Best trailerable boat

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Jack

Best Trailer Sailer

To Echo Gulf and all, Wow! That is a good looking boat on a trailer! But then I am a real Catalina fan! I belive the gas bills are big. I did buy a Mac, 25 ,and sailed it this summer, I just sold it this week and as thay say, "two happy days in boat owners life" As for best trailerable sailboat I now leave the towing and set ups to you young guys, I really belive a couple of more trips with the 25 foot Mac. and my wife would have been a rich widow! I keep a 22 foot Catalina Fin Keel in San Diego Bay,and it has never looked so good after the Mac. To bad your wife demands the inclosed head, if I ever forge back to trailer sailer I would have to stick to a Catalina 22. I really belive after sailing a lot of under 30 foot boats it has to be up there with the best. It just handels great when sailed correct. O'well can't wait till Saturday to go down to marina step on board , look up at mast already steped and sail away for a great day on the bay. Good sailing to all, Jack
 
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Rob Verner

Thanks Echo Gulf

I looked up the specs on the C27 and it is nice. Since I'm not buying a bigger truck, I guess I'll have to get a test ride on a H260 with water ballast and decide. Thanks for the imput and the obvious effort in getting out a photo. Rob
 
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Al

Rob, I'll take you out on ours

If you ever come down to Boston, send me an email and I'd be happy to take you out on our H260.
 
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MArk

Live-aboard???

Although a little difficult to launch and retrieve, (NOT being water balasted) I see where the older Columbia 26 is well suited for extended live-aboard ocean passages. It may sail even faster with the mast in the vertical position. Seriously, though, a Mac 26 with trailer and loaded with gear and supplies still weighs less than 5000 pounds which is within the tow rating of most real-world SUV/Pick-ups. See owner reviews on related link.
 

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Joe R., SV Skooky 3 - Cat 30

trailerable in a slip & WB

H240 WB to avoid the rapid tilt/heel in high wind one simply should reef early. the ride is tame and the speed stays near hull speed. the heel doesnt have to be scary even in 30 mph wind. Joe
 
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Rob Verner

Thanks Al

We do get down to Boston on occasion.Thanks for the offer. What is your Email address. Mine is battbike@sover.net Rob
 
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MArk

Gold better than lead for balast?

Douglas King article on basic sailboat stability linked. I forgot that offshore racers use water balast too!
 
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Ken Smith

I sail 4 bodies of water, erie,ontario,niagara riv

I've got a 99 26x with the 50 hp and I can go to any spot either by sailing or trailering. I love the Niagara River flat water, high winds. 27 mph the other day and I sailed with a jib only and a 7x15 foot American flag off the main the other day. No I could not tack but it was no problem to jib. I averaged between 5-7 mph, had full control and sailed with a person who gets sea sick, so I had to stay by shore where the water is like glass. Try docking with 27 mph winds and a current of 5-11 knots. I used the 50 hp motor to power myself to the dock. Again it depends what you want to use the boat for. A few day before this I was out with the kids, 5 boys, and they wanted to wakeboard and play their music, no problem with the 50 hp and the charging system to keep their music going. Every year we trailer the boat to the 1000 Islands again no problems. We stay in the boat on the water and get the max time for the least bucks. I've sailed with my asymeterical spin. up and the keel retracted and also the rutters across flats that were 2-3 foot deep, and had people look at me like I'm nuts. I've sailed onto Strawberry Island beached the boat and let the party begin. 10.3 mph has been my top sailing speed. Yes this is faster than hull speed. The picture is on the Niagara River with 18 mph winds. This boat does it all! Ken
 

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mg

just a thought on water ballast

you know the thing i dont get on water ballast is that the trialer load is already maxed out when the boat in empty and behind the truck. now what happens to the load on the trailer and truck when you pull it out and the boat is 1200 lbs heavier, dont tell me it drains out because it takes a while and certainly more than the 15 seconds to come out of the water and up to the parking lot. so i dont see the advantage, i still need a truck that can tow the gvwr of the trailer and i need to add the additional load of the truck and trailer wt as it goes up the grade of the ramp. the load isnt getting lighter at that point. the point im making is you still need a truck that will pull the maximun trailer weight. might as well pull the ballast down the road and get better sailing performance too. not to mention the wear and tear on the trailer when its 1200 lbs over loaded. just check the weight ratings on the tiresif you think your rig is heavy enough, i think you will be surprised.
 
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MArk

I think first

gear has a lot more pulling power than 4th. And I don't think the trailer is under any more strain pulling that extra 1200 pounds out of the water at slow speed than it would be bouncing down a bumpy road where the stresses are many times that amount. I guess you could pull the extra weight all the way home (like the lead foots do) if you don't mind wasting gas and extra wear and tear on your vehilce.
 
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MarkW

Water-ballast works fine

Been sailing a '94 Mac 26C (not X) for 6 seasons of coastal sailing in the Great Lakes. For a trailerable, I wouldn't consider a conventional keel--the advantages of water-ballast are too great. Not only for trailering and launching (though that is a huge advantage), but tradeoff in stability is more than worth it in terms of shallow-water gunkholing. Once you've had a 13" draft, it's hard to go back. Wading back and forth to the beach--now *that's* luxury. The peace of mind from not worrying about grounding is very nice -- no more nervously watching the depth sounder. And the tradeoff is especially worthwhile since, if we don't overcanvass it, our Mac handles rough weather on the Great Lakes just fine. We had quite a bit of experience in much bigger keel boats before buying our Mac--and didn't find the transition all that big a deal. I see the picture of a Cat 270 way, way up there on that trailer, 9000 friggin' lbs and a 20 foot (20 foot!) tongue extension. You gotta be kidding. How many ramps have 20 extra feet at the end? Are you sure? Do you dive on every unfamiliar ramp before you back in launch? And who wants to pay for and drive the pig of a tow rig it takes to haul it? Well, not me anyway.
 
