Hello: I'm new to this forum and soon to the F16 and Blade community. I've just sent in a deposit on a boat to Vector Works. I'll be getting a trailer locally, Orange County, CA, so need to know what I should be looking for. Do any of you have a good photo of a well thought out trailer for a Blade? What is the distance between the centerlines on the hulls? Where is best place to support the hulls? I home built my first fiberglass cat in 1965 and have owned a B-Lion, Tornado and presently a Shark. I'm looking forward to a boat I can actually beach launch by myself! John, Shark US 421, soon to be Blade #?
My trailer was a hobie 16 trailer. I removed all rollers and I have two rear home made cradles, and the two front cradles are Vector Works Special Edition blade cradles. Make sure you ask for the special edition cradles. Tell Matt, I sent you. lol <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
My trailer was a hobie 16 trailer. I removed all rollers and I have two rear home made cradles, and the two front cradles are Vector Works Special Edition blade cradles. Make sure you ask for the special edition cradles. Tell Matt, I sent you. lol <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Hi Guys,
I recommend what is quoted above. On my trailer I have the normal roller on the back and then a removable cradle that slips over it to support the hull once the boat is on the trailer. Rollers alone can gradualy wear the hull at the point that they touch over time.
I have cradles in the front as well and rollers at the back. I too have removable cradles that fit on top of the rollers at the back. I fit these before I start driving. So my boat rests on 4 cradles. Many aussies prefer to not have the hulls be touched by the trailer and suspend the boat on its beams. I finally decided to go with the cradle option and my hulls are surviving very well indeed. I have a timber hulled F16. Spread the load out well and you'll be fine.
The rollers make it very easy for a singlehanded sailor to load and unload the boat (singlehandedly)
Wouter
Wouter Hijink Formula 16 NED 243 (one-off; homebuild) The Netherlands
Tiger Mike, I would do the same if I supported my boat on its hulls when on the trailer. There is not much weight on the rear when on the trailer still I wouldn' let them sit on rollers while trailering. At the very least I'd slip some pads between the hulls and rollers.
Regards, Phill
I know that the voices in my head aint real, but they have some pretty good ideas. There is no such thing as a quick fix and I've never had free lunch!
Welcome John, please put your location pin on ...
[Re: JJD]
#76236 05/29/0604:01 AM05/29/0604:01 AM
Here ya' go! Blame Robi for the bad pix. He insulted my camera as an antique and it hasn't worked right since! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Trailer Dimensions:
overall length- 240" cross bar width- 96" rear bar set forward- 15" front bar set forward of rear bar-68 1/2"
Re: Blade Trailer Layout
[Re: JJD]
#76238 05/29/0609:36 AM05/29/0609:36 AM
Here's a rubbish photo of my trailer. I use 4 cradles, no rollers as I'm not a big fan of putting rounded hulls onto a flat roller, and anyway, it's pretty easy to get the boat onto cradles single-handed.
I don't normally put it on the trailer backwards. It's something I tried once, but it's easier to get on and off the other way round.
Cradles are from Vectorworks. The only thing to watch out for is to make sure that you have enough clearance below the dolphin striker if you're going to put a box on the trailer. As you can see, I've got some extra 50mm x 50mm on the arms to lift it up a bit, and to give a wider base to bolt the cradles to.
The arms are adjustable and can be removed which makes it less hassle to tow without the boat or leave in a crowded car park. Also, it adds a little more greyness to the legally grey area of towing 2.5m wide loads in the UK (as in, "the trailer's only 2m wide, officer, it's just that the load is overhanging" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )
Jim Boyer and Greg Goodall strongly recommend trailering the Taipans (and their Flyers and Auscats) supported by the beams not the hulls. To that end I made up a front beam support for my Taipan that bolts to a "standard" cat trailer and a rear mast support that also supports the boat by the rear beam (there is very little load on the rear beam, as you can imagine most of the weight centers very close to the "front" beam- which is actually very close to the middle of the boat). I'll try to attach a photo.
Here's hopefully a photo of the rear support- note the cat wheels are used as the rear "cradles" when loading the boat (actually I place the wheels under the rear beam and tie off, lift the boat by one bow and wheel to the trailer- load the bows on the front cradles then walk to back of boat, lift boat and wheels and slide boat up until the front beam touches it's "cradles" and set the wheels down in their "cradles", then go forward and lift boat slightly and pull forward so front beam supports boat. Then place rear mast step which also traps wheels, untie wheels and use a line to lace rear beam up to mast stand. Mast is lowered over the front into telescoping mast stand utilizing mainsheet blocks to assist in lowering.)