Biggest, Baddest Trailer Sailer?

[oldbusaboy]

I've been sailing my home designed and built flood-ballasted motor sailer, the LuLu,
since her first launch in 2010 out of Morro bay, CA. She is glass-over-3/4" plywood, 35ft by 8.5 ft, draws 2.7 ft fully settled, has 6.5 ft headroom over 3/4 of her 17 ft cabin, on top of a 1 ft bilge under 1/2 her cabin. She weighs 7,000 lbs dry on her 3,100 lb trailer, easily towable any distance with my 2015 3/4 ton Gimmy. Her flood hatches total 3 ft2 of bottom area, allowing her to morph into a 14,800 lb cruiser just 5 minutes or so after launch. The 540 ft2 of sail she carries on her 30 ft mast will drive her at hull speed easily in a calm sea; her two 25 hp Hondas can add a knot or so to that. LuLu's Keel was first laid in 1993, after three years of testing on a half-scale model I built first. We launch and sail her exclusively now out of Marina Del Rey, CA, and are planning a full scale cruise to Catalina for late next month.

I have always wondered if LuLu wasn't the largest trailerable sailboat on record. I invite any replies on that question, or on any other related subject that might be of mutual interest

My address is oldbusaboy@gmail.com. (Yes, at age 76, they still let me ride my treasured Hyabusa motorcycle.)

 

[Justin_NSA]

 

[Bill19233]

You got to post some photos of it!
I do remember seeing a boat called "Lawndart" for sale a few years back, it was trailerable, lifting keel, 8' beam, 4,000 lbs. Model was called a Fast 40. Not sure who made it.
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1020

 

[JohnVTX]

There are lot's of boats called trailer-able, but this guy is asking, who is actually doing it on a large scale vs slip.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Seaward makes a 32RK with a 10.5' beam and towing weight of 10.000lbs. Drafts 20" to 6.5'

 

[thinwater]

F-39

http://www.f-boat.com/pdf/F-39RAftCockpitProfile.pdf

Lots of F-32s trailer.

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/news/f32new.html

 

[Daveinet]

It depends on what you classify as trailerable. Anything less than 10 ft wide, you can get a yearly permit to tow it legally. It doesn't require any special vehicles driving with it, or limitation to a predetermined route. (S2 7.9 is commonly trailered) Anyway, if you consider that as you criteria, Corsair has a 37 footer that is trailerable. A Hobie 33 comes close, although the cabin is shorter. Baddest, I would say a F-9R meets that definition in a trailerable. 647 sq sail area on a 3300 lbs boat - talk about power to weight ratio.

BTY: no matter what you do, you will always find someone who has a bigger or faster one. At one point I thought I may have had the fastest motorhome, till I met someone with the same brand as mine, but with a blown 502, instead of just a fuel injected 502.

Oops, I see after my post, Farrier has a 39 footer

 

[rgranger]

I've been sailing my home designed and built flood-ballasted motor sailer, the LuLu,
since her first launch in 2010 out of Morro bay, CA. She is glass-over-3/4" plywood, 35ft by 8.5 ft, draws 2.7 ft fully settled, has 6.5 ft headroom over 3/4 of her 17 ft cabin, on top of a 1 ft bilge under 1/2 her cabin. She weighs 7,000 lbs dry on her 3,100 lb trailer, easily towable any distance with my 2015 3/4 ton Gimmy. Her flood hatches total 3 ft2 of bottom area, allowing her to morph into a 14,800 lb cruiser just 5 minutes or so after launch. The 540 ft2 of sail she carries on her 30 ft mast will drive her at hull speed easily in a calm sea; her two 25 hp Hondas can add a knot or so to that. LuLu's Keel was first laid in 1993, after three years of testing on a half-scale model I built first. We launch and sail her exclusively now out of Marina Del Rey, CA, and are planning a full scale cruise to Catalina for late next month.

