Trailerable Seaworthy Boats ?

[vmohome]

I bought a Macgregor 26m about a year ago and don't feel that it is safe enough for rough conditions.

Now looking at the Seaward 32rk and with retractable lead bulb keel down as low as 6 1/2 feet I think that will be a pretty stiff boat. Seems to be well built.

[Cheechako]

I'm very impressed with those boats. Wish I had one!

[DaveyJones]

Hi

I have recently started looking at Flicka's and Dana's. Wondering as well about the trailer, truck details.

I don't expect to drop it in the water and pick it back up in a day or weekend. I'm thinking more or less about hauling it to the coast and dropping it for a week or two, month or two, possibly using a lift.

Kind of wondering about the weight of these trailers loaded.

I see some posts referring to 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks. I'm certain that 1/2 ton is basically out of the question. I'm not aware of any made in the last 35 years or so. I had an f100 in the 80's and trust me it's not for towing. 3/4 ton depends on the truck. The 150's with crew cabs I have looked at have a payload of 1200 to 1400 lbs on the door sticker. Factor in fuel, cargo, persons, etc it too is not a very good choice.

1 1/4 ton or f250 like the one I have will have a payload near 2500 lbs. Figure fuel and people, cargo, etc. I pull a fifth wheel that's 11,000 and a travel trailer that's 9,000.

I'm pretty sure it would be okay, but I need to know the tongue weight and gvwr of the trailer. If anyone has one it would be great to know what percent of the total weight of the loaded trailer falls on the tongue.

Normally this would be 15%.

If the whole thing weighs 7,000 lbs I would expect the tongue to be around 1000 lbs. Of course you would need to factor in stores, etc. They could be on the trailer. If things are loaded to the front it could really put a lot more weight on the truck.

Regards

[Cheechako]

Most trailers are adjustable for tongue weight. You move the axle (s) forward or back. You need decent tongue weight, but it doesnt have to be huge. My Contessa 26 I pulled with an F250 Diesel. It always scared me because the boat wasnt shallow draft and sat high on the dual axle trailer. But it pulled fine.
That boat was theoretically 5400#... with gear say 6000 #. Trailer probably 1600+# so rounding up probably 8000# total.
Trailer Weight Estimates
Use this chart to approximate the weight of a typical boat trailer. These figures are based on a comparison of manufactured trailers and not on any specific Glen-L trailer model.
Trailer No. Trailer Trailer Weight
Capacity Axles Length Width
1000 lbs. 1 15'4" 62" 295 lbs.
1500 lbs. 1 15'4" 62" 305 lbs.
2000 lbs. 1 17'2" 88" 492 lbs.
2450 lbs. 1 18'2" 96" 522 lbs.
2999 lbs. 1 18'2" 96" 625 lbs.
3500 lbs. 1 19'8" 96" 677 lbs.
5000 lbs. 1 20'8" 96" 933 lbs.
7000 lbs. 1 27'9" 96" 1512 lbs.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Depending on the boat, & how far you're talking about. Sometimes it's cheaper to keep the boat in a steel, or stout wooden cradle on land, & then hire someone with the appropriate sized flat bed trailer to haul the whole package for you. That way you don't wind up with huge amounts of $ tied up in a truck, plus the extra towing mod's that it would need. It means hiring a lift on both ends of the trip, but that's balanced out by peace of mind of having a trailer & tow vehicle that can easily handle multiple times the load of the vessel & cradle.

[Don C L]

Just for fun you might google St Pierre Dory.

[SailingFan]

I may catch some hell here for making the suggestion, but I would consider that the older hand laid glass boats may fall into this category of coastal/Antilles cruising ventures, especially if you keep a weather eye.

For instance, I bought my 1978 H27 in part because of how thick the hull was and how solid it was relative to other boats of more modern vintage of similar length. She is shallow draft (about 3 1/2 feet) and while not the fastest thing on the water, she is acceptable. Fixed lead keel, and pretty simple systems on board relative to today's boats.

Granted I am currently having a few issues, but they are systems issues generated because prior owners did not maintain her properly. Still, the vessel itself is structurally sound in most regards, and those minor places of problem are not difficult things to fix.

With but minor investment (relatively speaking) I believe that my vessel would fit your exploratory nature fine, and I even have standing headroom below decks, five places to sleep, and a reasonably nice ride in the waters I have taken her through to date, which were admittedly sheltered.

She has something like 7200 lbs displacement, though, and a beam of something like 9' 3" , so is no lightweight like the McGregors of similar length are. She surely is not oilcanning when I attempt to press her hull, and she is not an Igloo cooler inside either, a real plus that the Admiral insisted was a minimum quality of any vessel she was willing to spend time with me aboard. The Admiral just hated the McGregors in that regard.

Now, the Hunter I have is a displacement hull and will not plane like the newer McGregors will, but she also will not guzzle fuel like the 50 HP outboard on the McGregor does. I additionally have not heard of anyone drowning on the Hunter of my vintage because someone forgot to close off or open up the ballast flooding valve, either.

I think the point I want to make is that you have to figure out the environment you want to use the vessel in, determine what qualities in a generic vessel fit within that environment, then stack those issues into a pile and look for the vessel that best fits your list of requirements, with no eye to selecting a vessel beforehand, as so many seem to do, only to realize that the vessel selected is the wrong one for the intended purpose of use.

You also should remember that some things can be changed easily or updated to suit a purpose, but some things are so difficult to do that with that selecting a vessel with that particularly difficult challenge is a waste of resources. This is again a reason to make the stack of qualities first, then look at vessels that fit nicely within that list.

