Differences between 25 or 26' trailer sailors

[Stumble]

Oh, I was curious so just looked it up. In NY the entire state except for Manhattan on surface streets) has a width allowance of 8'6". And New Jersey has a base of 8'6" as well, but some towns have restrictions down to 8' wide in historical districts.

So as long as you are on the highway, and stay off of surface streets in Manhattan and historical districts in Jersey there is nowhere in the continental US you can't tow a boat that is 8'6" wide.

[Stemci]

Owned a Catalina 25 once and left it in the water. Takes too long and is tuff for one person to raise or lower mast safely. Looking to trailer again and the Compac 23 is on my short list. A Hake/Seaward would be a nice choice as well. My tow vehicle is a Dodge 4wd dually . Also consider your ramp choices , that could effect your decision. I would expect the northeast to have plenty of water at the ramps . A little different here in Alabama.

[Snowdog2]

Greg,
Thanks again. I see I forgot to mention one more limiting factor. Where I have a mooring I am limited to 28 feet.

Steve

[Scout 30]

2000 Nimble Kodiak Pilothouse Motor Sailor Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[Snowdog2]

Hi Greg,

I looked up towing online, and I find not all sites say the same thing. It is actually quite confusing. Some states say trailer width 8', but mobile home width 8'6" But here is what I found: All of the following states have 8' width limits (except for some federal roads):
District of Columbia
Illinois (some sites say 8'6")
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
NH
NJ
NY
Texas
TN
Utah
Both sites say different things.
Source: Rules of the Road and
Trailer Dimensions - AAA Digest of Motor Laws

and this for NJ: State of New Jersey - Motor Vehicle Commission showing 8' on the state website.... unless I am confusing trailer width with width of contents.

Then there is the American Boating Association (American Boating Association:.US State Towing Laws) that lists 16 states with 8' limits.

I would like to believe the 8'6 limit, but don't know what to think. It certainly is interesting to discover how hard it is to get accurate information on this.

[Snowdog2]

Hi Scout 30,

I am new to the Nimble design and I am having trouble wrapping my head around one thing. It looks like to steer you need to be inside the cabin. I want to be outside most of the time. Am I missing something? Just curious.

Thanks,

Steve

[Stumble]

Snow,

An 18 wheeler has a maximum width of 102.36 inches. Anywhere that a standard 18 wheeler is allowed to go you can take a boat trailer. This is set by federal law and states can't vary it (interstate commerce issue). States can ask for waivers for special reasons (Manhattan comes to mind), but have to have a good reason for it.

[SoundWave]

Hi SnowDog2 -

We sailed a Mac25 for one season on the local lakes and the Neuse River, and then traded up for a Mac26S and they were both great boats.

Mac25 had an iron swing keel, so it was actually a bit heavier to trailer than the Mac26S. (I like the 26S better than the 26C because of surprise sand bars in my area)

The 26S is more tender, due to water ballast needing to raise above the sea level before it stiffens the heeling of the boat up.

We sailed the 26S across the Pamlico Sound and to Cape Lookout. It handles rough water surprisingly well, and we kept full sails up to 15 knts. wind.

I don't think you can find a bigger berth on a boat this size than that queen under the cockpit of the 26s, if overnighting and weekending is part of the plan.

One owner sailed his Mac26S to the Bahamas singlehanded. He had done a lot of planning, some modifications, and he was very experienced and was very very weather careful. And he was 65+

There is no doubt that the Nimble and the Seaward are better built boats, I just think it's hard to beat the fun/dollar that our Mac26 gave us.

When we moved up to our Morgan 382, we sold the MacGregor for more than we originally bought it. Nice.

Good luck

[wingit1]

Go to Tampa Fl. Craigslist 25' Beachcomber

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Snowdog2

Hi Scout 30,

I am new to the Nimble design and I am having trouble wrapping my head around one thing. It looks like to steer you need to be inside the cabin. I want to be outside most of the time. Am I missing something? Just curious.

Thanks,

Steve

The Arctic & Kodiak are pilothouse versions of the 24' yawl. They are all tiller steered from the cockpit plus the Arctic & Kodiak have also have steering inside the pilothouse. Pretty neat boats but not a lot around. I also recommend that you check out some catboat designs. Extreme shoal draft & quite beamy. Compac makes a neat one now.
2003 Com-Pac Horizon Cat Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[canyonbat]

Utah is 8'6" for sure. Here is the cut and paste from the code:

R909-2-4. Legal Size Vehicle Dimensions.

