Trailer Launching a C22 Wing Keel

LakeShark · Sep 16, 2016

It really depends on the trailer and the launch ramp. There are plenty of discussions on the board regarding this and almost as many opinions as there are launch ramps. For me I have a wing keel and I sail primarily in shallow lakes and on the Mississippi. If the rivers or lake levels are up in the spring you will need to extend the tongue on the trailer. Not sure how ramps are in your area but in Minnesota every ramp is designed with on thing in mind. Flat bottom fishing boats and canoes. This year I needed the extension for every launch on every ramp. Officially the boat only draws 6 inches more than its swing keel cousin but there is a bit of art to recovering the boat at the end of the day. Launching is easy. Load the boat with your gear, attach a long lead line to the bow if you are alone, extend the tongue, back down the ramp and tap the breaks just before the truck tire hit the water. The boat slides off easy and the long line gently pays out of the truck bed for you to grab and tie it off before leaving the ramp. Recovery is an art form. There is no winching a wing keel. You must be patient at first until you learn your trailer and bunks. You want the boat to just float on the trailer. Once on attach the wench line and slowly pull up the ramp with the truck. Once the boat sits on the trailer it is there no amount of winching will pull it any closer because the keel bears most of the boat weight not the bunks. If your trailer does not have good wing guides on it you want to check that the keel sits down on the trailer properly before pulling all the way up the ramp. When I was first getting used to this sometimes the wing will catch on the trailer and cause the boat to tip badly. WHEN (not if) this happens don't panic likely there is no damage done just back the boat into the water leaving the winch attached and recenter the boat. If you have a steep ramp this is less of a problem. So there you have it. Yet another opinion on trailering a wing keel. As for the comparison of wing vs. swing well the wing guys like me like the less maintenance and the more stable feeling on the water. However we trade off speed and pointing ability because of it. The swing guys will likely have their own opinions as to why they like swing. It's more of a personal decision which should be based on your planned use and comfort ability with the boat. If you want to spend lazy days on a sand bar then perhaps a swing is the way to go. If you never want to think about your ballast or weight shift in a large blow or with a boat load of kids like I usually have then perhaps wing is best for you. Of course a fin is best but hey who wants to try and trailer sail one of those. Just kidding.

CaptDon01 · Sep 18, 2016

Jhogle,

Take a look at the attached photo of my wing keeled MK-II and my swing keeled new design. Both are on Trail-Rite trailers. Look at the difference between the hull and the fenders to get a good comparison of the two different keel types. We've trailered our wing keeled MK-II all over the country, launched in the Pacific at multiple ramps, multiple inland lake ramps, the Intercostal Waterway, and numerous ramps on the Great Lakes, so I can honestly say we've seen our share of ramps with various depths and angles. We've never had a situation yet where we could not easily launch or recover the boat. My only criteria is a finger dock along side of the ramp. Twice I've recovered the boat at ramps without a finger dock and twice I gouged the wing from hitting the trailer bracing. So I do my research before I go to a new location. No finger dock, I'll have a plan-B for recovery. Now, that said, I use my tongue extension all the time, launching or recovering. No big deal, it simply slides in and out on the Trail-Rite trailers. I place the trailer so I have about an inch of water over the front of the bunks, and float the boat up on the trailer. No hull rollers, just simple bunks which support the hull more evenly. I'll give a shameful plug for the Trail-Rite C-22 trailer, the boat sits lower than just about any other trailer I've seen. With their drop axle and dropped cross frame members, the boat sits very low, and they engineered the tongue so it has a slight angle to help launch and load the boat.

Don

CloudDiver · Sep 18, 2016

I love that front hitch that @CaptDon01 put on his RV. That is a perfect example of the KISS principle. Not only simple, but greatly adds to safety!
He also has TWO spares for the trailer... when you rack the miles like he does you can never have too many spare tires.

CaptDon01 · Sep 18, 2016

Thanks Luke, it's worked out very well, and always draws a crowd wanted to see this nut drive his boat into the water! LOL

Don

All packed up and ready to hit the road to the next adventure!

CaptDon01 · Sep 19, 2016

Jhogle, I just noticed you're from Topeka KS, we lived for many years in Gardner and Olathe before moving to San Diego in 2007. We kept our original C-22, (30+ years ago), at DJ's on Lake Perry, Clinton Lake, and on Smithville Lake. Small world......

Don

CaptDon01 · Sep 19, 2016

jhogle,

The Trail-Rite trailers have an exclusive design. The tongue assembly is actually welded into the trailer frame at a slight downward angle. This helps tilt the boat a little making launching and recovering a bit easier, and helps out at a shallow ramp. Because of this, if you keep the tow vehicle attached, it binds, and just doesn't work. So, we've found that disconnecting the trailer from the tow vehicle, manually pulling out the extension out, re-pinning it into the trailer frame, and reattaching the extension to the vehicle is just easier and quicker. It really to have my 1ST Mate do the pinning because I have to giggle the extension a little to align the holes for the pin. So after the boat is rigged and ready to launch, we disconnect the trailer , extend the tongue, turn the motorhome around, reattach the trailer now to the front of the RV, and drive the boat to the ramp.

Also, contrary to may folks, I don't have a speck of oil or grease on my trailer extension. In theory grease and oil will help it slide, and yes it will, maybe the first couple times, but it quickly attracts dirt, and turns into a greasy dirty mess. Been there, done that, and I've been trailering boats for a while now....

My trailer and the extension are galvanized, and the boat has been launched 95% of the time in salt water. As you can see in the photos, the extension is still nice, and has not succumbed to rust, and I think the sliding action has kind of polished the galvanized surface over the years making it slide pretty easy.

Disclaimer: May not be what most folks do, or they've had different results, but it's just what seems to work for me.

Don

LakeShark · Sep 19, 2016

Jhogle

CaptDon01 is the authority on this one. He travels and launches more times in more places in a year than most of us will in 5 years. Nice pictures CaptDon01 this is a thread that will help many in the future. I love your trailer but I was wondering do you happen to know what size the square bar for your extension is? I am going to have to modify my extension at some point because it bends under the weight of the boat and I am wondering how big I need to get a quote for from the welding shop. Thanks