7 meter trailer boat too big?

[rustybarge]

If it helps, up until recently I towed a Jeanneau Merry Fisher 625 on a twin axle trailer. Boat 6.25m long and all up on trailer probably weighed about 2.5 t (boat 1180kg, 2 engines, fuel, kit, trailer approx 750kg etc). It was ok with a Double cab truck with a towing limit of 3t. I wouldn't try to dissuade you from doing this with a good 4x4 tow vehicle. However, before recently changing to a 34ft Sports Cruiser I looked long and hard at the possibility and practicality of upgrading to a larger trail boat. I had in mind a Jeanneau MF 755 or Beneteau Antares 780, both over 7m long and about 8' wide. I concluded that although it might just be legal with a towing limit of 3350 kg or 3500kg it would not really be practical or comfortable, particularly around the South West where numerous launching venues are tucked into locations that can be tricky to get to. I decided that whilst in theory it could be done, it would present some challenges and obstacles that I didn't wish to take on. Launching and recovering boats of this size is relatively straightforward most of the time, but with boats of this size and weight it wouldn't take much to go wrong to leave you with a big problem and a really bad experience. It seemed to me that it was pushing the boundary a little too far and was best avoided. I will be interested to know what you decide in due course. Hope this helps, Andrew.

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your good advice. A certain unnamed boat manufacturer told me I could tow his 1.5 ton boat + trailer, total gross wt 1.8 tons, with a small 4*4. I would have had to go out and buy a massive jeep to tow it....phew lucky escape! I think your MF 625 is prob. the biggest practicable size up from my dory. Some of the other photo's on the blog showing 7m + boats look positively suicidal.