Albin Vega 27 on diet - reducing weight for trailer

[alaskaflyfish]

I tow my Vega with a Ford F250 Diesel. Anything else is a fools errand. There is such a thing as towing capacity and total vehicle weight with towing. Not to mention things like brakes, suspension, universal joints, transmission, cooling, tire weight capacity, trailer weight,etc.... If you want to tow a boat and trailer, get a proper tow vehicle, a car just wont due. You will be surprised how heavy a Vega actually is once you get it on a trailer, no matter if you empty it out or not.

[DanielCZ]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

An Albin Vega in cruising trim weighs 2.5 tons LIGHT. For stores etc, add 250 Kg.s. The trailer will weigh about 750Kg.s for a total of 3.5 tons to tow.

TrentePieds, FDP - (Former Danish Person)

Thanks that was what I needed to know
So its out of question the boat is just too heavy

[toddster8]

Every time the price of fuel spikes, suitable tow vehicles go on craigslist for next to nothing. I picked up a diesel suburban with beefed up suspension (some of them are a bit light in the rear end, from the factory) and tow package for $1500.

It easily pulled a 10,000 lb load and the full crew with their gear and the dog!

There are the ongoing costs of ownership. In my state, we have "farm registration" which allows you to pay for license and registration only during the months that you need them, and not during the months that the equipment sits idle. Of course, first you have to prove that you're a farm, but then it's easy. It's possible that similar programs exist for other types of equipment. ?

[Bluebeard]

Daniel,

you are asking the wrong question.
You don't say where in the EU you are, but in the UK it would not be a problem to tow such a boat.
As I'm English I can only tell you about my experience here, and I have done a lot of towing trailers. The law here is not seriously enforced.
If I couple a car transporter trailer loaded with a big european car, that comes to well over 2 tons, behind my Audi A6, I'm sure that is breaking something. But it is done all the time.
So if you want to be bullet proof, buy yourself an old Land Rover, they were rated with a towing capacity of 4 tons. What has happened is that the car companies have adopted a policy of not wanting to be blamed and have specified lower and lower towing limits. So that if you want to tow a full weight overrun brake trailer, ie 3.5 tonnes gross you need a chelsea tractor or a working 4 x 4 like a Land Rover.
If you go back far enough ago, Land rovers didn't have a plated towing weight at all! But you are still limited by gross trailer weight.
At 2.3 tonnes the Albin Vega will sit comfortably on a 3.5 tonne trailer, but are you sure about the yacht weight, it seems low to me for that size cruising boat. ( see previous post ) You may have to be careful with the stern overhanging the trailer. I think you will be lucky to find a trailer longer than 22ft, so the boat will need to be well forward, and what is the beam? There is a limit which is quite small for a typical boat beam.
If I had your "problem" I would make up a 4 wheel Trolley with plain bearings to fit the Vega, and winch it in and out of the water on the trolley and onto a car transporter trailer. I can hire 3.5 tonne car trailer for £40/day. At that price it isn't worth owning one for two trips a year. And to tow it you could probably hire a Landy if you don't want to own a second car.

Now forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but this is what I have learnt in years of towing.
Load your trailer so that the nose weight is as heavy as you dare and then some. ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.
Find out carefully the speed at which your car and trailer spread starts to shimmy. Recently using an Audi 100/A6, with a 2.8 tonne gross 4 wheel transporter it started to shimmy at about 63, so I drove at 60, with 1.5 ton 4 wheel towavan it didn't shimmy at any speed. Be aware of how your trailer is behaving, if it starts to miss behave slow down immediately, brake hard if you have to.
I have come across advice that says you can out run the shimmy. A friend of my managed to spin a Morris Minor with a smallish box trailer on the motorway. Lady Luck was smiling that day. The same guy managed to bend the A frame of a very heavily built transporter trailer, loaded with a big Land Rover whilst towing with a Land Rover. From memory he didn't have the nose weight right, because I used that same spread often with no problems. So brake don't try and out run it!
Everything else shouldn't need saying, like make sure the trailer brakes work properly and that you have your load secured properly.
In europe I believe that you have real regulations about trailer registration and condition, but hiring should solve that, I think the weight limits are the same.

Good luck.

[Pete7]

Like Bluebeard, I have lived and towed across Europe. Even owned a 110 V8 Landie for a decade with a 3500kgs tow limit. I have also towed 2.4T in England. I spent a lot of time servicing the landie and the 4 wheel trailer. A wheel coming off on the side of the autobahn on a Sunday night is just a drama you can do without.

