Cal25 trailer conversion...

a67429

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Aug 23, 2014
1
MacGregor 22 Morro Bay
So I am going to take possession of a Cal25 tomorrow morning that's being given to me for free, however it is in the water and I need a trailer to remove it. (Pics on thier way tomorrow) Sailboat trailers are pretty hard to find at a reasonable price, but power boat trailers are everywhere, so I'd like to modify one to carry the boat.

My question is how big of a trailer do I need? A tandem axle rated for around 7000 pounds at least, but I see that sailboats commonly hang off the rear a bit, but how much is ok with one of these? Should I find a 25' trailer or will a 21' work?

Also how high should the pads be from the bottom of the keel? Does the draft minus 6" formula work for this hull? Maybe subtract a foot to allow for plenty of adjustment?? And how far apart beamwise should the pads be from each other? (Front, middle and rear) I see some with four pads and some with six plus one on the bow...how many should I plan on using? Also how far in front of the front axle should the front of the keel be when resting on the trailer for acceptable tounge weight? Does anyone know the distance from the bottom leading edge of the keel to their trailer ball? I just want to make sure I buy a suitable trailer to start with. Powerboat trailer all look like their axles are located pretty far back on the trailer, but I'm comfortable extending a trailer a couple / feet if I need to.

The plan is to ramp launch / retrieve. So after I build the trailer, float on the boat and slowly pull it out. If it starts to tip at all, put it back in and raise the pads a little and repeat until it stays upright and then do final pad adjustments in the parking lot. Is this extremely unsafe or is there a better way to do it without hauling the boat?