Largest trailerable boat????????

[jrdesign]

65'

Copied from the DOT Rules....."What is the maximum length of boat transporter combinations that States may allow to operate? (23 CFR 658.13(e))Conventional boat transporter combinations over 65 feet or stinger-steered boat transporter combinations over 75 feet may operate only as shown in appendix C to 23 CFR 658. States may regulate their length when no portion of a movement is on the NN. "Based on the above statement... You could haul a boat and tow tractor that is 65' long 8'-6" wide and under 14' tall down the nationals highways without a special permit.But would you want to?

 

[bob]

here's a cool one

here's a cool 32 ft with a swing deep keel (20" to 6'6 bulb keel)Bob

 

[bob's your uncle]

oops heres the link

forgot the url

 

[r.w.landau]

bob, that is the boat abe was talking about!

thanks for the link!r.w.landau

 

[David in Sandusky]

26 feet is practical

I think the MacGregor 26, water ballast models were the first to really optimize a trailered design. A beam limit of 8 feet means that 26 feet is an upper limit if you really want to take advantage of the concept. We know trailer sailors who ranged from their home port in Ohio to the San Juans, Florida, and the North Channel.The Hunter 26 then 260 offered more headroom on the same concept, and Catalina has similar models.If you really use these boats to open up numerous, far flung cruising grounds, a few hours to set up the boat for a week of sailing seems very acceptable.We have chartered to experience that kind of variety. But a good trailerable will give the same variety with much lower costs.DavidLady Lillie

 

[TT23844]

Trailerability

Jack - As noted in earlier posts, the overall length of towing vehicle & trailer is set by state/provincial laws. The standard height is 13'6" and the max. width without special permits is 8'6".It's not difficult to get permits for wider & longer loads, but may take some time and cost a few $$, and oversize loads are usually limited in the times they can be moved. The height is a different issue, as bridges, overpasses, powerlines etc crossing highways are all built to allow a vertical clearance of 13'6", so for all practical purposes that is the highest load you can transport on a highway.Some of the 1 ton pickup trucks are rated to tow up to c. 20,000 lbs, trailer & load, provided of course that the trailer has brakes, tires,axles etc that are rated for that capacity. That translates into a fairly big boat, but you're stuck with the need for a crane or straddle-lift to load & unload the thing, and to deal with the mast. I think the normal upper limit for a trailer-sailer that you can haul, launch & rig yourself is abt. 26 ft & c. 5000 lbs : that you could handle with a 1/2 ton 4x4 truck or SUV. Beyond that, anythings possible (within limits)if you're willing to expend the time & money to achieve it. Guess a lot depends on your definition of "reasonable".

 

[jackhartjr]

Thanks to all...

...for your time and replys!What is amazing is that when I ask a question here...I get answers on things I had not considered, which is very helpful!Thanks again to all!Jack

 

[sand sailor]

schock makes a 40' that is trailerable

check it out

 

[seadaddler]

Pulling Vehicle

Being a truck driver all of my life and having done my share oftrailing boats and campers.You can get as big of a boat to railer as you want but don'tforget about the most important thing for pulling it.Good pulling power and good stopping,I have see a few people overdo it on trying to pull a big boat or trailer stuck on the side of the roadbroke down with big $$$$$ to get going again so don't go cheap with thevehicle, you will wind up paying any way,good luck.Nick

 

[Rob Hessenius]

Virtually all boats are trailerable.

Jack- Damn near all boats can be put on a trailer. As for a realistic trailerable boat that you can tow and set up yourself it seems that 25'-26' is the answer. In this range you will find some damn good boats, i.e O'day's, Hunter's, Catalina's, Ericson's, Mac's. As you have seen with Brian and Steph's boat you can really maximize the space aboard to get the feel of a larger boat. Some of the above mentioned boats behave solidly in tough conditions. Having a trailerable boat myself the hardest part of the whole deal is raising and lowering the stick! 15 seconds of all that you got!!! The rest of the set up time is a can of corn that I find enjoyable. I have a F-150 with a 5.4l and a E-25 that weighs in at 7900lbs when loaded for travel. Thats the max of comfort for me. A good trailer with good brakes are a must!! Rob

 

[Ross]

I said earlier that the practical

limit will be the launch ramps where you will be sailing.

