trailering a Tanzer

[patvilly]

I have just purchased a Tanzer T22 and love it. I live in Northern Ontario & winters coming so I need info on setting the Tanzer on a trailer. Does the flat base of the swing keel rest on the trailer supporting the boat or is the boat all suspended? The keel itself weighs about 1500 lbs of the boat's 3000 lbs weight. The trailer that came with the boat has only 4 pads & I'm not confident that the hull would or should support the total weight of the boat. I've heard the pads are there to keep the boat from falling over and all the weight is supported by the keel. Anyone with real life experiences?
Thanks

 

[djplatt@cogeco.ca]

You are correct. Most of the weight should be on the keel. The hull will deform if the weight of the hull is supported on the pads. It will spring back but some delamination occurs each time the hull deforms.

 

[Ray Bowles]

I sail a San Juan 23 and previously had a Catalina 22 and a Hunter 26. All 3 were swing keels. 2 of these had keels that provided very little weight and 1 that provided all the weight. All 3 boats were supported by the sides and NOT the swing keel.

2 boats were on bunk type trailers and in my opinion these are the best as they provide greater surface area supporting the boat. 1 was a roller trailer. All 3 were trailers provided by the manufacturer.

If the pads are adjusted properly the boat will ride in good fashion. I would add a bow roller to add support up front. There are 12 trailered sailboats, all swing keels, that are kept rigged on the trailer and sailed as dry stored boats where I sail. It is split fairly in half between roller trailers and bunk/pad type trailers. The keel on many of these boats are lowered slightly to take the weight load of the keel off the winch while trailered.

If you could post a picture or pictures of your boat and trailer it would help. DJ has a valid concern, but if propery adjusted, your trailer should be fine. If your keel was fixed then the boat would ride on the keel.
Hope this helps.
Ray

 

[Benny17441]

Center board boats have no isuue as the center board is light in weight. On the other hand a ballasted swing keel should be partially lowered so that most of it's weight will rest on a cross member or center bunk.

 

[c_witch]

Trailering

Hiee,

We have a Yankee Condor 21 10 which is a swing keel. Its on a roller based trailer. There is also an adjustable pad that can be cranked up or down to take the weight of the keel. I have not weighed the keel but expect it to be somewhere in the 600lb range. We bought the boat in Ontario and while bringing it back to Nova Scotia we did at one point stop and jack the keep up taking some of the weight off the rollers. Note the pad only supports the leading edge of the keel pretty much at the pivot bolt.

Brina

 

[Sailm8]

I too had a C22 on trailer bunks. The instructions were to lower the swing keel to rest on a trailer cross piece after floating on the trailer.

 

[patvilly]

Thanks all!
The trailer I have wasn't originally for a Tanzer but a friend just bought one that I can use as a template. I guess there's some welding in the future. The trailer he has does provide a wooden bunk for the keel to sit on and the pads mostly keep the boat from tipping.