Towing an F-27

[pelagicdream]

Hello, I'm thinking of buying an f-27 with a view to towing it short distances (under 30km). Does any one know the weight empty including trailer (twin axle). I have a 2011 Dodge caraven which is supposed to haul up to 3600lbs with a tranny cooler etc.

Also what time is it taking people to rig and lauch. I'm hearing 30 mins min to over one hour.

[cal40john]

http://www.brownz.com/F27_Sailing_Manual.pdf

TRAILERING
The total towing weight, including dual axle trailer, is approximately 41001bs, not including any personal gear,
stores etc. Check that the vehicle is approved, and equipped as recommended by its manufacturer for towing this
weight, and the capacity of the towing hitch is suitable

[pelagicdream]

Thank you. I rather suspected as much, i need a different vehicle or different boat.

[campuscab]

I have overloaded the towing capacity on so many vehicles it's not funny. I always paid. Motor mounts, transmission, suspension the list goes on. Having a CAB company we have abused caravans. I have pulled 4,000 lbs cars. Ripped all three mounts.
My trailer is tandem and weighs 1,350 empty.
I have a cargo van now to tow with and stopped breaking stuff. Mini vans do not like to be abused.


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[Fiveslide]

I too, have seriously exceeded the towing capacity of a vehicle. The automatic transmission failed at around 70,000 miles, way to early.

I say get the F-27 and trade the Caravan.

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[pelagicdream]

Trading the van is an expensive option. I was thinking of looking at the f-24 instead. can't think of another trailer sailer that will be fun to sail

[Fiveslide]

Is the f-24 within your vehicles capabilities?

If you are only trailering the boat short distances. Find an old, simple, cheap pickup truck. I mean really old. The $1,000-$2,000 you put up to buy an old pickup will be less than the hit you would take trading the Caravan. I gave $1,400 for my tow vehicle, with a capacity of 5000 lbs, it has over 200,000 miles on it but gets my boats to the water. Only repairs I've made on it were new bushings and ball joints in the front end, which I installed myself.

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[pelagicdream]

f-24 yes is within the tow limits. I think it is too small though. buying an old pick/cargo van is an option alternatively i am tginking of renting a truck twice a year to haul it out. But then if i'm paying for a slip i might wait till i can affprd a bigger more comfortable boat.

[Fiveslide]

There are deals out there on vehicles. A friend of mine bought a f350 crew cab for $1000 at a construction equipment auction, it was a non-runner with 300k miles. He bought it sight unseen because it could not be driven across the auction floor. Put a fuel pump on it in the parking lot and drives the crap out of it.

I'm just putting ideas in your head so you don't pass up on a good boat.

Check estate sale inventories in your area for vehicles. Lots of deals to be had at those as well.

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[Stumble]

A 5000lbs towing capacity is a pretty standard class 3 hitch. Almost any F-150 ever made fits this bill no matter how beat up.

As for set up... I don't have a 27, we have a Corsair 750, but it's the same folding system and mast raising system. From road ready to going sailing takes about an hour. Including bending on the sails and getting the ice chest loaded.

[Boatguy30]

They pulled the first boat from San Diego to Annapolis with an Astro van.

[kbudd]

We were towing an F-27 from St Louis to Chicago for the Mac race around 15 tears ago with a ford explorer. A car in front of us cut us off and we jackknifed and ended up rolling the whole mess on I-55. Ended up upside down in the middle of the interstate. Totaled a perfectly good boat and truck. Be careful.

[Cuttyhunk]

I owned an F-24 for a few years. I towed it with a Toyota Tacoma pickup. The guy I bought it from used a Jeep Cherokee, and had used a big old station wagon before that (he liked the Cherokee a lot better for this). I have a sienna minivan now and wouldn't be comfortable towing the F-24 or our current Eastern 22 fishing boat with it.

I think you'd be wanting a different vehicle even with the F-24, so get something that can tow 6000 lbs, meaning it's actually meant to be able to tow a boat without breaking down prematurely.

And it took me an hour or more to rig/derig, but I only dealt with this twice a year. If I did it more often, I probably would have gotten better at it.

[Sand crab]

I will disagree. He only wants to tow it 30 KM or 18.6 miles. The weight is only 500 lbs more than the rating. Just do it. Everything will be fine. If he was travelling across country then I would be on the other side.

[Cuttyhunk]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

I will disagree. He only wants to tow it 30 KM or 18.6 miles. The weight is only 500 lbs more than the rating. Just do it. Everything will be fine. If he was travelling across country then I would be on the other side.

Yes, but how often is he going to be towing it those 18 miles...if he's dry sailing it, he can do it with the minivan short term, but won't be happy doing it regularly. Knowing a different vehicle (likely with much worse mpg) might be in his future if he gets this boat is worthwhile information. I bought my F-24 a year before I bought the truck to haul it. The PO launched it for me the first year and I paid a dealer to haul it and give me pointers on de-rigging it the first fall. I bought the truck the following March.

I sold my F-24 for two reasons: the rig/derig process always scared the {*}#^# out of me, and it's a real performance boat and I generally have very inexperienced crew. That also scared the }##%^ out of me. Wicked fun boat, though.