position.