Rack storage for 208 Grady White

B

BB-marine

Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2025
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
68
Model
Adventure
I recently purchased a 2000 208 Grady that has spent its time on either a trailer or in the water. It's has been a fresh water boat but I am using it in salt water this winter. I have a storage contract to rack store it. When the boat is lifted out of the water after use I have them set the boat on a work rack so I can give the motor a good flush and the hull a good rinse. I noticed that the hull only makes contact with rack boards at the midship section of the hull. The aft section from transom to 6' forward does not touch the hull. There is about 5' of hull that touches the rack bunks mostly at midship. Forward of that it does not touch the hull. I researched the hull design and found that the aft section of the hull has a 18 degree dead rise, midship is 30 degrees and bow section is 50 degrees. This is information I found on line and not confirmed but it makes sense as to how the boat sits on the rack. There is another 208 in rack storage at the marina. I looked at it on the rack and it sits the same. I spoke with the owner and he said he never noticed it before until I pointed it out. I have some concerns about all the weight resting on a 5' of hull with just the edges of the 2X12's touching the hull that is a lot of weight per Sq in on the hull IMO. Has any one on this forum with this hull seen some issues caused from this? I looked at a 23' Grady walk around and the hull sits better on the rack.

Thank You in advance for responses.
Brian
 
The center of gravity for that hull is 80 inches off of the transom. On your rack, you would want that COG sitting on the bunks with a couple of feet of hull touching on both sides of the bunk.
Those spacings are not as critical as might be the case for other boat models since your hull is solid cored and relatively thick below the water line.
A more critical adjustment normally is the bunk spacing. On your hull, the bunk to bunk spacing should be 58 inches or the smaller stringer spacing of 30 inches..
The 208 is relatively light and your racks are probably setup for longer hulls. That can mean that the bunks will extend longer than needed resulting in bunks forward that are not in contact with the hull.

The fact that there is another 208 on the same type rack that has had no issues is a good sign.
 
I can understand your line of thinking - it just "looks" wrong.

Ideally, yes, more support is good. However, static is different than trailering. Hulls of these (and all boats, generally speaking) are extremely strong and if the supports are roughly near the stringers then you're fine. Think of it this way... boats in showrooms all over the country sit on cradles that have way less than half the contact area that you are seeing with your boat. And those boats suffer no damage.

I know it looks weird/wrong - but it's OK :)
 
seasick said:
The center of gravity for that hull is 80 inches off of the transom. On your rack, you would want that COG sitting on the bunks with a couple of feet of hull touching on both sides of the bunk.
Those spacings are not as critical as might be the case for other boat models since your hull is solid cored and relatively thick below the water line.
A more critical adjustment normally is the bunk spacing. On your hull, the bunk to bunk spacing should be 58 inches or the smaller stringer spacing of 30 inches..
The 208 is relatively light and your racks are probably setup for longer hulls. That can mean that the bunks will extend longer than needed resulting in bunks forward that are not in contact with the hull.

The fact that there is another 208 on the same type rack that has had no issues is a good sign.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. I believe the bunk spacing is standard @ 30" for the rack storage. Right in line with your information. Based on your information the center of gravity. I think your numbers are spot on where the boat is being supported. I can see light between the bunks and hull about 5' from transom forward. There is about 4' of bunk supporting the hull at that point. Meaning (60" to 104") forward from transom the hull is being supported which puts the center of gravity (80") about in the middle of that. It just doesn't look right. The other 208 is also new to storing at the marina. His boat has always been on a trailer too. Based on your information 80" center of gravity location I think it is going to be ok. It still is not what I prefer but there is nothing I can do about it if I want to rack store.
Brian
 
DennisG01 said:
I can understand your line of thinking - it just "looks" wrong.

Ideally, yes, more support is good. However, static is different than trailering. Hulls of these (and all boats, generally speaking) are extremely strong and if the supports are roughly near the stringers then you're fine. Think of it this way... boats in showrooms all over the country sit on cradles that have way less than half the contact area that you are seeing with your boat. And those boats suffer no damage.

I know it looks weird/wrong - but it's OK :)
Click to expand...
I agree with you about contact area of support. I'm ok if I have a 2x supporting the transom at center line and another just forward of midship at center line and a couple stands on the chines. It just looks bad with the boat sitting on the bunks like a teeter- totter ! Just looking for some opinions! :)
Brian
 
I totally get it - I can envision what you're describing!

Another way to think of this to help put you at ease... they've probably been doing it this way with many, many boats for a long, long time. If there was an issue, it would have been discovered by now
 
It's a short term resting situation. I doubt you'll have any issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.