Show us your trailer mods

[Phil Herring]

One of the most perilous and exciting events in sailing doesnt take place on the water, but on a ramp.

Launching and retrieving a trailerable sailboat is not for the timid. It has some special hurdles our ski-boat cousins dont have to sweat. Like draft, weight, and height, to name a few.

Have you made any changes to your trailer to make this process a bit more foolproof? share your photos, plans, and idle thoughts here.

 

[Sailor Sue]

OK, I'll go first. Nothing too fancy, the angled boards help guide the keel to the center of the trailer in crosswinds or when you can't actually see the trailer.
The box covers protect the lights from sun damage and breakage.

 

[jamieFL]

Yes. This should be a helprull thread. I had the trailer built for my boat. The first two photos are of the keel funnel. Next shows one of the wheel chock boxes, followed by the bowstop with a second winch for mast stepping, and last is a plug with the trailer manufacturer. Alumatrek did a great job and if you live in Florida, you'd be foolish to have a trailer built anywhere else.

 

[Knot Stressin']

I will play along. I have several things in mind that I would like to do to nake launching/retreiving easier. But this is my first actual trailer mod. A step to stand on at or above water level when launching. The tricky part of launching my boat is you have to have the trailer in around 4 or 4 1/2 feet of water to get the boat to lift. And no one wants to wade in that much water to turn the winch handle.
In point of fact, I havent actually used it yet. As you can tell fron the picture, I built this over the winter and the weather in Michigan hasnt been great for sailing. Maybe this week though.....

 

[Ken Cross]

No pictures, but I moved the axle aft 16 inches on our old Mac 26D. This allowed us to trailer the boat with the motor mounted and no sway. After that, I added some reinforcement on the webbing of the main trailer frame to reinforce where it was cracking.
Ken

 

[PJL]

A long time ago, in a place far, far away... I had a Catalina 27 that I used to trailer; several others did the same thing. We were inland, sailing on lakes, and there were no hoists, only ramps. Some of the folks modified their trailers to have a long tung extension that was slid into a larger box frame and pinned in place for towing; it was extended, and re-pinned, for launching. Rather than building a tung extension, my method was to use 50' of 3/4" nylon rope to tie between the truck and the boat trailer. The launch/retrieve was accomplished with the trailer's front mounted extending wheel in its most retracted position so movement would not damage it. The boat could be easily motored on or off the trailer and easily stayed in place going into or out of the water.

We also built A-frames to attach, with pins, to the cabin top for raising & lowering the hinged mast. The A-frames kept the lines from the masthead at an angle that provide leverage. Without the A-frame the line would have collapsed against the mast and allow it to dangerously fall.

Has been too long, so no pictures to show...

 

[La catboat]

added walk down boards to 15 ft catboat trailer

 

[RussC]

When I bought my Merit 22 it was on a too small cobbled together powerboat tilt trailer so I bought a used powerboat trailer of the proper size and modified it with keel guides and tray, new bucks etc.
I've always hated having to drag around a boarding ladder for on the hard, so I also fabricated this tilt out ladder which locks into position both in and out. it doubles as the port side goal post as well.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I stupidly did not ever take any photos of it but my previous boat (Catalina 25 swing keel) had a trailer with a built-in mast raising crane. It grabbed the mast at the spreaders and with the turn of a crank would raise the mast and rotate it to vertical and place it on the mast tabernacle. Some previous owner had built it and it even had a US patent number on it but I have never seen or heard of any others. It worked great and I could raise the mast in any wind and on unlevel sites.
I also modified the trailer to have a motor mount for the outboard built onto the bow stand so that I could remove the engine weight from the stern and put it on the tongue.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

No pics at the moment but...

• Tongue extension that slides out of the trailer tongue
• Mast raising system: 14' steel beam that drops into the bow support (might cut it down to 10'), wireless ATV winch
• Moved bow support forward and adjusted bow stop arm for more tongue weight
• LED Lights and new wiring
• Keel guides
• Keel bunk made by PO out of about ten 2x4's bolted together
• Demco 10k lbs hitch
• PO painted entire trailer black
• Fulton F2 3200lbs Two Speed Winch
• Ratchet strap that goes from bow support to tow vehicle. It keeps me from falling in the water while walking on the tongue

 

[LeeandRick]

Got tired of modifying trailers so built one with all my dream mods.

