trailering

[Jim Hughes]

I've got a 1974 MacGregor Venture 21ft.When I trailer it,I leave the 5hp.chrysler motor on the boat.I tip it up, with a towel in between the motor and transom and put a bungee around it.The trailer seem to give a soft ride, absorbing all bumps in the road,so I'm not to worried. Is it alright to tow with the rudder on,locked in the upright position and tiller bungee'd to stop any movement? It makes less to put on, when getting to the water. I could see not doing this if the trailer was rough riding,and I surely don't want to ruin anything.Is this alright or not. Jim

 

[Tom H]

I leave everything on

I have trailered for three years with my 97 H26 with the rudder in the up position and the motor on the back. Never a problem.

 

[Dave Clark]

I remove everything

Both you and Tom seem to have had no problems so it may be ok. Most sailboats I see on the road have both the rudder and motor removed (I'll grant you that it's a small sample of observations since I don't see many sailboats on the road). However, I remove both when I transport my O'Day 222. When I first got the boat, I wasn't particularly comfortable with the strength of the original motor mount so I removed the motor for transport. Even though I replaced the motor mount with a beefier model, and reinforced the backing plate, I'm still not comfortable leaving 60 lbs. of metal hanging off the transom. Don't know if it could damage the transom, and even if it didn't, it would reduce the tongue weight of the trailer. Thus, I transport both the rudder and the motor in the cockpit (with lots of padding around them to prevent dings to the fiberglass). I'm a bit risk averse, but it doesn't add much to my setup time and it does add to my piece of mind. Those are my thoughts.

 

[Brad]

I take it all off...

Ditto to Dave's view. Occasionally I will leave the rudder on after pulling out of the water, but only when it's a very short drive home. I always take the motor off since I have a 9.9 and it is very heavy (it came with the boat and it works, so why replace it?). As fas as I know, I have no extra motor mount reenforcement. I have horrible visions of going over a bump and the motor mount ripping off, leaving chunks of my engine and transom all over the road so I don't chance it.

 

[Joe R., SV Skooky 3 - Cat 30]

depends on distance

my dealer let me leave on 150 mi trip. I made 2 or 3 that way.No damage.But now I put the motor in the trunk for rides longer than 30 mi.