Trailerable Sailboats Under 5,000lbs

[FastOlson]

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3509
Check out a (rare) Ray Richards-designed Ranger 26. Traditional looking above the waterline and a fast hull and keel. Designed for trailering - some had an outboard in a well, and several were sold with Yanmar diesels.
There used to be a nice little web site for one that trailered down to sail the waters of Baha every year.
Enclosed head and large sleeping area. Build in Kent WA, by the Ranger Boat company, who built hundreds of Ranger 20 sloops (also a Richards design).

 

[vizwhiz]

I definitely understand the OP's desire to limit draft to 24"... and he gave a number of very valid reasons, as it isn't just about the "sailing" part of using the sailboat. When using the boat for overnights and weekending in somewhat protected and often shallow waters like Tampa Bay, we spend a lot of time moving into and out of short waters. Sometimes it's fishing. Sometimes it is stopping for lunch. Anchoring for the night. Beaching. Oyster bars (the kind in the water). Unmarked shifty shoals. There are plenty of places in the bay here that I simply couldn't go if I had a 3' draft.

As it is, it's tough enough to reconfigure the boat to go from deeper water sailing to shallow water... Raise the centerboard some, raise the rudder, drop the motor, hook tiller to motor, start motor... We've accidentally sailed across really shallow water while hugging a shoreline and are very grateful to have a swing-up keel (as opposed to the daggerboard style), a quick-release cleat for the rudder down-haul, and a generally forgiving shallow draft on the hull otherwise (less than 24"). This happens on the ICW down here a lot too, where it is 9-10' in the channel and suddenly goes to 4' or less on the sides.

I will also offer this tidbit. Many who started out with an enclosed head didn't leave it that way. The space can be so small in a trailerable-size boat that it is impractical, particularly for larger humans. Taking the door off often makes the space functional. Liquids are handled in buckets anyway, which is a lot quicker and easier to manage. Shooing everyone out of the cabin and dropping the companionway hatch in place can give you enough privacy for the worst of offenses. At night, if everyone is sleeping below, there is no such thing as privacy anyway in roughly 20' of cabin space, so a curtain works as well as a door, which works as well as a chainlink fence. Venting to the outside is more valuable than the door in these cases.

 

[vizwhiz]

And a quick comment on weight. 3500# is a common vehicle tow weight limitation. This doesn't sound like a major difference from the 5000# criteria you are using. But for us, it's the difference between being able to tow our 26' swing-keel water-ballasted boat (we tow with our V6 Lincoln MKX Ford Edge vehicle) and not being able to tow the newer powersailer versions of the Mac26x/M, as they are over 4000# and often closer to 5000# tow weight when fully loaded. Our Mac hull with motor and basic stuff is roughly 2200#, and trailer is 400-500. We're safely below the 3500# limit of our vehicle, and still get to enjoy a 26' long boat. Just food for thought.

 

[rgranger]

And a quick comment on weight. 3500# is a common vehicle tow weight limitation. This doesn't sound like a major difference from the 5000# criteria you are using. But for us, it's the difference between being able to tow our 26' swing-keel water-ballasted boat (we tow with our V6 Lincoln MKX Ford Edge vehicle) and not being able to tow the newer powersailer versions of the Mac26x/M, as they are over 4000# and often closer to 5000# tow weight when fully loaded. Our Mac hull with motor and basic stuff is roughly 2200#, and trailer is 400-500. We're safely below the 3500# limit of our vehicle, and still get to enjoy a 26' long boat. Just food for thought.

 

[Kermit]

I may have missed a reply but I don't think anyone said this. The Hunter 260 is wonderful for trailering and launching. But if you regularly sail in water less than 6' you won't be happy with it. Yes you can raised the centerboard at times but I wouldn't plan on sailing a bunch with it that way. I've tried motoring with it up. Not the easiest thing with a crosswind.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@Kermit
If you know the principals of crabbing just like an airplane when pointing toward the direction of the wind with the CB up maintaining a straight line to your destitination, you can do it green frog.

 

[Kermit]

I know how to do that. Particularly in a crosswind while docking. I just wouldn't want to sail that way in a regular basis. Brribbit!

 

[Bartman99]

How about a Santana 2023c?

 

[vizwhiz]

How about a Santana 2023c?