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David M. Walters

Big, Shallow, and trailerable

The biggest reasonably light trailerable I am aware of without water ballast is the Hobie 33. It has a lifting keel and only weighs in at 5k lbs. You'll still need a full size vehicle to tow it, but It will provide alot of fun both on the water and over the road. The only issue being the lack of standing headroom (5'6" I think). Along the same vein is the S2 7.9. Also a lifting keel design with a huge interior and about 5k lbs. The beam is 9'1", so if your a law abiding citizen you'll need a permit to tow. That goes for the Hunter 260 too, since it's beam is 8'11" and most states max out at 8'6" legal towing width. If your already attracted to the Mac for it's interior volume, then your probably heading in the water ballast direction. The only exception might be the Catalina 250 with the wing keel. At 3' 5" of draft, it's pretty trailerable and can get into some pretty shallow places. My beneteau First 235 has only 33" of draft and I rarely run aground, and launch and retrieval is not a problem. It has all the amenities your looking for except standing headroom, and it is a pretty good performer to boot.
 
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Jon

O'Day 240 is hard to beat.

The O'Day 240 (actually 23' on-deck) has enclosed head, sleeps 4, has small dinette table, a decent galley and great stowage. Draft is 30 in. I extensively remodeled mine to add hot and cold running water (Propane fueled), a second tier of teak shelving all around the interior, a cockpit dinette table, added a sink in the head, and rebuilt the galley to gimble the original 2-burner stove and build-in a 2 cu. ft. ice box. (The original galley used a "Colman-type" portable cooler.) After all the upgrades, I took the boat on a 136-day, 3600 mi. "Great Circle" cruise of the Illinois, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers; the Tenn-Tom; around Fl.; and up the East Coast ICW. Most of the time there were 2 or three of us on board -- and all our gear, and food, and 2 folding bikes in the lazzerette, and many, many, extras for self-sufficiency. I've since trailered and trailer-launched the boat on two Great Lakes, the Chesapeake, and in Fl. Sometimes we cruise for a week with a total of 4 on board Total rig, inclu. trailer, is about 5k. lbs. At boat shows I keep looking, but so far, nothing comes close to this genuine "pocket" cruiser. It's too bad that O'Day stopped building.
 
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MArk

My "best trailerable boats" (plural)...

Hey Stew, are you still there? My first "best trailerable sailboat" was a Venture 17. I could rig it and launch in 15 minutes by myself. It had a lock-down, weighted centerboard and would forgive my most foolish mistakes without dunking me or my passenger. It was the best boat for me to learn sailing. My second "best trailerable sailboat" is my current O'Day 20. I got it when the kids were big enough to crew and I was experienced enough to mess around with sail tuning. This boat is perfect for sailing on Lake Pontchartrain. Its combination weighted keel and centerboard provide excellent stability and it doesn't beat you to death in choppy water. Now that we've moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I've started looking for my third "best trailable sailboat". It will have enough room for a week's cruise to the barrier islands (24 - 26 footer). It will be water balasted so I can tow it without buying a Freightliner. It will have less than 1 foot draft with the centerboard (or dagger board) up so I can gunkhole and beach anywhere I please and launch in the national park just outside my neighborhood. It will plane on motor power so we can outrun thunderstorms (if not lightning) and get back to port quickly incase of an emergency. It will sail respectably but not necessarily as well as my O'Day 20. Maybe I'll get a Mac26X; maybe not. I'll definitely wait for the 26M release before making a decision. My point is: The "best trailerable sailboat" for each of us depends on many factors. Some say it is a compromise (like marriage). These factors may even change over time. Take your time and I'm sure you'll find the one that's the "Best Trailerable Sailboat for You".
 
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Stewart

Reply to Mark

Hi Mark, I'm still here, thanks for the reply. You had replied a while back and when I went to respond I could not find your posting.Anyway,I apreciate your input, it sounds like you are looking for the same thing as me as far as what you want the boat to do and where you want to go with it. The general opinion seems to be that the 26x is a compromise but it still seems to me to be the one that will best suit my needs.Let me know if you get one.I hope to have mine by around March/April. Stew
 
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boatslayer

best trailer boat

i wanted to get a new boat, but i got a 1985 mac greger. 25. the guy took me out one day and showed me how to sail it. and iv been out by my self trying to sail it. i put the sails up the main and jib. this is the first boat i have ever had, i just started kayaking about six months ago. i got the sail up and it really took off leaning over and really flying, then the ropes that hold the main sail came loose and the boat was going all over. i jump up on top of the boat to take down the sails, now theres no one steering the boat, and i had a lot of knots in the ropes i was trying to get down, the boat kept rocking and spinning. i just kept hold of the mast and tryed to get them sails down, after about 10 minuts i got them down and started the motor up. that was a lot of fun i am going out tomorrow and try it again. i will lern by my self i dont need no stinking lessons. i only payed $2,250. for the boat and it has a motor and 4 sails. if i crash it or sink it i dont care i didnt pay a lot of money for it. but the more i read about the mac 25 and look at it i think i am really starting to like it, i dont need no stinking new boat. i am gong to paint it all black and call it boatslayer.
 
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MArk

Viking Kittens

Hey boatslayer, Sounds like you're getting the hang of this sailing stuff. If you like Led Zepplin, vikings and cats you should enjoy this. (related link)
 
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boatslayer

led zepplin

i took my boat out a few days ago and a guy came by in a kayak and showed me how to do some of the rigging. i got it now. i have a home on the water, and a fast getaway whin the war comes here. led zepplin sounds good just like it did 30 years ago.
 
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