Practicality of Trailering a sailboat

[Captain Bucknut]

My Two Cents.....

A few things that I made sure to consider (and a couple that the PO clued me into before adopting his baby girl).

Tow Vehicle (TV)- hauling capacity, trailer light harness, brake control (for electronic brakes on the trailer), hitch type, hitch capacity, 4WD or AWD a plus......

Trailer - lights (over/under 80" wide trailer have different state and federal requirements), light harness connection (does it match up with the TV plug), surge brakes or electronic brakes, roller loader or skid loader, tongue extension, height of boat when on the trailer over the road.......

Now the boat. I have a 1986 Catalina 25 that the PO always trailered and did so for distances up to 1000+ miles. She has a swing keel, which keeps her lower to the road and easier to launch (I have read that the wing keel version would also work).

The PO had a nice set up for raising and lowering the mast. We were able to do this in 15 minutes after the PO gave us a quick run through on the set-up.

The trailer came with a second tongue that extends an additional +/-8' to get her further into the water and is very helpful at low water levels in the late summer. When dipping her in, make sure to have a wheel chock handy in case you do loss traction.

The trailer also has electronic brakes which decreases stopping distance verse surge brakes. It also has rollers that help in getting her on and off at launch.

She is 11' 10" when moving down the road. Typical minimum clearance over the road for bridges ant want to have when d overhead wires. Anything lower will be noted. Nice to know when planning your route and that is one surprise I don't want to have when hitting a low clearance zone, pulling into the gas station or fast food drive through.

Also, I use a weight distribution hitch to help level out the TV and Trailer (as seen in the pics). Makes for a much smoother ride with less jerking around and little sway (you can add sway bars to).

Overall, she tows like a dream with my 2004 Tahoe 5.3L Flex Fuel and Tow Package from the factory.

Hope this answered some of your concerns. Good Luck in your search.

Happy Sailing.

Todd

[HayesJJ]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Up to 5-6,000lbs, the 3.5 ecoboost would be my preference. It will beat the 5.0 easily. Much better towing characteristics especially long distance and if altitude is a consideration.

The only thing I'm leary of is the 10,000lb tow rating. New the engine will be fine but I suspect they are counting on the fact that anyone towing 10,000lb on a daily basis is going to bump up to the 3/4 or 1 ton, so it's going to be the rare failure due to 10,000lb towing. (of course, I would be leary of the 5.0 in the same heavy towing situation)

I agree with you on the tow rating. You may also want to look at this discussion about Ecoboost VS 5.0: Which is More Reliable: 3.5L EcoBoost or 5.0L V8? [Reader Question] - The Fast Lane Truck

It appears that you can also tune your engine and transmission to a towing mod on the go with a help of a special programmer like this https://www.carid.com/articles/are-s...lly-super.html . It will allow to get extra power for instance when climbing over the hills. From what I read, it's very common on diesel trucks as they can produce much more extra power in a towing mode.