First hand experience and thoughts on towing Cat 25
We have an 84 Cat 25 tall rig fin keel, 8 hp Honda outboard on a custom dual axle Triad trailer with electric brakes. It's a great boat and trailer combination. Were having a lot of fun sailing it and staying on it comfortably on weekends. It's big enough to be comfortable and small enough to bring home in the off season which makes projects a whole lot easier to complete.
We tow from Western Mass to Lake Champlain at the beginning of the season and home again in the Fall, about 180 miles each way. Routes 91 and 89 are very hilly and we take our time. I agree with the estimate of approximately 6,500 lbs PLUS any gear and passengers. I also agree that the Patriot is not enough vehicle to safely tow a rig of this size.
A couple of observations based on our personal experience towing boats for 35 years:
Tow vehicle - We currently tow with a Silverado, 5.3 liter v8 with a towing package and electric brake controller option. The max towing capacity is 9600 lbs, max tongue weight on our truck is 600 lbs. To be safe, we use a weight distributing hitch to balance the load between the trailer and truck and keep all four truck wheels firmly planted. No offense, and I'm not an engineer, but I think if you dropped a Catalina 25 on the hitch of the Patriot you might have some serious steering/braking issues, even on dry pavement, not to mention eventual suspension, hitch or or transmission failure. It's a big package and over 12 feet from pavement to top of bow pulpit so there's lots of wind resistance too. Our 2014 does a fine job as did our 2011, but I wouldn't consider towing this boat with anything smaller, especially if we were towing several times a month. Please see the attached not-so-good photo to get a sense of the size.
Brakes - We are fortunate, albeit poorer$$, because our fin keel/trailer combination requires a crane or lift launch. The good news is that the trailer bearings and brakes are never submerged as they would be in a ramp launch. I'm not sure what the wing keel trailer combo would require. Our trailer has electric brakes that can be adjusted from the cab, although once they're balanced to the loaded truck we seldom have to make any changes. We looked at swing-keel Cat 25's on trailers with hydraulic surge brake systems that were completely seized due to lack of maintenance and submersion. That might be ok on a trailer that never leaves the boatyard and is launched with a tractor or lift. However, it seems to me the ability to safely stop an over-the-road trailer is more important that getting it rolling. If you've ever towed much you probably know what I mean. I don't care how careful you are, it's only a matter of time before something or someone causes you to hit the brakes harder than you'd like and that's when you'll need the trailer brakes and a tow vehicle heavy enough to maintain control. I realize you're shopping for a boat and not a trailer but if you're going to tow a boat this size over the road you have to make sure you can control it, if not for your own safety, then for the safety of others. Whatever you end up with, I suggest you have the brakes serviced and if you end up doing ramp launches have them checked more often, it's cheap insurance. Either braking system should be fine if properly maintained. Rebuild the brakes and hubs if they need it and don't overlook the tires. You're probably going to end up with a double axle trailer and losing a tire at highway speed could cause other marginal tires to fail if they can't support the weight of that side of the trailer. Losing even one tire could have disastrous consequences.
I also agree with previous posts, unless you have need for a larger vehicle, you'll spend more time sailing and have fewer worries if you can manage to get a slip for the season. We've made lots of friends and learned loads from people we've met at our marina. If you can rent or borrow a vehicle to get your boat to the marina you can continue to enjoy the fuel economy of your Jeep. Another option would be to ask your marina if they will tow for hire and ask them to quote a price to transport your boat once you've found it.
Good luck, be safe, and have fun. You'll like the Cat 25.
