Biggest boat to feasibly tow/launch with a 1/2 ton

Tom Hoffman · Apr 3, 2010

After purchasing my boat in Feb and getting it home. I realize that the McGregor 26 would be my choice now if I were to do it over again. I bought a 26' American 5300 lbs and it had another 1/2 to 3/4 of a ton of water (ice) in it and we hauled it with an F-250, 125 miles on the very first tow. It was not fun and it was scary. The lighter McGregor would seem to be a much nicer boat, especially if you are going to tow a lot. You might want to read the posts by Sumner and go to his web site about his McGregor. He tows his all over the place.

The only thing you can do to get a bigger boat is to go longer, 8' beam is about max because of the highway size restrictions. Adding a foot or two in length will not increase the interior volume anywhere near as fast as increasing width and you really can't do that. I could theoretically load a 30' boat onto my trailer, I just don't think I would ever want to try and haul it any long distance.

I use to haul a 5000 lb skid loader a lot with a F-250 and that was a white knuckle ride every time I did it. I wouldn't ever attempt that with a F-150 (1/2 ton). An internal bilge keel like the McGregor would definitely keep the weight down.

dscribner · Apr 3, 2010

Hawk,

I'm excited for you! Picking out the perfect boat is almost like looking for a wife. Only the wife won't cost as much!

Here's OUR story. See if you can relate. (OK veteran readers, comence with the eye rolling)

October 2008, I asked my 16 year old son what he'd like to do, father-son activity, because as he was getting older, we did less together. He said "Sailing!" So, we cruised Craigslist for a month or so before breaking it to Mom. I'm guessing the body snatchers had stopped by earlier, because in November when I told her, she said it sounded great. Two weeks more cruising Craigslist, and we found Phoenix down in Mass. We bought her late November (ish).. We didn't have a trailer to move her . . . or a truck to pull her . . . and we didn't know how to sail! But, I'm not a complete moron. These issues were talked about BEFORE we signed the check! I found a dually trailer, raised the roller stantions and built a roller keel support. Then, one beautiful December day, we picker her up and hauled her 125 miles with a Dakota (3.9 ltr). She was fine the whole way, but I wouldn't do that again. We got her home and bundled up. The in January, Alex and I took sailing and seamanship classes from the Coast Guard Aux. at a local college.

We bought 2000 F150 (5.4 ltr) and trailered her to the water a dozen times last year.
The boat weighs 3400 lbs empty. Add 400 lbs in gear and motor, another 1500 for the trailer (I'm guessing). That's 5300 lbs. The package trailers like a dream. We travel about 6 miles to the put in at Saco Bay or 35 miles to Caso Bay, down the highway, through busy traffic, no problem. So, big is trailerable. But keep in mind; pulling something that long . . . you're almost as long as a semi-trailer. We are 49 feet from stem to stern.

I think the Mac 26 is water ballasted, isn't it? That will help. If you find something else, keep an eye on the draft. The term "shoal keel" is your friend. Ours drafts about 30". Also, an untimely word of wisdom: fall is a great time to buy a boat because folks would rather let it go cheaper than spend money on winter storage.

http://pages.sssnet.com/go2erie/wind02.htm

This link has list of boat specs that might help.

So, a newbie like myself, I hope some those many words will make you say "Oh, I hadn't thought of that!"

Drop me a private message if you're interested in some of the other things we've run into.

Don

Biddeford Maine

dscribner · Apr 3, 2010

I should have added . . .

sailingdog · Apr 3, 2010

I have a 28' boat with an 18' beam that is trailerable...

The interior volume is much less than that of most 28' boats, but I can sail at 15 knots...

The trailerable sport trimarans are good boats for trailering...

soling42 · Apr 3, 2010

Tons of info on Hunter H260s. We've owned and sailed ours for years. A great trailerable with a full sized head and running water for the "Admiral". Everyone knows that you MUST keep momma happy.

Choose your first few sailing days carefully (not just because the trees are blowin' like stink) and the whole experience will work out better for everyone. Light air is your friend if you're trying to keep your wife in the game

.

Good luck in your search.
Mike and Kelli

sailormanbigd · Apr 3, 2010

biggest, best, etc.

I feel your excitement. Don't get caught up in the "bigger is better" scam. I have had a few boats from 16-33 feet long and I can say I loved them all for different reasons. The one i used the most was a "southcoast 22. It had a swing keel, weighed less than 2000 lbs, and the mast was easy to hoist single handed-with aid of a pulley. I pulled it with a minni 1/2 ton Nissan. It could sail in less than 2 feet and the interior could sleep 4 people. If I was advising you(i think I am) i would suggest to you a smaller, simpler, easier first boat than the largest you can trailer with a half to truck. I pulled an Oday 25 from the keys a couple years back, the truck pulled it fine, but I had to "stand" on the brakes to stop it. I was worried so I left at 0300 i so as to avoid traffic through Miami. The mast on that 25 is heavier and will take at least two people to raise it. The sails are bigger and heavier-harder to handle, and everything is alittle more exspensive. The bigger the boat the more it costs to maintain.
Their are plenty of good quality used boats in the 19-22 foot range. I would reccomend you start looking their. If its hard to rig and launch, and hard to retrieve and stow, then you might not be inclined to use it as much. Pat Look at catalina, hunter, oday for starters.

