Choosing proper size fenders-gctid354304

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Hi all,

I just purchased a 91 ciera 2655 in the fall that did not come with fenders. It did come with fender holdes that can take a max size of 6 diameter fenders but is this right seems a little small for a 26 footer?

Any advice from others experiences is appreciated

Thanks

Marc

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

This is like Cubic Inches and Horse Power...... you can't complain about too much! (diameter, that is)

I'd say that 6" is a tad bit small. Easy to store and hang, but when you need the protection, you can't beat having the extra diameter of a 8" or 10".

If you Raft-Up with friends, larger is going work much better.

I went with the 10" and 10" bow rail fender holders.

My long dock lines are permanently attached to my fenders.

One loop through the cleat, hang at the right elevation and tie off to the dock cleat (for average wind/current).

.

[Papa_Charlie Guru Find all posts View Profile Close Papa_Charlie]

I guess that would depend on where you intend to use your boat. If it is a trailered boat and generally used during good weather then those may be sufficient. But if you leave your boat in the water, especially if it is in salt, meaning exposed to more storm conditions, then I would go with at least a 10 inch unit.

The diameter allow for compression, the heavier the boat and the more violent the conditions will place more compression on the fender. Another concideration is the rake of the hull and if you intend to raft to other boats. You may want to have larger fenders to allow for irregular conditions.

You can also compensate by adding additional floats. If you intend to raft I would not have any less than 6 on board and more likely 8, giving you 3 or 4 per side. A lot has to do with your use.

I hope this helps.

[MidnightSun Guru Find all posts View Profile Close MidnightSun]

All depends on what your conditions/requirements are. I agree, 8" would be a nice fit for you boat. I use 8" also as this is what works for me and my conditions even though my boat is quite a bit bigger. Did have 10" before but found them big and unnecessary in my application/conditions. Bigger is not always better as you do need to store those suckers. I have my older 10" units bolted to my dock with cloth protectors so I never need to deploy or retrieve when at port. The on board one don't get used very often.

[yachtman Guru Find all posts View Profile Close yachtman]

Boat fenders are kind of like anchors. When looking at those charts that say what sisize you new always go up one size. Unless of course you are never in more than calm conditions. Now when does that happen on a boat? For a 26' boat me personally would not have any thing smaller than 8". A boat that size can squish a 6" fender pretty easily.

[Guest Cleaning the Bilge Find all posts View Profile Close Guest]

We had 8" on our 2655.

I would not go smaller.

Bigger is better, but harder to store.

Go with the 8's.

My $.02

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As others said, it depends on how you use them and the weather. Also bigger boat doesn't necessarily mean a bigger fender. I had 8" fenders on my 2455. I now have four 8" fenders on my 3055 and a pair of 6" fenders. The 6" do fine since the boat is much more stable. On the 2455 when I had 6" fenders I often found them squishing or riding up from the boat moving more.

[MidnightSun Guru Find all posts View Profile Close MidnightSun]

SwampNut wrote:
As others said, it depends on how you use them and the weather. Also bigger boat doesn't necessarily mean a bigger fender. I had 8" fenders on my 2455. I now have four 8" fenders on my 3055 and a pair of 6" fenders. The 6" do fine since the boat is much more stable. On the 2455 when I had 6" fenders I often found them squishing or riding up from the boat moving more.

Some people do not realize how much more stable an 11'+ beam is. Going from my 2455 to my 2855 was a huge difference and that was only 1' beam increase. You have been there done that so you definitely know what I am talking about.

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Look at what others are using in the area you will be docking. On my Contessa 8" is the minimum I think. Frankly, if I needed to use 10" at a dock because of conditions, I would avoid the dock.

At my marina I never take my fenders out, since I have the rubber protection on the dock and that is fine since it's a very protected marina but use the 8" at most docks I visit.

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Look at what others are using in the area you will be docking.

Most people are idiots and you shouldn't rely on what you see around you.

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Hahhaha... I agree. What I really meant was to look at what seemed to work.

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Also keep a spare large fender on board that dock hand or first mate can hold between two boats heading for docking crash. It will save you or someone else a insurance claim and not put a body part in danger.

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Relic from the Beachcombers just used car tires ..

[BLCarl Frequent Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close BLCarl]

We also have to consider the V angle. A hull with a wide V will overhang more and require a bigger bumper to keep it away from the dock. The big soft pillows are also more forgiving during docking manuvers . I like the big 10" ones even though they're not so cool looking and harder to store.

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thanks for your feedback folks, I believe that 8 inch is the magic size here, but I'm not happy that the fender holders are useless now, not to mention how expensive they are.