by Capt. Flak » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:47 pm
Val, there is no difference to a removable ballast and one that is glued into the boat. They depend on the type of pour you have or want. They can be long pours or short pours. It all depends on how you want to balance the boat. If you are using one of the pre-molded ballasts from RMD or CPM or any other lead, you are simply not gluing it into the hull. You can place a small stop at the back end of the lead to keep it from shifting and Tom Germer's design uses the compression post to secure the front of the lead from moving as well as hold the radio board in place. I have just finished building a brand new boat as well as rebuilding an older boat. In both cases the leads are removable, but one is about two inch longer than the other. With old boat the lead was poured in the boat by Dave Brawner about 7 years ago. It was once glued into the hull. We cut it out of the hull (doing a little damage in the process) and then rebalanced the boat. We cut off a little of the lead from the back and repoured it onto the front. The other lead was from a mold and needed very little changes. Only a small amount was cut off the back end of the lead to balance the boat. Both leads are within a couple of ounces of each other, but their shape is a little different.
It is hard to give you measurements for the lead. You just need to put it in the boat, float the boat and balance it where you want it. When you are happy where the boat floats (mine are very close to deck level at 42.25 waterline) then you glue in the little stop at the back and do the final attachment of the radio board.
Tom Germer has the whole instructions on the EC12 site.
Joe Walter #24