By the way, at over 9 feet wide, my sailboat is not transportable without a special permit across most US highways, and danged few of them in Florida, where I currently live. Also, though I do have a 3/4 ton HD Chevy with a 6 liter engine (gas, sadly), towing with a bumper hitch on that trailer will be incredibly expensive. I get about 10 MPG on the flat with NO loads, and oddly 15 in the mountains. I get 7 with a load, and 3 (yes, THREE) if I am using the ethanol crap they sell here while towing that heavy a load. You have to factor that into your equation when towing a heavy as hell boat or fifth wheel across open spaces, because I could not normally pass a fuel stop more than once when I moved across large areas towing a heavy load...

One of my great aspirations is selling that truck to get the last of the cruising kitty together, and departing solid ground for a while. Someone will get a heckuva deal, I think, when that happens...

[ravinracin]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, so here goes. I have a Clipper Marine 32, 1977 model. She was designed as the largest legally trailered boat at the time. I have a Ford F150 with a trailer package and rated at 8k towing capacity. My truck will tow this boat with ease. The boat has an 8' beam and 32 long. I know of another owner here who also trailers his. There are a few Clipper Marines around and are pretty cheap. I also have a 25 hp outboard in an aft well and if anything she is over powered. I have her berthed in the Sacramento delta and she can handle SF bay. I wouldn't feel confrontable taking her into the open ocean, although the bay can get pretty wild at times. I also owned a Macgreagor 26 which I also took out into SF bay. That was often scary. I also owned a Del Ray 24, (Islander Bahama 24) I kept this on a trailer and it was one rugged boat. A couple have crossed the Pacific on them. These older boats seem to be a little thicker and heavier than the newer boats, just my observation, no fact to back this up. You just have to decide, if you are going to trailer a boat, what are you willing to give up.

[Gene Neill]

We have similar needs to the OP: light, trailerable, shallow draft, seaworthy. "Affordable" was also on the list of requirements.

We chose an Albin Vega. 27' LOA, 5200 lbs displacement, 3'10" draft w/modified full keel, 5'10" headroom, diesel inboard. Her pedigree is well established with many circumnavs and countless ocean crossings, Antarctica and the Arctic, and a one-time holder of the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing. Tankage is limited with only 9 gallons of fuel and 18 gallons fresh water, but this should not be an issue when doing just a couple weeks in the Keys/Bahamas. We plan to sell the house, cut the lines, and sail her to the Windwards (and possibly beyond) in 2020.

Vegas have been out of production since 1979, so finding a good one can take a while. We purchased ours in Boston and trailered her home to Florida for refitting here in our driveway.

[SailingFan]

Originally Posted by dixiedawg

We have similar needs to the OP: light, trailerable, shallow draft, seaworthy. "Affordable" was also on the list of requirements.

We chose an Albin Vega. 27' LOA, 5200 lbs displacement, 3'10" draft w/modified full keel, 5'10" headroom, diesel inboard. Her pedigree is well established with many circumnavs and countless ocean crossings, Antarctica and the Arctic, and a one-time holder of the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing. Tankage is limited with only 9 gallons of fuel and 18 gallons fresh water, but this should not be an issue when doing just a couple weeks in the Keys/Bahamas. We plan to sell the house, cut the lines, and sail her to the Windwards (and possibly beyond) in 2020.

Vegas have been out of production since 1979, so finding a good one can take a while. We purchased ours in Boston and trailered her home to Florida for refitting here in our driveway.

The ability to move the vessel from purchase site or water berth to the driveway of a Land Ship is one darned important consideration for something you are putting into salt water environments, by the way. If I could move my vessel into my drive to work on her, life in the refit would have been entirely different, and I would have been done last year, I would have already been back in the water, and she would have been if not Bristol condition, completely modified to fit my desires in a way that would have made even me happy (and I am often hard to please).

Now, mine is a great deal heavier than many of these other 27+ foot sailboats, but with a three axle trailer she is entirely trailerable (with a permit and an escort in Florida!) but if you are going to do it very often, you really would want to consider something that is either a bit lighter and narrower, or getting some location lined up that is closer to the marina, maybe a monthly storage lot like you see lockers rented through. They usually have a fenced and locked gate area for that sort of storage, and rates are typically pretty low. There may be some issue for working on your boats in those areas, it depends on where you are of course.

Still, it allows you to dry out and to get those pesky seaborne critters to turn loose from your hull exterior when you hit them with city water under even light pressure and using a brush or piece of old carpeting as a scrubbie. I think I had 2 crabs in my bilge for over 8 months! I caught one about two months ago and tossed him/her over the side, but I have not caught the other one. That little sucker is still lurking around someplace. No smells (fortunately) so I think he is still alive, too. I wonder what he is eating? Crab poo??

[Jollyman]

Originally Posted by Zephyr's Aura

I have the MacGregor 26X. I have sailed it in the Bahamas many times. I've also sailed the Keys, the Dry Tortugas, and the Outer Banks. It's a great boat. Easy to trailor and sails well. I've had her out in 15 foot seas with no problems. On my last sail to the Bahamas we had 12 foot seas coming back to Miami even though the forcest was for 3 to 5 diminishing to 1 to 3. We never felt like we were in any danger though it make for a long day.

Best of luck,

Tim

I have heard this countless times about Macgregors' sea keeping abilities from owners who have the firsthand knowledge. Very impressive for a boat that gets its fair share of knocks. Here's evidence of the boats capability:
https://youtu.be/smlP6iXnk2s

[Jollyman]

Great boat ...missing its centerboard but maybe worth replacing at this price.

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/d/nimble-24-sailboat/6265290859.html