Cruising the US from a Trailer Sailor

[Grith]

I still prefer the tranquility and economy of sailing when that is available and have personally chosen a solution which I believe gives me the best of both worlds.
My ramp rigging time is between 30-60 minutes depending on if alone or helped and on how many interruptions from interested bystanders due to my yachts sophisticated manufacturer inbuilt mast raising/rigging systems.
My mast can be lowered by one person whilst underway in a chop due to these same systems.
My fully loaded cruising under engine speed is a similar 18 knots via a 115hp Yamaha outboard. My draft swing keel up and outboard running on shallow water mode is around 1 foot.
With both sails, a big outboard and Torqeedo electric auxiliary I never have range anxiety.
I am 6 foot 2 and can just stand at the galley but not in the enclosed shower/ toilet that my partner can stand too shower in.
My 28 foot Imexus designed in Germany and built in Poland can more than hold its own whilst sailing with other cruising yachts in most conditions.
My on trailer, fully loaded for cruising, weight is under 7000lbs and can be towed with legally and with ease by my VW SUV.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by Grith

I love the speed of tri’s personally but for trailering and cruising they have their drawbacks. They generally take quite a lot of rigging at the ramp and often need a very wide one and can be a hassle in the rigging area. The only exception are ones like dragonfly’s and if you think a Corsair is expensive they have nothing on Dragonfly prices!

We've owned two Corsair tris. Neither took a wide ramp, as you launch the boat still folded on the trailer, and unfold on the water. I could rig and raise the mast on both the 24 and the 28R by myself. Neither took a lot of rigging. IMO.

[Grith]

Originally Posted by sailjumanji

We've owned two Corsair tris. Neither took a wide ramp, as you launch the boat still folded on the trailer, and unfold on the water. I could rig and raise the mast on both the 24 and the 28R by myself. Neither took a lot of rigging. IMO.

Yes they are really great yachts but launching folded in heavy wind or waves or on very congested ramps is still problematic and the mast raising system stays on the trailer not on the yacht meaning navigating under bridges and powerlines with the very tall large masts can still pose some challenges. Great for sailing fast and light but I found they are also quickly impacted by heavier cruising loads.
No criticism just a different primary goal from mine now.🙂

[BMD21]

Grith, that boat looks remarkably like a Macgregor 26. Are they, or a reasonable facsimile, made in Poland now?


The Macgregor's had a big outboard which could push them to planing speeds, also.


I love sailing, but for USA (or Europe, too) a trailerable sailboat is limited to ~6 knts.


Boris

[Grith]

Hi Boris Whilst Roger Macgregor was the first to successfully sell large numbers of power sailers there had been previous manufacturers dabbling. He did so in part by building them down to an accessible price in a market when few were even building trailable yachts. They got a bit of a bad reputation amongst traditional sailers partly through this and partly through anti stink boat prejudice and mostly as the huge majority of purchasers were non sailers and didn’t initially didn’t understand the boats limitations as well as its capabilities.
Many very competent sailers have now taken onboard their advantages whilst there are many still in the hands of novices making a mess of sailing them.
They are still a bit too light and power boat oriented for my liking having sailed trailer sailers for over 50 years now.
The Imexus 28 whilst sharing some powersailer similarities is much bigger, more sailing oriented, much stronger construction and uses top class regular sailing equipment not custom built lightweight stuff.
The Mach 28 built here in Australia from around 2002 ,initially funded by a Macgregor dealer, was an early attempt at creating a much more serious yacht with the concept and the Odin 820 followed by the Imexus 27 and 28 is a European designed step up again addressing most of the early powersailer issues.
Not for everyone, or perhaps even many, but my yachts performance as a trailable cruiser is bringing some old skeptics around now they have seen the concept used closer to its potential.

[Grith]

Hi Boris again.🙂 We have just cruised onboard for nearly 6 weeks on the Murray River here in Australia which is perhaps similar to the US ICW. Most trailer sailer owners here in Australia recommend leaving the mast behind to do this particular trip but we found that completely unnecessary and would have been a shame. ( never mind costing heaps more petrol) . We actually sailed about 50 percent of the time mainly under just our large furling Genoa making sail handing very simple.
Wind in the wrong direction furl the Genoa in seconds start engine, wind from the side or behind, unfurl, switch engine off and cruise in silence and economy.
In our entire trip only 2 bridges (which were close together) caused us to have to partially lower the mast as the river was originally a paddle steamer route so bridges and powerlines are set above our 10.7 meter air clearance. Our friends cruising in company had a 10 meter air clearance on their Court 750 which was just auxiliary powered by the conventional 9.9hp Yamaha.
For the dedicated sailers reading here yes we only used the huge outboard in anger 3 times in the whole nearly 6 weeks. ( and a few times in fun) Twice when unusually short steep waves stood up by extremely strong winds blowing against a significant downstream river current overpowered our friends yacht and forced them into the bank ( no issue for us just throttling up to 20 percent ) and once towing a broken down powerboat we came across floating helplessly downstream back to its home base.
It’s normal use however is more oriented around overcoming swift tidal flows in Northern Australia and quick runs in either dead calm or away from brewing storm front conditions allowing passage to locations otherwise potentially too far or too challenging to safely access with light weight trailer sailers.
Previously I cruised an exceptionally light plywood 20 foot home built catamaran ( Jarcat 6) and it’s ability to run at 15 knots under outboard fully cruising loaded saw it in places completely foreign to such a small fragile craft. I also successfully crossed some significant breaking wave rivermouth bars using the available acceleration on the way out and ability to ride the rear of a breaking wave in complete control on the way back in. Like yourself now retired and older I upgraded to something far more comfortable to live onboard for extended periods.
Photo of the Jarcat is tidal dried out in Hill Inlet in the Whitsundays out in the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

[acem]

My wife and I have been trailer sailing here in the central states for around 10 years. We bought an 84 Catalina 22 and our dodge 3/4 ton never knows its back there. We can be in the water in about 30 minutes after arriving. We prefer a third person to raise the mast by hand but it could be done by one person if we got a better setup.

We've sailed many lakes, mostly in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Lake Dardanelle is where we usually go, it's close but Lake Ouachita is the best we've sailed on. We have gone to Florida a few times. We spent a week in the Florida keys, only got off the boat twice!

The Catalina 22 is big enough for gear but cramped inside. It's more like camping than crusing in many ways.

Soo, we bought a Catalina 27 and trailer. Then we figured out it's not a trailer sailor... We like the standing headroom and bathroom but it needs a marina...she is parked in the back yard while we wear out other lakes, rivers, etc with the 22.

I actually have a spare Catalina 22 that needs cleaned up if you're interested.

Thx-Ace