Safe Loading
Introduction
This Compliance Guideline is intended to help
boat manufacturers learn and understand the requirements for
certain boats, specifically with regulations concerning the
safe loading of a boat contained in 33 CFR Subpart B: Display
of Capacity Information and Subpart C: Safe Loading. Compliance
with these requirements is the responsibility of the boat
manufacturer. The Guideline shows the regulation as it is
published, a discussion of the subject, and the methods used
to perform the calculations necessary for design and production
considerations. It also describes the test methods used to
arrive at persons capacity for some specific boats.
The methods for calculating the safe loading
or capacity of a boat, as explained herein, normally have
“safety factors” included in them. In other words,
the manufacturer will be encouraged to use data that may be
slightly different from what the regulation actually requires,
because experience indicates that it is better to err on the
conservative side in order to avoid production variances causing
a potential for non-compliance. Using the formulae indicated
in this Guideline will always meet the requirements of the
regulations, and will often exceed them.
CAUTION
This guideline only
addresses provisions of the Federal Regulations. It
is not a complete engineering manual for the design
of electrical systems on boats. There are other manuals
and standards available for this purpose. |
NOTE:
The formulae and methods contained in this Guideline do not
alter, modify, supersede or otherwise replace the requirements
of the regulations now in effect. Since the language in the
Federal Regulations is sometimes difficult to understand,
this Guideline is written in fairly simple terms to guide
you through the regulations’ compliance steps. At the
beginning of each section, we state the requirements of the
law, and follow with an explanation of the requirements of
the law so as to make it easier to read.
NOTE:
The regulations use the words “motor” and “engine”
interchangeably. This Guideline will refer to “engine”
or “engines” only, except when quoting the Federal
Regulations. Additionally, the regulations use the term “inboard-outdrive.”
Except when quoting the Federal Regulations the term “sterndrive”
will be used.
For ease of reading and following the
requirements, the definitions of the main terms used are contained
in the subparts where the terms appear, and consequently may
differ slightly from one requirement to another. For example,
maximum displacement for outboard boats considers the three-inch
opening for steering and other cables in the engine well,
while in the case of an inboard or sterndrive, the definition
of the same term will not have that condition specified.
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