(1) Maximum legal vehicle dimensions, laden and un-laden, that may be operated without special permits on Utah Highways:

(a) height: 14 feet

(b) width: 8 feet 6 inches; and

(c) length: See Table 1 Legal Size Vehicle Dimensions

I suspect the other states are as well.

[canyonbat]

As to the boat, we have a Seaward 25. She weighs in at around 7500 lbs with trailer and gear so a bit outside your limits. She is not fast but she is very safe and she is where everyone comes to party. A big plus is her v-berth. We have chartered lots of boats, up to 46 ft, and have still not found one as big! Shadowfax is always the prettiest boat in the marina!

[Stumble]

Look if we are blowing past the budget numbers then it's easy. Go buy a Corsair 24 mkii. Huge amounts of lounging space, light weight, draws about six inches with the boards up, sleeps 2, and blazing fast compared to anything else. It also is a very easy boat to sail, and has massive amounts of lounging space. Taking 10 of your closest friends for a day sail is fun not crazy.

I have the newer version, and absolutely love it. But they start at an asking price of $22k. But if the budget could be stretched no question this is the boat I would end up with, or maybe a small White trimaran, or possibly a Woods cat if there was one locally and built well (mostly home builds).

Just so I know, how shallow at low tide is this morring we are talking about? There is a huge difference in 4' and dry mud.

[scareygary]

I am sure to make a ton of friends with this comment (sarcasm), but here is my version of the truth.....I wouldn't take a certain cheap boat that starts with an M if you gave it to me. Especially the ones with huge outboards on the back. They can't possibly sail worth a damn with that tiny rig. I see them all the time wallowing around on the Columbia River, looking pretty lost and out of place. Used boat places are FULL of them, and I suspect it's because they are poor sailers, and pretty poor powerboats. If you want a powerboat, go buy one, but don't try to sail it! Please consider my old man advice and stay away from the 'roomiest' boats for their lengths, with the skinniest (cheapest) standing rigging, smallest, thinnest booms and masts, and cheap, cheap cheap, thin, crappy fiberglass hardware everywhere. They are built, IMHO, to appeal to Boat Show novices who don't have any idea what a real sailboat should be, and none should ever be taken anywhere where the weather and water could get the least bit rough.

BTW: Back in the day, I trailer sailed a Windrose 18 (swing keel) for 5 years (cute, but tiny and slow), and used a Catalina 25 with swing keel for a total of 18 years (once finished 3rd in the Cat 25 Nationals). Never LOVED it, but the boat was very solid, pretty stable (if reefed early) and was pretty roomy for 25' I would NOT recommend a swinger for constant salt water, however, and they are NOT 'ocean boats' in terms of any sort of crossing where weather could turn. I trailered mine many times 250 miles to the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf islands for weeks at a time, but it LIVED in the freshwater of the Columbia River. Salt is just too hard on the lifting cable, the keel pivot, the bushings, and the lead keel itself. Would a WING keel suit you? A bit slower, but no worries about the swing business. Stay AWAY from water ballast, imho, if you want any sort of stability.... The idea is to keep water OUT of the boat, to my way of thinking!

If this seems MEAN, I'm sorry, but I'm trying to share many years of knowledge, many of it on ocean racing 30'ers of the Sparkman and Stephens design. I just want to save you some grief. Maybe consider buying a bigger pickup and get the Erickson 25 or one of the other, beefier, safer, more beautiful designs mentioned here.....I'll wait for the hate mail.....

[bcboomer]

Scarygary
Your many years of experience obviously don't include the MacGregor 26S.

They will sail pretty competitively against any monohull close in size. I agree the X and M versions are not for sailors but they have gotten lots of people started in sailing. We started with a new 26S in 1981 and it gave many days of great sailing and a few trips of a week or so. Sold it in 2013 without loosing too much and I'm sure the buyer has had lots of fun with it. They sail like a big dingy but that's OK because it helps you learn what works and what doesn't in a hurry. They are so easy to rig and launch that we could get set up and launched quicker than lots of power boats. We could easily get on the trailer in cross winds that made it a gong show for bigger power boats.
We looked at the other "trailerable" sailboats but this was the only one with accommodations that truly is trailerable.