Good axle ratios—the difference between the pinion and the ring gears in the transmission—for towing can range from 3. My three-quarter ton Chevy has a 4. Still, we sometimes have to gear down when climbing some of the notorious mountain passes for which the Rocky Mountains and West Coast are notorious.
Of course, as with any vehicle, we get considerably worse gas mileage when towing—about 12mpg on the highway, compared to mpg unloaded. Be aware that any used vehicle with a towing package may have been used hard, especially if it has an automatic transmission and more than , miles on the odometer. The engine may still be quite serviceable, but most automatic transmissions are likely to wear out somewhere around this time.
Admittedly, I once met a truck dealer who trailered his Ericson 25 from Alberta, Canada, to the Sea of Cortez with a half-ton Chevy, but he understood the mysteries of under-powered towing vehicles and could probably have launched his boat with a golf cart. Most of us are not as gifted. We used to pull our Balboa 26 with a half-ton Chevy , but we blew the transmission twice—once at the summit of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington and once near the infamous Cajon Pass in California.
After the second failure, we overhauled the transmission, sold the rig and replaced it with the three-quarter ton beast we use today. You may want to go all out and buy a diesel-powered truck. These are capable of towing much heavier loads, although this is rarely a matter of concern when hauling sailboats since they are typically much lighter than powerboats. On the downside, maintaining a diesel truck may be more complicated.
While they are more durable, repairs can be very expensive, especially if an injector should go bad. If your boat is quite heavy, I recommend using a towing vehicle with a long wheelbase.
It will track more smoothly and require fewer corrections. The trade-off is that you may have difficulty making lane changes and sharp turns. The road weight of your towing vehicle should also match or exceed the weight of your boat and trailer.
That way there is less chance the trailer will take control of the towing vehicle. Regularly inspect the tires on your trailer and tow vehicle for any kind of damage. If the gross vehicle weight rating of the trailer and its load exceeds 3,lb, trailer brakes are required by law.
To avoid undue sway and backlash, make sure all of your tires including the spare are properly inflated to the recommended psi indicated on the sidewall. The tires on your towing vehicle and all the tires on the trailer should be of the same brand and type. It seemed perfect for our boat trailer, but I never checked the load limit. On checking the remnants I found it was a two-ply lightweight tire with a load capacity of about lb!
Look carefully at the sidewalls and treads of the tires on both the towing vehicle and trailer. Many trailer tires need to be replaced long before the tread is worn out, due to UV damage suffered by sidewalls when a trailer is stored outside. Tires on a towing vehicle are also invariably subjected to innumerable potholes and unexpected curbs and bumps, which can crack the casings.
Be sure to regularly check for any blemishes in the sidewalls and treads of tires on both the towing vehicle and trailer. I was about a mile away from the ramp at the time, and looking in the rearview mirror I immediately noticed Betty Jane, my Mystic 20 Catboat, was now riding a good deal However, it recently occurred to me Following a taco dinner and brief nap at anchor, the Swan 59 Icebear set sail from Falmouth, Antigua, weighing anchor at about 20 minutes to midnight.
The first passage of the season had begun. After all, how can you pick a highlight on, say, Day 2? I broke that rule, though, on a recent sail through the Exumas, the chain of Bahamian islands that extends in a southeasterly direction Brown completed the What has got to be one of the coolest, if not the coolest race of the year is set to kickoff this weekend—on Halloween no less.
Known as the Globe 5. The race In this episode of Point of SAIL, sponsored by West System Epoxy, Principal Editor Adam Cort talks with Sam Holmes, a solo-sailor who has not only logged some serious bluewater miles but brought thousands of fans along for the ride through his many disarmingly unpretentious Real Estate.
Digital Boat Show. Cruisers 30FTFT. Cruisers Under 30FT. Racing Boats. Dinghies and Daysailers. Boater's University. Marine Services. Best Boats. Boat Reviews. Nonetheless, it would help if you took the time to prepare for the test. Right after you pass the test, the endorsement will be marked on your license. You will also need an interstate endorsement on your DMV license for towing between states. This endorsement requires you to be at least 21 years old.