It's a pretty boat on the outside! Looks a lot like the Mac 25/26.

 

[Will Gilmore]

http://m.sailboatlistings.com/view/47623

 

[Jackdaw]

Once a trailer-able gets an ENCLOSED HEAD compartment, with a marine toilet in it than can be used without regret of what you must do with the waste later, boat usage goes up 500%. Ask your SO if you don't believe me. ;^)

Anytime I see a portapotti stuffed under a board in the vee, I see another checkbox on a marketing sheet filled in by someone who will never have to use that solution.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Once a trailer-able gets an ENCLOSED HEAD compartment, with a marine toilet... boat usage goes up 500%.

I completely agree with that statement. When i asked my wife about putting a port-a-potty in our mariner, because there's a spot under the V-birth for one, she swore Dragonfly would never have one. She'd use a 5 gal. bucket. She hates the idea of lugging sh-t around and dumping tank-fulls of the stuff. She said she'll hang it over the side first.
-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Meriachee]

This thread seems to be concentrating on physics. It's not about how livable the boat is, it's about how much water it draws. On the 26c, (by way of example) there comes a point where you get tired of getting dressed on your knees, moving everything out of the berth to sleep in it, and wishing you were 3-foot-nuthin to get into the head. You can however, run the boat right up on the beach. Depends on what you want, and are prepared to put up with. The little Catalina is certainly at (or maybe past) the upper end of the trailerable range, requires a lot of overhead to get it down the road, cannot be launched in a roadside puddle, and is an order of magnitude higher on the comfort scale. For the environment here, it's just about perfect. Funny how I said that about the Mac for quite a few years.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Funny how I said that about the Mac for quite a few years.

Ha ha ha ha... We had a C22 from 1983 to 1987. Got a C25. Three more feet, but twice the volume. You are SO right. Had the 25 for 13 years, great boat.

 

[LeeandRick]

Once a trailer-able gets an ENCLOSED HEAD compartment, with a marine toilet in it than can be used without regret of what you must do with the waste later, boat usage goes up 500%. Ask your SO if you don't believe me. ;^)

Anytime I see a portapotti stuffed under a board in the vee, I see another checkbox on a marketing sheet filled in by someone who will never have to use that solution.

I agree on the enclosed head but sailing on a lake with no pump out facilities the portapotti, I just dumped yesterday, makes more since than a marine head. There is someone on this forum that has a funnel for his wife that tinkles overboard.

 

[Jackdaw]

This thread seems to be concentrating on physics. It's not about how livable the boat is, it's about how much water it draws. On the 26c, (by way of example) there comes a point where you get tired of getting dressed on your knees, moving everything out of the berth to sleep in it, and wishing you were 3-foot-nuthin to get into the head. You can however, run the boat right up on the beach. Depends on what you want, and are prepared to put up with.

Or more precisely, how high it sits on a trailer. Our First 260 draws 6 feet but I have trailer launched and retrieved it in a pinch.

 

[Meriachee]

Or more precisely, how high it sits on a trailer.

That too. We have spent an insane amount of time and welding rods working on how to effectively beat the physics of a crane.

 

[Daveinet]

Once a trailer-able gets an ENCLOSED HEAD compartment, with a marine toilet in it than can be used without regret of what you must do with the waste later, boat usage goes up 500%. Ask your SO if you don't believe me. ;^)

Anytime I see a portapotti stuffed under a board in the vee, I see another checkbox on a marketing sheet filled in by someone who will never have to use that solution.

? Seems like an odd conclusion. I use the PP all the time. Not sure how I would empty one that was permanent, as there is no drain. Pumping out a holding tank is highly impractical for a boat that you day sail and trailer launch. Not saying I like dumping it, but it would be a major pain to have it pumped out, not to mention the cost.

 

[RussC]

There is someone on this forum that has a funnel for his wife that tinkles overboard.

Ha ha. a She-wee. I gave one to my wife a couple years ago but she won't use it for some reason . we both use the bucket method for #1 and on-shore facilities for #2.

 

[Meriachee]

? Seems like an odd conclusion. I use the PP all the time. Not sure how I would empty one that was permanent, as there is no drain. Pumping out a holding tank is highly impractical for a boat that you day sail and trailer launch. Not saying I like dumping it, but it would be a major pain to have it pumped out, not to mention the cost.

Why not?