Sailboats that can be trailered easily.

[Irsikm2016]

Hi,

New to the forum here and sailing in general. Was curious to know what the opinions are on what boats are easy to trailer and move from lake to lake in the US. Looking for something to cruise around in to learn sailing and be able to travel to different places.

Any suggestions??

Thanks

[tuffr2]

IMHO only day sailors are designed to be trailered. The sailboat mast always becomes an issue plus all the rigging.

Do you want a cabin? If so you need a 22' - 24' boat. Now you have more rigging to deal with.

A boat that I kinda like is the Hunter Edge Motor Sailor that they built to compete with the MacGregor. These two boats have a large outboard motor when you do not want to use the sails. Maybe the MacGregor would work for you.

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[Chinook92]

San Juan 21.

Good solid little boats, I've had a few fixed keels and done some stupid fun things in them out in the San Juan's of Washington state, but the swing keel variant is easy to launch at any boat ramp, and you can tow it with a four banger, 400lbs swing keel, sleeps 4, tows and gets put away like a small boat, but can teach you enough about how appreciate and handle something a little bigger. I don't want to say if you sail a San Juan you can handle a big boat, but it will give you insight and confidence to move onto the next step up, however, you might just fall in love with the boat and never sell it. San Juan 21s are something a beginner and a salty old Popeye character can both appreciate, and I've never paid more than 1000$ for one ready to go, of course I fix cheap boats up for a hobby and flip them after I get bored, so, I always get me cheap, but I can't say anything bad about a SJ21

[bletso]

We had a Catalina 25 with swing keel we trailered a lot. We even sailed her from Key Largo to Bimini. It had a pop up cabin. Great little boat. We did need help from time to time getting up the ramp. We trailered her with an Astro Van.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Welcome to CF Irsikm

Start with your tow vehicle and work backwards if you want something smaller than you can tow...

Daysail or overnight?
How many people?

Lotsa questions to answer first...

[denverd0n]

"Easy" is a very subjective term. What one person considers "easy" another might find so daunting that they wouldn't even try it.

If you REALLY want "easy" then you need to stick to small, non-ballasted daysailers. They are easy to tow, easy to setup, easy to launch, easy to retrieve, and easy to secure for the trip home. Any step up from that becomes progressively less easy, and then the only question is just how far do you want to step up?

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Irsikm2016

Hi,

New to the forum here and sailing in general. Was curious to know what the opinions are on what boats are easy to trailer and move from lake to lake in the US. Looking for something to cruise around in to learn sailing and be able to travel to different places.

Any suggestions??

Thanks

A sailboat might be easy to trailer, but my slip at my marina faces a busy public boat ramp and the few trailered sailboats that are launched there seem to take a long time to set up and tear down. Perhaps an hour or so. I saw one pulled out of the water without taking the mast down and the mast hit a tree limb and came down on its own.

[Irsikm2016]

Thank you for the responses.

I would prefer one with a cabin for sure. My main goal is to be able to travel around, cruise around and teach friends n family sailing and myself more about sailing.

I am located in the central part of the US so it's important to be able to trailer easily and move around. I have a diesel pickup so weight not an issue. I would prefer in the 20-26' range.

Thank you again for the suggestions.

[ohdrinkboy]

You didn't mention your budget. For me I would go with a keel/centerboard. Some ramps are not very deep and this helps. Lots of boats out there. It's all about condition.

[TurninTurtle]

Doing some trailer-sailing (with a notably smaller boat)

I pick my ramp to NOT have to deal with overhead utility lines or tress with the mast up. You can do that... very few lakes large enough to bother sailing on will just have one ramp.

I pull off out of the way and step the mast letting other boaters go around and launch while I set the boat up.
When I get used to setting this one up solo I might get it down to 20 minutes... Haven't had this boat long.
Some larger but still trailer-able boats might not be able to be rigged solo in under an hour. Anything that takes longer (when you know what you are doing) I wouldn't consider a good trailer sailer candidate.

I use the winch on the trailer to aid in getting the mast raised and held in place as I connect the fore-stay. Without that, I don't see it being safe for a single person to step this mast. One slip and the mast would crash down on the transom.

Get the thing off the trailer, guided to a safe spot and tied up in about 2 minutes, then park the truck.

And I reverse the procedure pulling it out of the water.