I have always wondered if LuLu wasn't the largest trailerable sailboat on record. I invite any replies on that question, or on any other related subject that might be of mutual interest

My address is oldbusaboy@gmail.com. (Yes, at age 76, they still let me ride my treasured Hyabusa motorcycle.)

Yeah man... pics... we need to see pics.

 

[Jackdaw]

OBB,

It sounds like a hell of an adventure! Carry on.

540 Sqr feet of sailplan on a 30 foot mast sounds off. What are your actual rig dimensions? Plus, 7000+ lbs displacement on even that sail area is small; I'll need help seeing how that can drive you at hull speed in less that a very solid breeze.

 

[Benny17441]

Any boat can be placed and transported on a trailer but the designation of a trailerable boat is one that can be pulled out of the water, towed a couple of hundred miles and launched right back into water and rigged to go in a short time by a single handler all in an afternoon. A boat that might need a crane to step up the mast is hardly considered a trailerable boat.

 

[oldbusaboy]

Thanks to all of you for taking time to reply to my original posting. I didn't and don't really care whether LuLu is "biggest, ... ". But I do care to hear experiences and ideas from any smart, interested folk on the subject of large scale water ballasted trailer sailers. Here a couple of old pics (all I could find at this moment that would paste direct). I'll add more recent ones (when I figure out how to correctly attach them here), and answer questions, in a longer posting to follow soon.

 

[Jackdaw]

Wow. Stitch and glue???

Very nice. Would love to see more of that!!

The rudder looks like it would give you a real workout!

 

[oldbusaboy]

Jackdaw,

Thanks for the compliment.

Not stitch and glue; just super large glue copings at overlapped, layered joints:

Rudder is huge, but effective.

Brad

 

[LakeMurraySailor]

Hi OBB, I can't wait to see more photos! Lulu is a thing of beauty! I'm interested in what prompted you to build her and why so long between when the keel was laid in 1993 to her first launch in 2010? I'm in awe of the whole thing! I sailed a Mac 26 a few times and never could get the sailing "feel" without a keel, I'd love to hear more about sailing Lulu. Great post! Thanks.

 

[SlimPickens]

It resembles a boat from the Zuider Zee, im gracht. Congrats on completing a huge project.

 

[Windtherapy]

I wouldn't have the energy to build even the rudder!

 

[druid]

I've built a few stitch-n-glue boats in my time, so I have NO PROBLEM seeing why it took you 17 years to build that beauty! I'd love to see what you did for the interior.

druid

 

[oldbusaboy]

To Druid. Here are two pictures indicative of LuLu's interior works. Very old ones (2006!), but all I could find this morning.
Please hold your interest in her interior; I'll post some current pictures as soon as I can get them taken.

Incidentally, my comment to Jackdaw about LL's stitch-and-glue construction was incomplete. I should've said "Not stitch and glue per se: rather 3/4" planks bent over bulkheads on strongback, then super large ... etc."

To Windtherapy. LuLu's rudder was a proud boat building achievement for me, I admit. Here's a picture during construction showing its inner structure of bent stainless steel ribs, stacked vertically, welded horizontally and to the post, to be covered next by 3/8" plywood cheeks. Very strong, but also probably a little heavier than it needed to be (200+ lbs).

Brad

 

[Jackdaw]

I'm in awe. That IS the worlds biggest, baddest trailer sailor.

 

[LakeMurraySailor]

Brad, Lulu is truly a work of art. I bet you now know how Noah felt after completing the Ark! I can't wait to see more pictures of the interior. Did you model her after another boat or did you design her too? You are indeed the biggest, baddest trailer sailor on the planet! Even if someone else's boat is bigger, it will never compare to your amazing feat and craftsmanship! Wow, I would've given my right arm to have been on your crew for the maiden voyage. I hope you had some awesome winds and an awesome party afterward. I hope you kept a journal while building her too and if so, I believe that if you publish it, you will have a bestseller! I'm sure it will be quite an inspirational work. I tip my hat to you!
Lee