10K GVWR with frame designed for 16K with additional axle
Tandem 4" drop axles with electric over hydraulic disc brakes, on adjustable truck to accommodate different boat CGs
Weight distribution hitch (tow with my truck camper)
Mounts for mast supports and mast raising equipment. The long gin pole (horizontal for travel) has a bracket for vertical mounting so it can be reached from foredeck
Above water platform to stand on. We have a swim ladder that can fit brackets on 4 different locations on the boat, one being the bow to allow me to get to the platform or beach if bow to the beach.
13' no disconnect, drive around tongue extension
Safety chains attached to main trailer not extension in case I forget to pin
Lockable spare tire mount located for easy access with boat on
Removable floating trailer depth indicator on left fender (driver can see in mirror) for perfect float on depth no matter ramp angle.
Pivoting keel rest with keel guide beams attached. Keel rest self levels when you back in to the water no matter ramp angle (flotation both ends). Guide beams are parallel to water surface when loading. No winch, just float on, pin the bow eye, and drive out. Boat always comes out in the same place.
Most forward cross member hinges to the side for ramp angles greater than 9°
Keel guide structure rotates out of way for painting keel
Jacking access panels in keel rest for raising boat to paint
Keel rest angled 2° bow down so boat stays on bow stop when traveling and to assist in launch angle (plus my cockpit scuppers are forward)
Optimum size support pads with stall mat under the carpet. (almost full contact on a curved hull) Aft supports rotate down for clearance on shallow ramps
Mounted tie down ratchets
Raised LED brake/ running lights (so someone can actually see them) at the end of the boat.

 

[srimes]

added walk down boards to 15 ft catboat trailer

Pretty boat!

 

[walt]

FYI, I watched "LeeandRick" (post 11) use that trailer on ramp that I have also used (Site 6 Lake Havasu). This ramp goes from very low slope to very high slope as you back down. Once I pulled my Mac 26S out using this same ramp and took a bunch of fiberglass off the bow as I was just not setup for that steep of a ramp.

But Rick and Lee easily pulled their S2 out. Its a very clever design..

 

[SailingLoto]

Got tired of modifying trailers so built one with all my dream mods.

View attachment 190192
10K GVWR with frame designed for 16K with additional axle
Tandem 4" drop axles with electric over hydraulic disc brakes, on adjustable truck to accommodate different boat CGs
Weight distribution hitch (tow with my truck camper)
Mounts for mast supports and mast raising equipment. The long gin pole (horizontal for travel) has a bracket for vertical mounting so it can be reached from foredeck
Above water platform to stand on. We have a swim ladder that can fit brackets on 4 different locations on the boat, one being the bow to allow me to get to the platform or beach if bow to the beach.
13' no disconnect, drive around tongue extension
Safety chains attached to main trailer not extension in case I forget to pin
Lockable spare tire mount located for easy access with boat on
Removable floating trailer depth indicator on left fender (driver can see in mirror) for perfect float on depth no matter ramp angle.
Pivoting keel rest with keel guide beams attached. Keel rest self levels when you back in to the water no matter ramp angle (flotation both ends). Guide beams are parallel to water surface when loading. No winch, just float on, pin the bow eye, and drive out. Boat always comes out in the same place.
Most forward cross member hinges to the side for ramp angles greater than 9°
Keel guide structure rotates out of way for painting keel
Jacking access panels in keel rest for raising boat to paint
Keel rest angled 2° bow down so boat stays on bow stop when traveling and to assist in launch angle (plus my cockpit scuppers are forward)
Optimum size support pads with stall mat under the carpet. (almost full contact on a curved hull) Aft supports rotate down for clearance on shallow ramps
Mounted tie down ratchets
Raised LED brake/ running lights (so someone can actually see them) at the end of the boat.

this is just impressive. nice work

 

[Tedd]

On our Mac 26S, I added a tube extending backward from the top fitting on the mast, for the Windex. That allowed me to remove and attach the Windex while standing on the ground, when the mast was down. As a bonus, the tube provides a visual reference when reading the Windex.

Sorry, the background makes it hard to see the Windex.

 

[Rich Stidger]

A trailer for my H40.5? I think not.

I have a Fairclough custom fitted cover that uses metal electrical conduit tubes and 12-foot 1x4's to support the canvas. The first couple of years I begged/borrowed a truck to carry these over-sized items to/from the boat every fall and spring.

Then I modified an old 16 foot trailer to carry my winter frame and lots of other boat items. I stripped the trailer of all old hardware and rollers. I repainted and installed new lights and wheels and tires. I bought a spare tire so a flat would not ruin my day. Then I build a 1/2" plywood box that was 12' long, 4' wide, and 30" high. It easily holds my 1x4's and the metal electrical conduit tubes. It is large enough to hold all of my cover parts as well as a HD home-built 10' ladder, a scaffold ladder, and a couple stepladders. Also fenders and other misc supplies.

I cover it with half of a large canvas tarp and lace the tarp over the top with lines on each edge. Braces and bows are installed across the top to keep the plywood box from spreading and to support the tarp. For winter and summer storage I cover the tarp with a piece of shrink-wrap and more lacing. This keeps the tarp from getting wet and prolongs its life.

I only use this trailer twice a year- fall and spring, but it is perfect for my use. During the summer I store all of the cover framework in the trailer so there is no extra handling or separate storage.

 

[Indysailor]

When the previous owner runs a construction company and fashions his own solution from what's available...
This thing actually works amazingly well; we have a 25 foot extension (you can see one end below the rudder), which allows launching and retrieval. The only hard part is finding a truck with a gooseneck hitch, but otherwise this has served us quite well.