Another popular question on boating forums is…. As I write these words I can already foresee the comments about what we did growing up. Yes, we used to do stuff like this all the time as a kid, and yes we lived to tell about it later most of us did anyway — but times have changed! Can you ride in a boat being towed?
You cannot ride in anything that is being trailered, boats included. The only exempt cases from this rule include emergencies or when the towing is being done very slowly, below 15mph. In that case, the passenger has to be more than 18 years old. Generally, this rule helps to prevent imminent danger to personal safety when towing a boat. The biggest safety threats are road navigation and weather.
In clear cases, you are required to buckle up when riding in a boat that is being towed. Towing a boat requires expert driving skills. When you see it done by pros, you might be tempted to think that it is an easy undertaking. It is not. The trailer behind you will be swaying when you change lanes. Hauling is much trickier with wider boats than with small ones.
By now you know that towing a boat is not simple like driving a truck with a boat and trailer connected to the back. Trailering a boat brings up many considerations before you hit the road with a boat in tow.
Remember these restrictions are for your safety, the safety of others on the road and the safety of your investment. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Nunc eget lorem dolor sed viverra ipsum nunc.
Arcu bibendum at varius vel pharetra vel turpis nunc eget. Purus in mollis nunc sed id. Malesuada pellentesque elit eget gravida cum sociis. Tellus elementum sagittis vitae et…. It was a blessing in shallow water for stability but proved a bit tedious when launching and retrieving. My manual said to let the boat sit immediately after launching to allow the ballast tank to fill, but more than once I damn near capsized the boat when climbing aboard to check to see if it was filled.
Air embolisms could stop the filing process and without a full ballast tank that boat had the stability of a sippy cup on a glass topped coffee table. Hauling was an issue as well. While my little ford ranger had no problem hauling the boat with a dry ballast tank, barnacles and seaweed could clog the ballast drain and make it a real challenge to haul. I never had to dive under to dislodge any seafood samples, but I always was afraid I would have to some day, and had to wait until it was completely drained before trying to traverse the entire boat ramp when towing with my ranger.
My GMC however could haul that thing with flat tires dragging a danforth though so if you do decide to trailer sail, make sure you get yourself a decent truck to do your towing. Other than the ballast and mast, launching and hauling is relatively similar to any other boat. Depending on how deep your draft is, a sailboat can be a bit more difficult on shallow ramps.
Lots of trailer sailer trailers come with extensions to allow you to drop the trailer even deeper into the water for shallow ramps and deeper draft vessels. The big thing is to ensure that whatever trailer you use, that it works nicely with your hull.
And most trailerable sailboats in my experience are a package deal with the trailer so I would recommend you go with the manufacturer when selecting a trailer and don't go shopping for a better deal on a trailer.
While a trailerable sailboat is free of many of the pitfalls of boating like docking, yard fees and mast stepping, it is still a boat. Engine troubles, bottom paint and on board storage are all challenges. It's just a boat. With a trailer sailer, you can work on your motor next to your garage in your driveway and do all the fresh water flushes your garden hose can handle. You can also skip bottom painting if you dry sail your boat, which is to say never leave it in the water for more than several hours.
And for storage, the only saving grace is you can load your boat in your driveway and save the three dozen trips between your boat and the car at the boat ramp. You're also gonna have to register your trailer sailer and your trailer, if you decide to ever leave your driveway. You will have to ensure that you have a compliant septic system which is oftentimes a bucket or for the high brow sailors, a chemical toilet on trailer boats. Most trailer sailers don't have a holding tank due to the fact that you don't want to have to drive down the road with a full holding tank.
And many also lack a usable size water tank as well for the same reason. So flares, noisemakers and PFDs are all legally required as well. We have a great article on the top types of trailerable sailboats. But there are literally all kinds both new and used. One of my favorite is the corsair pulse, a boat being manufactured in Vietnam that is a trailerable catamaran. I envisioned taking this boat up to the northern reaches of Canada and sailing in the Arctic with it.
With Covid 19, folks are looking for all sorts of ways to get away and not have to worry about exposure. What better way is there to get away and socially distance than taking your trailer sailer to the lake or to a remote beach for the weekend?
You can pick up hunter
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