larger trailer sailor

Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
yes, I know it takes a while. it takes us about an hour to set up an then that plus clean up putting it up on our 18.5 footer.
 
Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
It sounds to me like you might be happy with a Trailersailor that’s more capable of a coastal sailing than your Weekender. Your Weekender 18.5 weighs only 850 pounds and is pretty tender.

What’s your tow vehicle capacity?
What’s your price range?

Check out this thread
 
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Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
3500 lbs or so on towing
price range ...... I'd like to keep it between $5000 and under $10,000 at this point
later on, id like to retire to it and would need more
but for now, I have to work
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
And the opposite is also true. It’s easier for the owner of a trailerable to,store,the boat fr free at home, under cover. That boat will be decades “newer” than similar boats kept in the water.

Look for one that has been kept on the trailer under a cover in a driveway or in a barn Or carport. the sailboat may look and be years younger than boats kept on the water.

I recommend you go over to the main forum at

Those folks have hands on experience and deep knowledge with trailerable boats. Many have older 23 and 24 footers from designers in the 1970s. If you buy a boat that old, be prepared to pay a premium for a turnkey boat that’s $5k to $10k more than the “average” for a boat of that age.

Judy B
Long time trailer sailor
+1
I’ve had both experiences. If you are handy then fixing up an old boat can be fun. Just make sure the trailer, OB and sails are in good shape
 
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RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
I rig our 25' McGregor in 30 minutes without assistance. ramp to water. I still say it's one of the best trailer-sailer values out there. we love ours.
 

kenr74

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May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
I rig our 25' McGregor in 30 minutes without assistance. ramp to water. I still say it's one of the best trailer-sailer values out there. we love ours.
I'm about the same with my Mac 26S. It's my only sailboat so I don't have much to compare it to but it is easy to set up and easy to haul. I think it sails fine but that is subjective.
 
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RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
I know several others with the 26s and they seem to be a fine value boat also. a bit more expensive than an equal condition 25, but will also be newer. the sleeping berth alone, under the cockpit, would sway me to the 26s if it's weren't for the water ballast. I personally prefer the 25s iron swing keel for ballast. not so much for the stability, but due to the invasive critters that have invaded the lakes over the past few years.
 
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Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
Some random thoughts and reactions to your posts, @John6275 ...

With a limit of $5-10k you will have to be patient to find an (older) boat in very good functional condition with a solid trailer and good sails. There are plenty of low priced boats out there that need many 40 hour weeks of repair and thousands of dollars in sails, rigging, resin, paint, tires. Don’t be fooled by an initially low price. Boats like that cost you more in the first few years of ownership.

On a thirty year old boat, you can expect to replace many if not all the blocks on the boat if the previous owner didn’t, including sheaves in the mast.

You may need to rebuild the winches, if the previous owner didn’t service them every season. Parts are hard to find for 30 year old self tailing winches, but not impossible. And replace a traveler car that doesn’t run smoothly anymore. Anywhere that stainless is fastened to aluminum needs to be carefully inspectedand serviced if needed, before it breaks somewhere a few miles from the gulf shore.

It’s easy to look for worn, loose or corroded places on the mast when it’s down. Take advantage of that!

On a light weight trailerable boat, sails that are not old and stretched out are even more critical than for a heavier keel boat. You can still be safe on a heavy keel boat with baggy sails in coastal Gulf waters, , but not on a light weigh trailer sailor. So plan to replace replace baggy sails with new ones! Stretched out sails make even the best boat sail like crappy boat. Sails are the MOST important piece of gear on your boat in terms of staying SAFE when the weather gets challenging.

A new mainsail and 135% furling Genoa for a 25 foot boat such as a Catalina 25 will set you back more than $2000 from a reliable loft. You can buy sails cheaper, but they won’t be built to hold a good shape through 400 - 800 days of sailing.

**** Here is some really important advice: Go spend a couple of days at launch ramps at ***locations you’d like to sail***, and see what people are launching. Talk to a wide range of owners with different boats and ask them what they like and don’t like about a boat. You’ll get a lot of different perspectives. Look inside and at the cockpit layout.

You can have some wonderful adventures boat camping on a small, but coastal worthy Trailersailor. Don’t be obsessed with getting a big cabin. You’ll spend most of you time hanging out in the cockpit.

I have spent many weekends and weeks exploring places all up and down the west coast and inland in a west Wight Potter 19, often in the company of other skippers who owned compacs, precisions, sanderlings, balboas, Montgomerys, Santana 2023s, hunters, etc.

My advice to you would be to buy a boat in really good condition that is popular where you sail,. And you can, if you want, resell in a few years at almost the same price.
 
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Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
that good stuff Dr. B , as usual.
if this link works , let me know what you think ?

 
Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
that good stuff Dr. B , as usual.
if this link works , let me know what you think ?