MrUnix · Apr 3, 2010

Yup

I have a Silverado 2WD as well, and even though it's 'rated' to pull much more, realistically you don't want anything much more than a 3000 pound displacement boat. You can go larger, but it will start putting a strain on your tow vehicle, particularly if you plan on sailing in salt water, which will quickly eat any trailer brakes and leave you relying on the truck to do all the stopping.

To go water ballasted or not is a personal decision.. I'd suggest going for a sail or three on one and decide if you like it or not. If you decide to go with a more traditional keel boat, then in my opinion, a 22-23 footer is about the largest you want to go. Some people swear by the water ballasted boats, some dislike them.

Cheers,
Brad

sinnettc · Apr 3, 2010

hawk232 said:
I also assume that, much like travel trailers, layout is often more important than overall size.

It can be. We sail a Catalina Capri 22. it's fast and fun but there's not a whole lot of headroom in the cabin. There's also no sink or built in stove. We have a portapotty with a curtain for privacy but you have to work your way around the compression post to use it. If you're tall or have back trouble then you might want something with more headroom, or maybe you "need" an enclosed head, or . . . the list goes on.

If there are any marinas near you, walk the docks and see if you can't get an owner or two to give you a tour of their boats. Ours isn't publicly accessible, but if it was and someone reputable looking came by and asked about my boat I'd probably give them a look.

Regarding the towing question. We pull Verboten with a 1/2 ton 95 Silverado 4x4. Total weight of loaded boat/trailer is probably pushing 4,000 lbs. I have trailer brakes (surge) and can't imagine towing something that heavy without them. My stopping distance is longer than without the trailer but not that much and the trailer doesn't try to swap ends with the truck.

cephius (Dave) · Apr 3, 2010

Hawk, since the goal is to get you and your gf sailing, I will agree with sailormanbigd. Start with a smaller boat. 22' and under. They are easier to tow, rig, and launch. They are quick and responsive sailing. You can "feel" the boat in the tiller and sheets. Great for building skills.

My H260, optimized for sailing out of a slip, takes me 3 hours to go from trailer to lake. If I didn't have a slip in my marina I would have kept my Catalina 22.

Sumner · Apr 3, 2010

I would assume weekend trips means more or less short hauls. Don't know where you are located so don't know if you are dealing with flat ground mostly or otherwise.

If you plan on longer trips the boat will gain weight quickly. We take longer trips and we have to tow a long ways in mountainous terrain. We like to keep the outboard on the boat along with the dinghy outboard on the boat while towing. You add all of that along with food and water for a month and you can add a lot of weight to even a boat like our water ballast Macgregor 26S that tips the scales empty at about 1600-1700 lbs. Going down the highway loaded and with the trailer we are probably over 3500 and pull with a Suburban. It towed fine with the single axle, but I'm adding a second axle right now, should be out in the shop in fact, along with surge disc brakes. Personally I wouldn't want to pull anymore than this on long hauls with a 1/2 ton. Have I? Yes I've pulled other larger load with a 1/2 ton over a thousand miles. Was it fun? No.

If you went water ballast I'd feel comfortable saying you could go up to a 26 foot water ballast boat like the Mac or Hunter. If you are going with a conventional keel then I agree with the earlier post about something smaller.

I will say we love our Mac and if we were looking all over again at this point it would be exactly the boat we would look at buying again. Saying that our needs might be different than yours and/or others, so look very carefully at your needs and try and meet them.

How many will be on the boat? For us just 2 95% of the time.

How far will you want to trailer it now and later? For us thousands of miles as there are interesting places to go in and out of the country.

How long do you think you will own it? We are in our late 60's, so this will probably be our only sailboat. For that reason I'm not interested in re-sale value while modifying it only into making it the best boat for us.

How long will you be out on it? A month for us was the longest so far with a day break in the middle. Last fall we were on it on Lake Powell for 18 continuous days only stopping at a marina once for an hour or so. This year maybe 3 months continuous on a Florida trip. The boat is big enough for us on the long trips to not feel like we need to get out of it and get home.

