Anyone familiar with Ocean Cruising Yachts built by Hinckley

[David]

I have a chainplate question if anyone has any experience with these boats, or perhaps Hinckleys in general...

Thanks,

David

[Tim]

I don't have any direct experience with Ocean Cruising Yachts (it was a company started by one of the Hinckley family after he left the then-family business, but the upstart only built a very few boats), but I worked in the glass shop at Hinckley in 1990-1991. The massive stainless steel chainplates were installed during the in-mold hull lamination, so I was involved in a number of installations. I don't profess to be expert in the installation of Hinckley chainplates, but perhaps my memory can be of some assistance to your question.

Let me know.

[David]

Thanks Tim,

My brother owns a 45-ft Ocean Cruising Yacht, hull number 1 built for the company's owner and as a show boat for the boatshows. He found recently that the metal strap structure that comes out of the hull that the chain plates attach to is rusting badly, large amounts of deep flaking rust as a matter of fact and fears that there is more rust and corrosion deeper as the metal is buried in the hull laminates. The metal is not (I repeat NOT) Stainless steel, but a ferrous metal that was painted. My comment to this is it is unbelieveable to me that Hinckley would build such a structure out of a ferrous metal, instead of SS. My qustion is how deep does the structure go inside the laminent / can it be removed and replaced with a SS structure?

He is planning to have Robert Perry survey the damage and is going to call Hank Hinckley and inquire about the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help,

David

[Tim]

Although begun in the late 1970s by a member of the Hinckley family--Hank--Ocean Cruising Yachts are not Hinckleys. The company was a separate entity with its own business and construction practices. Referring to them as one in the same is like saying a Bristol is a Pearson simply because one of the Pearson cousins began the company. Related and similar? Perhaps. But one is not the other.

That said, the chainplate arrangements that Hinckley was using at the time I was there were massive, welded stainless steel arrangements. The chainplates were made up onsite in the metal shop and then laminated in place in the hulls. For example, the chainplate arrangement for a Hinckley SW 42 was probably 3' or more in length, with a central bar to which several cross members were welded (giving it a ladder shape), and to which the main chainplate support was welded at the top. It was bonded to the hull laminate while the lam was still green, and then fiberglassed in with significant amounts of material.

If the OC is constructed similarly, then replacement of that structure will be a massive and destructive task. I can't even fathom how difficult, expensive, and destructively painful it would be. Obviously, choosing a ferrous material for this component was a poor choice, but it wasn't the first time it was done. The builders apparently thought that they had a way of protecting the metal. Years of standard chainplate leaks seem to have made a mess of it.

I have seen this sort of "baklava" chainplate rust in the past. Cape Dory 28s, for one, have a ferrous chainplate backer (their chainplates are simple U-bolts secured through the deck). Even on these simple boats, replacement of this structure is highly difficult and devastating to the interior because of its location. Again, I can't imagine what a job it will be to replace the structure if it extends into the hull as far as the ones I remember helping install at Hinckley.

There's precious little to be found online about these yachts. A brochure for the OC 40, the first model, indicates stainless steel flat bar chainplates bolted to a stainless steel angle secured in the hull/deck flange. The site doesn't mention anything about an OC 45 or other models, though different models were built over the years. Apparently the company used differing installation techniques between various models, or at various times. The company never did well, and few boats were built.

www.hankhinckley.com

[David]

Thanks Tim,

I know what you mean about the boat not being a Hinckley, although it's construction is very similar in many respects. The chainplate structure in this boat, from what you describe seems to be similar to the Hinckley procedure and I agree that it would be very destructive to the interior to implement a repair. I will interested in Perry's comment's when he looks at her. I am thinking that a different attachment for the chainplates could be used--for instance take them outboard and thrubolt them to the topsides while reinforcing the cored hull in that area, or maybe a knee attachment on the inside. Whatever way, the interior will be affected and it sure won't be cheap.

Funny, I was going to add a comment to another thread you started on general cleanliness of sailboats, clean bilges, etc., to say that leaks from the deck, stantion bases, chainplates are area in older boats that need constant checking and chasing. This is certainly a good example.

David