It looks good on paper. But, in my opinion, it’s too heavy for most vehicles with a 3500 pound tow capacity for anything but flatland towing. You won’t have reserve capacity for hills, passengers in the car, etc. Check your rear axle capacity and the reserve toy have for tongue weight - do not overload the rear axle or tires! And if you get in a accident you will be liable for negligence. If the vehicle is Front wheel drive, overloading the rear end will cause problems on ramps. You won’t be able to pull the boat up the ramp due to no traction. (Been there, done that with a borrowed vehicle once!).

The boat itself looks and sounds like it’s worth a careful look. Good: Lots of new parts and a lot of work has been done to it. There’s a lot left to do, but it’s probably in better shape than most. Inspect it thoroughly. Especially the non galvanized trailer. I like the new mainsail and new motor.

You’ll probably want/ need a new jib or Genoa. Life is too short to sail with bad sails.

Don’t drive it home without checking the trailer, bearings, tires, springs, etc.
 
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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
Improperly loaded vehicles are dangerous, and while this is an extreme situation with a clearly idiotic driver, what you see here is how the trailer gets unload early in the manoeuvre, and you see the scenario escalate quickly.
 
Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
It's about 2 and a 1/2 hours away from me and I am going down Saturday to have a look at it. At this point that is all I plan to do unless it meets Those standards you pointed out and probably a few more.
Thanks again for your help
 

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
Agree with Judy that there's a lot there to like, and also that it will need more. for example: (1) a depth finder/chart plotter of some kind (2) a boarding ladder for safety. and likely a few more changes to the cabin layout to meet your own needs. 6K is top dollar for an M25 but it does have a lot of good stuff going for it..... perhaps he'll negotiate a bit, given that it's winter, and will need even more work :waycool:. I negotiated the PO on ours down to 3K about 4 years ago (also dead of winter). it was also in excellent condition but without the brand new motor and sails, so he's not that far off. I've since put 1.5K - 2K and a lot of time in ours to make it fit our particular needs to a T (which you'll need with any boat anyway) .
As to towing. what will you tow with? not sure I've seen that mentioned. we tow with a 2010 Dodge Ram 1/2 ton 4x4 with the Hemi, and I hardly know it's behind us, and we tow up some very mountainous areas also. BTW that duel axle trailer on the one you showed is a BIG plus for any Mac. they came with a lightweight single axle trailer and it's at it's weight limit with the M25. I had to beef up the axle and put top quality tires on ours to feel confident with it. the factory single axle trailers also tend to be light on the tongue weight.
 
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Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
thank you
currently using an M998 Humvee , it should handle it, ....if I get it.
lots to inspect and consider thanks you folks
 
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Jun 25, 2004
1,108
Corsair F24 Mk1 003 San Francisco Bay, CA
After Russ mentioned it, I took a more careful look at the trailer.

That trailer Isnt set up correctly for the boat. It ends right behind the axles. The bunks are also short and don’t provide a lot of support to the hull. Common wisdom is that The bunks should extend to within a foot or two of the transom to prevent deformation of the hull. Same thing goes for the front end of the bunks. They look too short too for proper support.

The boat shouldn’t overhand the rear lights more than 3-4 feet. If I recall correctly, federal law says 4 feet is the max without additional safety lights or flags, but less is better for visibility.

The keel needs to be over the axles, and the tongue weight should be 10-15%of the rig’s total weight. Every thing is too far back, I think. Maybe you can move the axles and the whole boat and the bow stop forward. It might work, or not. it definitely needs to be set up differently than it is. It’s not clear from the pictures that you can move the boat around on that trailer to set it up with proper support and weight distribution, but maybe you can. Check that out carefully before you drive that rig over rutted roads or potholes!

Was that trailer originally used for a different boat? Ask the seller....

I’d get rid of that roller under the bow and replace it with a longitudinal bunk. I’ve seen more than a few boats with cracks over a roller at the bow, due to bouncing o the road. Eventually they developed cracks there due to fatigue. Inspect the inside of the hull right there very carefully for any cracks, which show up usually as fine dark lines on the inside ( due to mold growing inside crack).

If it has been repaired there in the boow, under the berth, look at the repair carefully. the old laminate should have been cut out, and it should be a perfectly smooth patch should behave been beveled/scarfed in. Slapping several layers of new glass over the original crack is only a temporary repair that will not last. But unless the person who did the repair was knowlegeable about fiberglass repair, you will need to redo it correctly. That’s a days worth of skilled professional labor.

you might want to consider placing a deposit subject to an inspection by a surveyor. It’s worth a few hundred dollars to avoid any unhappy and expensive surprises.

Judy.
 
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Oct 18, 2019
129
Johnson 18 Weekender 4 corners marina
Thanks Dr. B
I had noticed something looked off about the way it sat on the trailer. That is diffinutly a big deal.