Not your typical day at the office.

Mohawk handlifts trimaran

One of our Belgian clients recently came to us with quite the loading dilemma—how could he get his 800-pound sailboat containerized for export.

The client’s sailboat, a high-tech trimaran with hydrofoils, was equipped with a 23-foot mast. The length of the mast and the configuration of the cradle made it impossible to properly position a forklift underneath the boat. Mechanical lifting was also out of the question, as the boat’s dimensions left only an inch of space between the container’s roof and door jams.

This left the client with only two options: use a crane for top-loading into an open top container or hand-lift into a standard container. Using a crane would ultimately prove to be cost prohibitive to the client, so loading by hand was the only viable option. Mohawk quickly went to work assembling a hand lift team from office staff at its headquarters in Syracuse, NY, where the loading would take place.

Lifting trimaran into container

On a grey and cloudy afternoon, 16 Mohawk employees lifted the 800-pound sailboat from the trailer into the container—all in less than 5 minutes.

This was one project move where all hands were on deck.

Trimaran successfully loaded

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