Mast,,, short distance towing

[CapnGL]

Hi all, My boat is always kept at my shop and we are only a mile away from our favorite launch site on lake Pend O Reille. Would it be safe for my mast to leave it bolted to the foot and laid back onto my support for such a short tow?
Thanks
Greg

 

[walt]

Common sense answer is no way and likely not legal to be on the road with something sticking that far back past the end of the vehicle.

However. (confession time.. LOL) . I used to do that (26S) but it was at a remote location.. I had a fairly long "something or other" that distributed the point load of the crutch where it contacts the mast.. Might have been about 2 or 3 foot long. When the mast is back like that, you will have way reduced trailer tongue weight, might even be negative tongue weight so you have to tow very slow as that would definitely be unstable going very fast. In my case, it was about a mile on a mostly dirt back road situation where I could keep my speed at like 15 mph or less. You have to be very cautious with the way under spec tongue weight. I only got away with this because of it being a remote spot where I was unlikely to encounter another vehicle on the road and I didnt create a safety condition for other vehicles because they would want to pass.

At your own risk of course and if you have to take busy roads at all, a bad idea especially since it may not be legal and if something bad happened, you might have liability. I never felt like the mast was being abused but its not a normal load on the mast so who knows and a large jolt from a pot hole could be had (something that I never experienced so dont know for sure).

But.. it took me about 7 minutes to be ready to launch when I did this...

 

[JCall]

A local guy with an M or X leaves his mast up and rigged. I was lowering my mast when he drove past me. I wanted to watch him to learn his technique for lowering his mast. I was surprised when he just pulled onto the highway. He went the opposite direction than I was going so I did not stalk him. He was solo, launched, sailed, docked, and loaded. He pulled the trailer up the ramp, put a strap around the hull, then drove off all by himself. Impressive site to behold. I live 6 miles from the lake, I think I counted over 30 electric wires crossing the roads on my way home...

 

[chp]

I wouldn't do it even for a short trip. These masts are not the strongest. One good pot hole and your mast might end up with a wicked bend.

 

[Gene Neill]

Having helped a friend "un-bend" his mast, I can say it's harder to put permanent bend in them (or take it out) than I ever would have dreamed. They can flex like you wouldn't believe, and it takes a helluva pull to make them do it. I would be more worried about the connection at the mast step, if the mast moved from side to side at all.

Up and rigged would be way better if no powerlines in the way. But I could see doing it like Walt said if I had the road entirely to myself, and no danger of side to side movement.

 

[Knuttle]

I believe that most states have provisions for things sticking back beyond the trailer. So legally you may be able to do it with a flag or light. When I lived in Michigan there were state regulations that there had to be a flag or light at night if something projected a distance behind the vehicle or trailer.
Since I was new to sailing it was a concern as I was not sure if the mast had to be legally flagged.
I have lowered the mast and pulled the boat about a mile from the ramp to the campsite. However I would never take it on the road that way. As mentioned potholes, but also the swing radius is significantly increased and the mast could hit something that was not intended.

 

[CapnGL]

Thanks for the replies.... I'm gonna go with the " not a good idea" lol.
CAPNGL

 

[JennyLove]

Mast step is bolted on and was not designed to handle upward pressure like that. It only takes a moment to do it right

 

[sailnewbie]

Man I would have loved seeing the guy hauling down the road with mast up! My imagination is running wild on that one