I sail an F16 and am focussing on the same issues. Haven't found a solution yet but this is where I am now when I can anybody to help me..

-1- Mild to no surf or light winds.

I Launch by laying the boat in partly in the water face to wind; take the dolly out. Than I drag the boat further in till she floats and launch. These few meters don't wear down the boat much as, afterall, she is only slighly over 100 kgs. Best is when the bows face the surf. Then I lift her up and drag her in one her sterns. I found that these wear down a lot less because the force is spread over a wide area. It is the shells and pebbles you need to look out for, not so much for the sand itself.

Landing : I just sail up and drag a foot or leg in the water to slow down. As soon as I hit the ground (all sandy where I sail) I drop of and turn the boat head to wind. Than I wait for a wave to pass and I push the boat onto the beach as far as I can while floating on the wave. Often this is enough in mind surf and mild winds. The boat will not sail away that easily.

Than I get the dolly and put it under the rear of the boat; just in fron tof the sterns. This is easier to do singlehanded. Just put the cradles agains the sterns, grap the rearbeam and lift it sligtly than with one foot pulls the dolly under the sterns. About right under the rearbeam. Than I walk to the front and lift the boat up by the spinnaker pole and push or pull it out of the inch deep water to higher ground. Again this is easy to do as she only weights slightly more than 100 kgs. A lot of time I leave it there and walk her back to the parking as well.

2. Strong winds and big surf.

Lauching : I lay her right on the edge of the surf past and shellsbanks or rought patches. Often at a location that has a passage between sandbars. I return the dolly and I just drag her over the sand for a few meters. I use as much of the waves as I can. I wait when the waterlevel is low and drag her in a few more meters with each passing waves. I cut down on wear like that.

Landing : Sometimes you just have to land her and accept the wear it causes. I still try to slow her down as much as I can right before hitting ground and I get off immediately. But apart from that just do it and put a layer of protection on each few seasons.


In my case I have Timber hulls and a paintjob. The paint is unbelievably tought and holds out to continued sandblasting very well. However it is also only 1/10ths of a milimeter thick so that is not much layer to wear down. Gelcoat is less tough but there you can wear down a few millimeters before it need repair. I therefor need to be really carefull, gelcoated baots can be handled with less care. Dragging baots a few meters is not that bad. Just never drag them when the hulls are pressed against the ground by weight or sailpower. Wearing down of the hulls is directly proportional to the distance of dragging it AND the amount of force excerted on the surface. Reduce the last as much as possible (Lifting it by the mainbeams for example) and try to minimize the first without being paranoid.

I currently looking to put a small layer of hardened epoxy on the most stressed area's just to get some thickness in the wear layer just like the gelcoat. I'm thinking about epoxy mixed with grafite. I hear of a fellow homebuilder that grinding that down is alot hearder than plain epoxy with filler. He tried the grafite to get a dark coloured seems in his timber hulls instead of the very white epoxy with filler. It was a failed experiment as the particular seemwas impossible to sand afterwards as required by the building plans. Just the thing we are looking for ?

Wouter