Foldable Radar Arch on a Swift trawler 52

[Mr. Blu]

Hi guys,


As I moved Mr. Blu to the Netherlands I added some changes to the boat. I moved the boat to Friesland with a lot of lakes and a lot of watersport. But it is also near the North Sea so crossing to the UK or Scandinavia will be possible. I got the chance to buy a shiphouse at Heeg. That was one of the reasons that I looked fo the possibility to make the radararch foldable. I noticed in a video of Denison brokers in the US that they sold a ST 52 which had a foldable radar arch. It was made foldable for the Great Loop. I informed with Beneteau but they couldn't help me.
Fortunately I got in touch with a wharf which does all kind of specialised work on motoryachts. Most of their work is on steel boats but they gave it a try and the result is very satisfying. The heigth of the ship can be changed from 6.5 meters to 4.10.
A video on Youtube shows the result.

 

[Mr. Blu]

The system is hydraulic. The hydraulic pump is placed behind the refrigerator on the flybridge. For actuation there is just a small switch (up or down).


For changing a light bulb I don't need a ladder anymore.


The only thing I had to change was removing the tubes of the bimini. That was probably the reason that the radar arch of the "Denison" ST 52 folded to the front of the boat instead of backwards. But even in the Mediterranean we didnot use it often. And the P.O. installed a large parasol on the aft deck of the flybridge. Besides that our experience is that we most of the time use the cockpit when the sun is too hot.

Backwards is better to my opinion as it leaves the steering stand and chair free.
There are two pins (last picture) which block the radar arch when it is not folded.


The loudspeakers also had to make some room for the cables and hinges inside the arch. But also this "problem" has been solved neatly by elevating them 2 centimeters

 

[boater3]

Very cool

 

[BandB]

Hi guys,


As I moved Mr. Blu to the Netherlands I added some changes to the boat. I moved the boat to Friesland with a lot of lakes and a lot of watersport. But it is also near the North Sea so crossing to the UK or Scandinavia will be possible. I got the chance to buy a shiphouse at Heeg. That was one of the reasons that I looked fo the possibility to make the radararch foldable. I noticed in a video of Denison brokers in the US that they sold a ST 52 which had a foldable radar arch. It was made foldable for the Great Loop. I informed with Beneteau but they couldn't help me.
Fortunately I got in touch with a wharf which does all kind of specialised work on motoryachts. Most of their work is on steel boats but they gave it a try and the result is very satisfying. The heigth of the ship can be changed from 6.5 meters to 4.10.
A video on Youtube shows the result.

Glad to see you got it done. The one at Denison was likely done by Pipewelders in Fort Lauderdale. They've done many on various boats.