# Largest trailerable sailboat



## TSOJOURNER

The pace of development in the NYC metro area means that winter storage is going up in price. I have heard that storage is going to go from $37 to $50 per foot - maybe higher.

This leads me to think it is time to downsize from a c-30 to something that I can trailer.

My question is:

What is the largest size beam that can legally be taken on the road without a permit.

How complicated is it to step a mast. Can it be done with a few helpers.

how much does it usually cost to launch/retrieve a sailboat - or should I go all the way with a flaot off trailer?


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## TSOJOURNER

my suggestion to you is to start using the trailer sailor bb which can be found at www.trailersailor.com. over a period of time it will answer all your questions and you might even learn something of value.


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## paulk

I was looking to avoid storage costs but still have a big enough boat to have fun on with friends a while ago. I found several Tartan 10''s on trailers. They offer reasonable cost, decent performance, and great on-deck space & cockpit. Accomodations are minimal, but for a trailerable boat, they''re not bad. You''d need a big car, but if it''s just for winter storage, maybe you can rent a Suburban with a hitch for two days a year.


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## Jeff_H

I think that you can tow pretty big boats such as the One Design 36''s if you have the right equipment, but towing larger boats can become a real hassle requiring special permits, etc. If you are only doing it once a year, this is not a big deal, but if you plan to lanch and haul with any regularity then I would think that a practical limit is somewhere down around 25 feet. If you bought a very light boat like a Laser 28 perhaps you might stretch that a little. Two big and knowledgeable people could step the mast on my Laser 28 without a crane but it was a little risky and was much easier with three people. I thought that the comparatively tall but rig on the Laser 28 was about as large as I would want to raise without a crane. I do not think of a Catalina 30 as being very practical as a trailerable boat.

Jeff


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## capnjim02

Max beam to trailer is 8''0" I think you can go up to 10'' without a permit, however you have to have a banner designating oversize load. i also think there are a lot of variations state by state on this. C&C did build a boat in the 70''s called a "mega 30" that was specifically designed to trailer. it had a retracable bulb via elec motor. A friend had one and he loved it. however he said that if the battery is dead it takes hundreds of turns on the hand crank to raise or lower the keel. I believe that Seidelman also designed a 30 for trailering. don''t know anything about the keel though.


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## TSOJOURNER

I had a very nice trailerable Classic 26. Weighed 7000 pounds, but was a fin keeled boat, very sea worthy. They are build by the Classic Yacht Company of Chanute, Ks. The boat comes with a trailer designed specifically for the boat.

Personnally I think anything larger than 26 feet is just to difficult to haul around and launch.

Tony


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## maestro

Being in the NYC metro area..I''m assuming you sail in either NY Harbour or Western LI> Sound?? or perhaps Hudson river ( where I sail)

Have you looked into marinas north of NYC on the Hudson where you might find winter storage for a bit less than you were paying?? Nyack?? Haverstraw Marina has winter pull outs... Just a thought

Plus it might be a good way to get a weekend sailing adventure each spring and fall sailing the boat to its winter storage.

Mike C.
s/v "Maestro"


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## sail975

Have you considered folding multihulls? If your budget will allow Corsair Marine makes some very fun boats that will suit your needs well. We have a Corsair 31. 31 feet long, 22.5 foot sailing beam 8.5 foot trailering beam. The weight of the boat, gear and trailer is around 5000 lbs for our boat. The boat can be folded in a matter of minutes and getting the boat from the road to sailing can take as little as 30 minutes. The trampolines are much more comfortable and spacious than many cockpits...

Check out http://www.corsairmarine.com

They currently make a 24, 28, 31 and 36. All can be trailered easily, the 36 may require permits as its trailering beam is wider.


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## TSOJOURNER

Look at the Macgregor 26x or 26M, Both are water ballast, light trailering, with a 50hp motor. They dont sail as well as a real sailboat , nor motor as well as a real power boat, but do both reasonably well. We like our because we trailer sail and we can be on the water whenever we can..not just when the weather is nice. www.macgregor26x.com, or www.macgregor26m.com


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## Stede

Bayme, I had read somewhere that the widest beam that can be trailered without a permit is 8''6", but that''s been some time back and things may of changed. My Classic Yacht 26 has a 8''4" beam. As far as raising the stick, I''ve come up with a rather crude,but effective system to do the job using the winch on my trailer, and a A-frame made out of 1" pipe that is temporarily attached to the stanchions forward of the mast.The A-frame acts as a pivoting point to gain mechanical advantage while raising the mast with the winch. Two people can easily do the job without any heavy lifting.My boat can be launched from her trailer, but during my last trip to Key West, I had her lifted into the drink. The yard charged me $180 for the round trip.It was well worth the money not to have to deal with the hassle of launching and retrieving the boat. On the highway, I haul the boat using a Dodge Durango and have no problem safely going the speed limit, regardless what it is. Trailering a large boat isn''t for everyone, but for me it''s opened up a world of locations to sail that I might not have ever been able to do. My boat is very sea worthy and I have sailed her at many locations up and down the East coast, including a trip to the Bahamas, and Dry Tortugas.I live on the East Coast, but have been contemplating a West Coast trip for next year. I Hope this information has been some help. Good luck!


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## TSOJOURNER

I don''t know about largest legal beam size to trailer, since I expect it differs from state to state. I used to have a 1993 MacGregor 26. It had a roomy cockpit and felt roomy below deck. With the poptop, enclosed porta potti head, and queen size aft berth, it felt comfortable for the light recreational boat it was. It trailers at around 2200lbs with the trailer. When launched it takes on 1200lbs of water balast for very stable handling. For power I had an 8hp outboard that worked great. I don''t have any experience with the MacGregor motor sail models with a 50hp, but would generally stay away from those. The pure sail model I had was really enjoyable and very easy to rig. The mast weights ~38lbs, so I would muscle it up by hand. The boat does have a mast raising kit, I just never felt the need to use it.


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## TSOJOURNER

Hello Bayme,
The largest trailer you can legally pull without doing anything special, according to DOT, is 8''-6". You can go up to 10''-0, without a permit, if you put a wide load sign on the front of the truck & rear of the trailer. 
If you have a deck stepped mast, it usually not terribly hard to step the mast providing you have enough help. How much help you need depends on how much the mast weights and how you set up the blocks to help lower it. A hinged mast step or at least a bolt through the mast base will make life a lot easier.
Cost for launching a boat vary a great deal depending on were you live. It seems to me, if you live in a popular area they charge much more than they do off the beaten path. Around here there are no travel lifts so you have to rent a crane thats big enough to swing your boat out into the water far enough to allow for the keel. For a Catalina 30 that would take a 75 ton crane @ $ 165.00 per hour with four hour min. As a result everyone around here wet launches there boat.
Wet launching will require a larger vehicle as the nature of ramps deep enough to launch a sailboat are fairly steep.
Good Luck
Dirt


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