Anyway good luck on your search,

Sum and Ruth

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links

Ross · Apr 3, 2010

Much will depend on the launch ramps that you use. How much boat can you retrieve from the water on the launch ramps where you will be boating. At least once each summer someone borrows the marrina tractor to assist hauling truck and boat up the ramp.

jackhartjr · Apr 3, 2010

Hawk, I like the fact that you are asking questions Buddy!
I don't think many would be offended by your age on the docks, most of us want to tell our story.
As to pulling any boat, just make sure you can stop it when needed! There is no feeling like PRAYING you will stop prior to running into the rear of someone!
I bought a 3 axle trailer and put brakes on two axles before I picked up our 22 Oday.
Jack

LloydB · Apr 3, 2010

Hawk welcome to TS. When I first bought my first (present) sailboat it was advised that I put it in a marina (fresh water) the first season. I've tried to save $ the next seasons by trailer sailing(also have other addictions). The first year got me Many more sailboating hours per $/time than later with less effort. You can learn the local conditions and what is and isn't safe via anecdote. You can find solutions that others have discovered and how they work for you as many of your dock mates will invite a visit. look up:admiral, boat buck & threefootites.

Sumner · Apr 3, 2010

hawk232 said:
......Which boats are water ballast boats? I know the macgregor is, which others?.........

First ask questions, people will be impressed that you are. Second we had never sailed a day in our lives when we took the Mac out the first time....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-trips-1/04-09-McPhee.html

....we are not near anyone that can help us, so we just did it with some excitement and embarrassment. If you can go out that will speed up the learning curve, but read some and you can do it with almost any of these boats that you can get onto a trailer.

On the water ballast MacGregor and Hunter have models and as far as I know are the leading manufacture of water ballast boats, but there are probably others. Also a little history MacGregor started with boats call Ventures and then use his name on later boats. He usually only made one model at at time and the first water ballast boat he made was in the mid 80's and is the MacGregor 26D (D for dagger board), then in 1990 he modified that basic boat into the 26 S (S for swing centerboard -- unweighted as the righting moment comes from the water ballast in both the D and S). The S and D are also called the classics and are good sailors.

Then and this is important when reading people's comments about MacGregors in 1995 he came out with the X. This was also 26 feet and water ballast, but totally different than the D and S. It has a planning hull like you are familiar with and will take outboards in excess of 50 HP so will achieve speeds over 20 knots. The X was then superseded with the present M which is similar to the X, but not at all like the D or S. The X and M get criticized quite a bit. They fill a market for a certain category of sailors and fill it well as evidenced by their sales. They don't sail though as well as the MacGregors before them, but still do sail. Hunter also finally came out with a water ballast planning hull boat also to compete with the M. The earlier Hunters as far as I know weren't planning hulls and were more sailboats, but water ballast. Then also Hunter had models that weren't water ballast.

When I was at the stage you were a year and a half ago I found this web site.....

http://www.sailingtexas.com/cboats99.html

....it is a great place to view boats, exteriors, interiors, and basic data about them. You can find the boats with the alphabetical listing at the upper left. Check it out and when you hear a boat mentioned go find it and look at some of them on the site.

Good luck,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links

Sumner · Apr 3, 2010

Hate to bring this up, but is there a budget you are trying to stay in?

And yes stopping is very important and I'd want brakes on about any size boat trailer. If the trailer doesn't have them look at $400 to $600 to retrofit them, you do the work, not hard,

Sum

soling42 · Apr 3, 2010

After sailing opb's for decades we started trailering a water ballast Hunter 240 but quickly realized that it was just a little too small and the Admiral(or guests) didn't like using a head behind a little curtain. Found a nice deal on a '04 WB H260 and found it to be the best of all compromises in size vs trailerabilty and interior layout/comfort.

Many newer small boat designs seem to have cut costs on interior amenities and look very stripped down in comparison. Our setup time is right at 1hr with a steady(not rushed) effort. Although our total mast height is 42' it steps very simply with a 12v atv winch by only one person(on-water or at the ramp).

Cost is something nobody has mentioned. An '04 Hunter 260 nicely appointed will sell for around $25k. Macs will sell for less and much older boats can be had for nearly free if you are interested in a project. Beware, project boats are NEVER as inexpensive to fix as you might first estimate. Your dream can quickly become lost in break downs and parts cost overruns.

Good luck in your search. keep asking questions. There is a new book on Amazon about boats under 26' by an author called Steve Henkle. Compiled by a lifetime of experience as a freelance author and sailing mag contributor, his book has hundreds of older(70's-90's) models with their specs and a brief writeup.

http://www.amazon.com/Sailors-Book-Small-Cruising-Sailboats/dp/0071636528/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270330733&sr=8-2-spell

Keep your options open and get an objective seasoned sailor friend to look over anything that even seems interesting. A survey is not out of the question for an older boat if you feel you're getting close to a purchase.

Our two WB trailer boats. The 240 was sold.

Biggest boat to feasibly tow/launch with a 1/2 ton

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