If you are stepping/unstepping the mast as you get the boat off and on the trailer while the truck is on the ramp... you'll have a lot of very mad people if its a busy ramp.

****************

Its not like the power boats where you can unhitch a few tie-downs, back up and the boat is ready to go in under 5 minutes... with potentially LESS time needed to get it back on the trailer and be ready to drive on down the freeway.

Even a little Sunfish is going to take longer to launch and recover than a 12 ft Jon boat with 5 hp outboard.

[Divevac]

If you are more performance oriented, have a good look at the Stiletto 27. Requires a little more setup and teardown but offers comfort, stability, performance and comfortable accommodations. https://sailstiletto.com/wildjibe/

[LeeV]

Most fun: any of the trailerable trimarans (Corair or Farrier boats) 24-31'

Solid monohull: Catalina 22 is a good learning size and inexpensive for used.

Enjoy!

[Snowdog2]

I have two trailerable boats, one I just purchased Saturday and have not set up yet.

Factors to consider are:
*Do you want a cuddy?
*How many people on board at once?
*Stability (for a learning boat) (wide beam is good - good balast is also steadying)
*How long you want to take setting up the mast and taking it down (if you want to put it in the same day as you take it out you need a day sailor otherwise you will spend half your time doing set up and break down unless you have a storage place where the mast can stay up.
*Trailering (what weight can you tow without overheating your transmission or exceeding your tow ratings?
Cost: Older is cheaper, but there is always risk in older boats.
* launching - How deep a draft will work for you without putting your truck in the water (you can build extensions to the tongue)

Our first boat (and I still have it) is a 1984 O'Day 19. It has a cuddy that sleeps two and otherwise is good storage. It is not the Rhodes model (though they are probably fine as well). It has a wide beam (7'9", and a centerboard keel without weight with very little draft (12"+/-). It is very comfortable and stable. One thing we noticed when we bought it was how much less it shifted side to side than other boats when we stepped onto it. The O'Day also has a large cockpit (6.5' I think that allows up to 6 people (a little tight when you tack, but still workable. This was my first boat ever and it is great for learning and day trips.

We are slow at setting it up and it can take us an hour and half each way. Not a problem for us since we have a mooring for the summer. If I needed to set up and break down every day I would choose something much smaller.

If you have a boat like the O'day, you will need to work out a system for raising and lowering the mast, like a bridle that will keep the mast from blowing sideways when raising and lowering. A smaller boat will not need that as the mast will be shorter and lighter.

My other boat is a 1977 Chrysler 26 and will not be put in unless we will take a week or longer sail. Takes too long to mast and demast. Our mooring does not have enough water at low tide for this boat to be left (draft 2.25'). It is a swing keel with a solid iron swing keel that should not be sitting on the hard without proper supports. The O'day will sit on dry ground during low tides and it is not a problem (shorter keel, an it is fiberglass, so it sits flatter and does not rust.

Good luck.

[DMCantor]

We have a "Baby Beneteau," which has been available for many years with different names. Its currently marketed as a First 20. Quite comfortable accommodations for a boat its size, sails like a dream, and very easy to trailer. With some preparation, its quite easy to step the mast. I would guess less than 30 minutes trailer to casting off, once you get some practice in. Highly recommended.

[tuffr2]

The OP has a diesel truck so he can tow any boat that fits on a trailer.

The bad news is he lives in the center of the country. That is good news and a great place to live/work but not so good if you want a sailboat. I lived and worked in a great place away from the coast. I joined the local sailing club at the local lake. But to be honest power boats out numbered sailboats 1000 - 1. The boats in this club were 24' - 27' boats that were taken out of the water at the end of the season.

If you want a sailboat and not the typical inland runabout setting up and taking down the mast should be your #1 consideration.

Even 30 minutes sounds like a long time to be on the hot parking lot setting up your boat. I could have my runabout ready in 2 minutes.

Also on some inland lakes there may not be much wind. I always liked running my power boat on glass like water which there was always plenty of.

Another thing, man made inland lakes are usually in the mountains. Lots of 'protection' from the wind. I am talking about lakes like Dale Hollow, Lake Cumberland, Center Hill Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock. These makes are all deep and scenic.

Natural lakes tend to be shallow and tricky to navigate.

For sure sailing on an inland lake which will be narrow, windy and long you will learn to tack.

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