 

[Denise Oday30]

keepn your little boat

and get a 30ft or larger! You know thats what you want! Trying to rationalize a "big" trailering boat is just going to translate into "to much trouble to tow, step mast, rig, provision, fuel up, and the boat will become like so many boats on trailers... RIP I you want a bigger boat you have to be able to afford the costs. Buying 30-45,000 dollar trucks to tow a "large" trailer boat is money better spent on sailing! (just my opinion) I went from a 23 hunter to a Oday30, joined a yacht club (less then $500 a yr to keep my boat) trailer sailers should be easy to transport and rig, anything less will become a reason to stop using it. fair winds! err happy towing??

 

[Brian M H23]

Hey denise!

some of my best times on the 23 this past summer were when I dropped the boat in, sailed all weekend (slept on it fri and saturday), and then pulled it out sunday afternoon. It only takes 2 hrs to put together or take apart, and I pulled it with my $1500 F-150That being said, if it was any bigger, I would start to doubt the "trailerability" if you want a ballasted keel. 23' with a weighted keel and 26' water-ballasted is probably a good rule for determining "trailerability". Also, draft of no more than 30" with everything swung up / etc

 

[Androctus]

Denise sold the 23, eh??

and got an O'Day!!! Traitor!!!lolzGratz. I was wondering what happened to you.

 

[cephius (Dave)]

H260

While I have a very good trailer that works well with most fishing ramps and the H260 is sold as a trailer boat, it takes me two hours to rig and two more to unrig.I consider this boat's mast very easy to raise and lower and I could reduce the time if I optimized the rigging but I still don't care to make it a regular practice.I chose this large a trailerable boat because it must be pulled out of the marina each winter and doing it myself is cheaper and easier to schedule.When on the trailer and on the road it is LARGE ! NOTE: Beam 8' 11"If I had to launch it every time I sailed I would have kept my Catalina 22.

 

[Denise Oday30]

Guilty as charged!

Dave yah got me! LOL Been a year now.. sold it to Brian M H23 and he seems to really enjoy it! I loved that H23 too but always wanted a larger boat. I DON'T miss reaching over the transom, handling the tiller, the outboard controls. etc. Larger boats are way easier to handle! (imho)fair winds!

 

[Androctus]

So Brian got the infamous swing keel...

thats cool. It all makes sense now.Theres a few other sailboats at my marina and they all comment they wish they had an outboard; they wouldn't mind reaching over the transom... see, I'm the only one who can back into my slip...

 

[Bob C]

Largest Trailerable

For what it's worth, I trailer a Cal 2-27. With my big old homemade steel trailer I figure I'm towing upwards of 9000 pounds. S-l-o-w getting up to speed and no emergency stops allowed!I'm sure you'll hear from others who tow heavier, but I sure wouldn't want to....BC

 

[Brian M H23]

Pff outboard

I got so fed up with that outboard I jsut started sailing in and out of my slip! It was kind rough at first, but I would rather tack for 20 minutes than try to single-handedly motor that thing home. It's just not possible to see backwards and forwards at the same time! That's a question.. what's a "trailerable" boat (easy to tow kind) that has an inboard? First one that comes to my mind are the rare hunter 25.5's with inboard diesels, but I think that's 5000 lbs and 9' beam, so a bit large.

 

[brabant emeric]

Largest trailerable boat

You can find on jawa yachts what is for mr the largest trailerable sailing boat.The BORA 838 BS .I am loocking to buy a Hunter 260 and its trailer, can you help me.Thanck you very muchEmeric from France ( ebrabanr@green-park.fr )00 33 6 24 26 77 92