So Here Is a Weird Question (or not!)

[Lidokey]

I am a new boater, about a year, and really enjoy my 2012 SunDeck 260. Just before I bought the boat, I upgraded my dock which didn't have a lift to a 10,000 LB lift. If I ever want to succumb to "2 foot itis", I have to determine just how large (talking about length, weight is a given) I can go. I have some limitations as to how much of the boat length can protrude forward vs behind the lift. So my question is what is the weight distribution of SeaRay boats. I've combed the SeaRay website as to the weight distribution and can't find a mention. Clearly, I could send them an email but wondered if any of you have considered/dealt with this. Depending upon the balance/weight distribution of the boat, I can move up a bit more in size. I'm assuming that the distribution is skewed to the aft but the last thing I want to do is put a larger boat on the lift and have an unbalanced situation.
Any thoughts, recommendations or criticisms will be appreciated. Your responses always have more detail than the SeaRay corporate answers do. No criticism intended to them. Just KUDOs to you all.

 

[src]

I don't know that you'll find a good generic reference for the weight distribution info, but just about any large boat will have lift points for haul-outs (marked on the hull with "Lift" or "Sling"). The (approximate) center of the load will be between the two lift points.

edit: Looking that the SunDeck manuals, I don't see sling points indicated for any of them, so it may not be marked on Sea Ray day boats. The SunDancers have them though - see the 260DA manual page 13 for an example: http://www.searay.com/boat_graphics/electronic_brochure/Company1729/_23_1110201132148PM.pdf

As for the boat weight, an approximate figure would the "dry" weight (in the specs for the boat), plus the weight of full tanks (gas @6.25/gal, water @8.35/gal, waste - your guess is as good as mine), plus 10-20% depending on how much you load up the boat with stuff.

Since you already know how much your lift can hold, you can work backwards from there to find how heavy a boat it can hold, making assumptions about how much fuel you expect it to hold, etc. Just off the top of my head, without doing any calculations, I doubt you would want to go much heavier than 7500lbs dry weight. The dry weight of your 260SD is 5200 lbs, and the SunDeck line for 2012 tops out at about 6100 for the 300 (actually that's the 280, which is a bit heavier than the 300).

If you wanted to move to a cruiser, then you will hit your max a LOT faster. The 2012 280 SunDancer clocks in at 8211 lbs, which I would consider over the rated load for your lift.

 

[Capt. Rusty Higgins]

Lidokey,

If I can add to the outstanding answer you just received from src, I can send you engineering diagrams that show weight distribution and where bulkhead locations are. Utilizing the sling locations is ideal for bunk style supporting (which we do at the factory) but most lifts will use strake boards running forward to aft. No problem as long as weight is identified and distributed.

Feel free to PM with an e-mail address and I will send you what you need and can follow up with a conversation if you wish. Don’t know if I can get more detailed than Sea Ray but will give it my best shot and would enjoy the talk!

Rusty