Given the distance, leave the boat on the coast and travel at 120 kmh in comfort in a car.

Pete

[DanielCZ]

Thanks Gents for the replies,
I'm grateful for the constructive ones
Since its now becoming more of a question of trailoring the Vega instead of weight reduction.

In my case, with the B+E licence I can carry the ship behind the car even with 4t. I will be limited by my own skill, and by the car capability.
Exceeding the capability of the car on paper is something that is not unusual (I will not comment on that) the chances to be "caught" are almost none, but I personally will be traveling trough Austrian Highways, that are equiped with measuring platforms, it will take just one bored cop, seeing a yach on trailer, asking me to unhook it and measure the overall weight of the trailer against paper limits of the car, exceeding it means not just a penalty but the end of the trip. I'm not taking any chances here. As well I'm not crazy enough to exceed them anyway.
As well by skill I dont feel confident to carry 4t behind any car be it even a monstrous 4x4.
Additionally in my personal case each thing has to serve more than one purpose, while a big Van (VW transporter, Ford Transit etc.) can serve the family as well as a family car, a big 4x4 is not making the fuel economy nor the seating places.
But that is just my personal setting, on the other hand this is not the end of the line for me will be thinking of alternatives.

As I know I'm not the only one asking exactly this question, the Vegas are good with Price, available often and quite capable (so I'm told) and not every one is so close to the harbor, I hope this will answer as well the question for others.

[captlloyd]

Trade whatever vehicle you have now for a 3/4 ton crewcab truck. Problem solved.

[john61ct]

Not so easy in Europe as it in the US, I think commercial rego only?

Look at lighter boats would be a lot cheaper and easier.

[Brewgyver]

If you’re only going to tow it twice a year, why not just hire a trucking company or independent operator (assuming there is such a thing in the EU) to haul it for you? It’s worth checking out, may give you more options.

[Mike Banks]

Albin Vega--I have seen them extended lengthways. Not too successfully. These boats need ballast--and the only easily trailerable cruising boats or coastal hop boats are all mutihulls because one does not have to drag a couple of tonnes of ballast before one even begins to think of loading the boat. The trailer and ballast alone is about all a car can tow.

Either a trailer trimaran with fold down amas, or something demountable such as one of the trailable Wharram range of designs up to 30 feet..

For monohulls of any size, the ballast is the killer. That also means a hevy duty bi or tri-axle trailer, another costly item if you intend to bring your vessel home between launchings.

That is before one even examines the complex rules of traiable boats and the transport regulations.

[NCGunDude]

From the pics I see of Albin Vegas on a trailer, forget it!!! Houses weigh less, and take up less room on the road!!!

Seriously, and I second the multihull suggestion, there are boats designed to be trailered, but the Albin Vega is not one of them, unless it's on a professional transport.

[john61ct]

Bulldust.

Long as it's under 8.5" beam, no need even for a special permit in most States, a few are 8'.

Yes AV is a little too wide, but say Cheoy Lee, much heavier.

Just need the right equipment, and plenty of private sailors have the skillset do it all the time with 30+ foot boats.

Now public ramp launching a 6-ft fixed keel boat off your trailer is a bigger challenge, anything over what 3' better of using a yard.

And mast stepping by yourself. . .

[Bluebeard]

Daniel,

having read up on the Vega, I understand your choice. I also understand your desire to bring the boat home to you. I have done it myself and will do again.

The only thing I would emphasise is be careful with your choice of tow vehicle. Out of curiosity I have done some research on Transits. There are only two current models that will take a 3.5 tonne trailer, and the smaller of the two is at GTM with the van empty. That leaves the L470 which has the lowest axle ratio of the range.
I suspect that similar vans from other manufacturers are the same. And remember that these vans don't have a low range gearbox or 4 wheel drive.

And one other thing, unless you are going to crane her in, you need a launching trolley. If you use the road trailer, sooner or later you will have problems. It is one or the scars on my back and see Pete7's reply.

Ian

[john61ct]

Relevant thread including some lighter suggestions
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ts-193354.html

[Adelie]

Dufour T7

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3111

Plenty of room, light enough to meet stated towing capacity even with trailer and gear. 250 built so there should be a reasonable number available in Europe. I believe one was sailed across the Atlantic to the US so reasonably well built.