Offshore trailerable sailboats

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Jun 5, 2010
1,136
Hunter 25 Burlington NJ
BTW if it has primarily water ballast I would not take it offshore for my life. Nothing without positive stability (that which does not require user process to achieve) should be considered truly seaworthy in ocean conditions.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
The famous and impressive story I recall from the early '70s is that, as a promotional challenge, MacGregor Yacht offered a $25,000 cash prize to the fastest elapsed time (uncorrected) in a solo race from Long Beach to Hawaii in a trailerable swing-keel boat. The winner sailed a Venture 21.

Never underestimate those older Macgregor Venture boats. Properly maintained, they are cheap, practical and reliable; and properly sailed, they are like windsurfers for speed and agility. They may be some of the most underestimated small boats of all time.
That's awesome.... do you have a link or more info about that? I'd love to read about the boat-prep that when into that, and what the other competitors were. It's hard to imagine a major corporation funding that kind of stunt today.... too many lawyers around in our litigious society....
 

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,509
Catalina 27 . St. Mary's Georgia
Flicka 20 and Cal 20 in the super mighty mite category.
 
Apr 8, 2010
2,238
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Might be a bit out of your way for shopping, but in the late 70's Ray Richards designed a lovely trailerable 26 footer. High bridge deck, thru-bolt overlap hull-to-deck joint, and... positive floatation!
Not too many built as the recession hit the small boat industry in the 80's, but built with quality by Ranger Boats in Kent, WA. Solid hull, hand layup. Lead ballast.
Worth finding, but some searching may be required.

Owner web site: http://www.europa.com/~stargazr/

Happy shopping,
L
 
Sep 28, 2008
922
Canadian Sailcraft CS27 Victoria B.C.
Here's a quick list of capabilities I thought of for both offshore and trailerable. The more the boat has the better. Some are pure yes/no things (IB power), others (like AVS) are a point on a scale. What would others add to the lists, and what boats make the grade?


Offshore metrics
C.E. 'B' offshore rating
AVS (Angle of Vanishing Stability) > 130
CR (Capsize Ratio) < 2.0
Inboard power
Gimbaled stove
Nav station
Fixed head


Trailerable metrics
5000 lb displacment
7500 OTR weight
Deck stepped mast
36 inch waterline to wheel length
8.5 foot beam

Anything else? Boats?

Trailerable boats tend to be lighter. The capsize ratio is both a meaningless ratio as it depends on weight and beam alone. You can find it for any boat you wish here: http://www.sailingusa.info/cal__capsize.htm
Best to ignore it.


AVS of many good offshore boats is about 125.
 

higgs

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Aug 24, 2005
3,736
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
Going to Hawaii seems to be a trip many lightly built boats can make. The Hobie 33 comes to mind. Just because some lightly built boats make this particular trip does not make them safe, offshore cruisers. While the old Ventures may be good sailing boats, they are not solid and will not stand up to really heavy weather use. Rudder, rigging, and spars would be major weakness if caught out in serious weather and seas. No way rudder pintels would hold up in a large sea situation where a lot of strain is put on the rudder.
 

MrBee

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Dec 30, 2008
425
Irwin 34 Citation Middle River, Md.
Falmouth cutter,
Trailerable but not sure you would launch without a lift.
That can be arranged in most areas at a marina.
 
Oct 24, 2011
258
Lancer 28 Grand Lake
After the Mac on Lake Michigan thread, I've been giving some thougth to the notion of off-shore trailerable sailboats. I know some models available in Europe might fit the bill, but does anything here in NA (new or used) make the grade? In general it seems the manufactrues have moved the offshore goalpost to 30 feet for the US market, which rules out trailerablity except in the most extreme definition.

And the notion of trailerablity is dfferent for folks. For some it would mean park it in the driveway and take it to the lake every weekend. For others it means only the ability to move it over the road by yourself. For me, something in the middle; in the water most of the time (slip or buoy), with the ability to winterize by myself, and maybe a one-week sailing trip to other waters.

Here's a quick list of capabilities I thought of for both offshore and trailerable. The more the boat has the better. Some are pure yes/no things (IB power), others (like AVS) are a point on a scale. What would others add to the lists, and what boats make the grade?


Offshore metrics
C.E. 'B' offshore rating
AVS (Angle of Vanishing Stability) > 130
CR (Capsize Ratio) < 2.0
Inboard power
Gimbaled stove
Nav station
Fixed head


Trailerable metrics
5000 lb displacment
7500 OTR weight
Deck stepped mast
36 inch waterline to wheel length
8.5 foot beam

Anything else? Boats?
Hunter boats UK, wanted to build a full keel 22ft sailboat, that was a traller sailor. Thing was, due to the size of the draught of the boat, with a full keel, the trailler would have been about seven feet under the water, before the boat floated off, so to get round this, they used a trailler that was almost like a car trailler, then had a launch trolley, with small solid wheels on it, the launch trolley had next to no ground clearance, so when the trolley was on the ground, the keel was only inches off the ground, you would back up to the slip, put the wheels of the trailler into the water, then release the launch trolley, and winch that down off the trailler, and into the sea, it worked very well, but you couldnt use to steep a slip to launch it on, they used that system on the Hunter Sonata at 22 feet, and the Hunter Impala at 28 feet, but, other problem was, complicated trailler and launch trolley, really added to the price of the whole thing.
 

Bosman

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Oct 24, 2010
346
Solina 27 Wabamun, Alberta
European build and designed TES 28 Magnam, available in Canada from TES Yacht Canada, has CE "B" category for the swing keel version and can be ordered as CE "A" category as well with fin keel. She is quite wide at almost 10ft and requires fairly inexpensive towing permit (in Canada) - not sure about regulations in US. Draft, min 1'-2" and maximum 4'-7".






Also, North Lakes Yachting in Mississauga carries full line of smaller Delphia models
 
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