Cruising a Trailer Sailer

[Neeves]

I think that might depend on which country you are located in. Here in Australia many still live in homes on separate parcels that can accomodate caravans or trailerable yachts.
For two seasons ( pre Covid lockdowns) I attended quite a number of races at my closest yacht club (as racing highlights quirks and attributes and teaches control) which was about a hours drive from my home where my yacht often sat on my front lawn as it was being modified for extended cruising.
At other times it was on the hard standing at that club.
Upon arrival at a boat ramp, rig and launch takes from 30 minutes to one hour depending on distractions!
This is assisted by a significant number of manufacturer installed systems the main one being an excellent insitu mast raising system allowing one person to rig and raise the 9 metre significant mast in about 10 minutes.
It also allows one person to lower the mast whilst underway for bridges and powerlines.
The Genoa remains rigged at all times and when trailering strapped to the top of the mast on a solid furler under a zip off cover and the main remains packed into its reefing bag still attached to the boom.
It sits very low on its trailer and the rear swim platform and opening stern allow very easy access for boarding whilst on trailer.
Having commenced sailing trailer sailers over 50 years ago and having sailed, owned and raced a huge variety I can state that despite its size it is easier to launch, rig and retrieve than very many.
Having said all this mine is now specifically developed for extended cruising and the design isn’t really suitable for around the cans racing in mixed company in my view.
However a days outing with friends and or family is entirely feasible as I proved on multiple occasions taking my daughter and her friends sailing sometimes combined with tubing and skiing.
Size can be dealt with effectively by systems and design.
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Front lawn at previous home with previous inboard version Imexus
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Mast raising system beside our our new home with our newer outboard version

That's not a lawn (as understood in the UK).

We share common ideals but are separated by a common language (George Bernard Shaw referring to the UK and US)



Jonathan

 

[Grith]

That's not a lawn (as understood in the UK).

We share common ideals but are separated by a common language (George Bernard Shaw referring to the UK and US)



Jonathan

lawn as defined by the Cambridge dictionary or would you prefer me to copy the Oxford dictionary definition.

 

[Grith]

Whilst shown here parked adjacent to my new front lawn on the curb side I could fit my 28 foot yacht on it if needed.
Due to moving to a little known corner of South Australia I however managed to secure both my waterfront retirement home ( travelling base) with pontoon jetty and the vacant waterfront block next door ( to park my yacht and perhaps build again in future) for less than half the sale price of my previous modest home in rural NSW.

Somewhere/ nowhere my partner calls it!

Yes that is a great public boat ramp across the canal that can be reached mast up on the trailer about 350 metres from home due to us having underground power here.
I have even reviewed building a compressed air rope gun as I think I might be able to fire a rope from the ramp to my pontoon at home!

 

[Grith]

Headed off on our massive trek towing nearly 3.4 ton of heavily equipped and loaded trailerable cruising yacht up through the middle of the Australian desert and then over to the Great Barrier Reef for several months cruising. Bemused locals in the remote opal mining town of Coober Pedy (where many live underground) wondered what an enormous yacht was doing out there so far from navigable water.

 

[Wansworth]

Headed off on our massive trek towing nearly 3.4 ton of heavily equipped and loaded trailerable cruising yacht up through the middle of the Australian desert and then over to the Great Barrier Reef for several months cruising. Bemused locals in the remote opal mining town of Coober Pedy (where many live underground) wondered what an enormous yacht was doing out there so far from navigable water. View attachment 159505

How is GW affecting Australia,I saw one famous river was drying out?……Why do they live underground,the hat?

 

[Grith]

How is GW affecting Australia,I saw one famous river was drying out?……Why do they live underground,the hat?

They have stopped calling it Global
Warming and are now calling it Climate Change as many places are now not warming!
The aboriginals walked overland to Australia at one time as the sea levels were so low and you can find ancient sea floors hundreds of meters above current sea levels as as there have been much warmer periods during earths history. The climate has always changed and carbon dioxide is essential for life on earth.
Pollution, over use of our planets limited resources and overpopulation are serious world problems however.
We live directly on the “drying” Murray River which actually suffers from over extraction for large scale industrial agricultural use for inappropriate crops like rice and cotton but this river has just had its biggest flood in 50 years inundating thousands of homes but not ours due to it being built above the recent history (1956) flood level peak.
Currently we are traversing the Middle of Australia a very dry and barren desert which is the greenest it’s been for around 40 years due to recent heavy rains.
Many of the inhabitants of Opal mining town Coober Pedy live underground to escape the excessive heat in summer and desert cold at night in winter. The opal mining process and type of rock they mine in often leaves perfect cavities for conversion into underground homes and an extension for a spare room may even pay for itself with a tiny opal seam find!
We are towing our trailerable cruising yacht through the middle of Australia to very distant cruising areas at the classic 50knots upwind rather than spend weeks at sea to reach the same destinations the more usual way!

 

[Neeves]

Some time ago, we had a caravan, and we met a couple in a caravan park who were towing a large MoBo. They were living in the MoBo, as a caravan, as they too headed north. Its not unuusual. Australia is quite a large island. You can fly from Sydney, north or west for 5 hours and still fly over Australia.

Jonathan

Neat looking rig

 

[dac31]

Headed off on our massive trek towing nearly 3.4 ton of heavily equipped and loaded trailerable cruising yacht up through the middle of the Australian desert and then over to the Great Barrier Reef for several months cruising. Bemused locals in the remote opal mining town of Coober Pedy (where many live underground) wondered what an enormous yacht was doing out there so far from navigable water. View attachment 159505

That RV looks like a tug pulling a passenger jet! Nice rig!

 

[Grith]

That RV looks like a tug pulling a passenger jet! Nice rig!

It feels a bit like that at times as well. Not from a stability point of view as it’s a 4.5 ton tow vehicle with dual rear wheels towing only about 3.4 ton on trailer yacht with cab controlled electro hydraulic brakes on the yacht trailer.
It is however only a 3 litre 4 cylinder turbo truck tuned diesel engine coping with nearly an 8 ton load!
This airbag tow hitch significantly smooths the truck/trailer shock transmission.

 

[Grith]

We are now about to launch at Airlie Beach in North Queensland and go out to cruise the Great Barrier Reef for several months after a several thousand kilometre tow from Southern Australia.
Beats a month or so bashing around the coast to get here in a conventional yacht in my view.
Our 28 foot trailerable powersailer is an unusual crossover craft with a bias towards sailing but with a genuine motoring capability as well. It has both a main petrol outboard of 115hp with an auxiliary torqeedo electric outboard which does double duty as our dingy outboard as well.
The torqeedo has a remote throttle control mounted on the wheel binnacle and a conventional tiller control for the dingy use.
It powers the yacht quietly and adequately in no/low wind conditions and is also used as a light upwind wind sailing assistant to counter some of my yachts inherent hull form constraints to pointing higher in these conditions.
Off the breeze in light airs we run a monster asymmetrical spinnaker with retrieval sock system.
My 730 litre water ballast system now has an electric pump out ability allowing a variety of options. In lighter airs we sail without water ballast due to now having heavy low mounted additional freshwater tanks, batteries and stores to provide this stability instead. This recovers the design waterline and adds speed despite the huge long range cruising fit out.

 

[Wansworth]

We are now about to launch at Airlie Beach in North Queensland and go out to cruise the Great Barrier Reef for several months after a several thousand kilometre tow from Southern Australia.
Beats a month or so bashing around the coast to get here in a conventional yacht in my view.
Our 28 foot trailerable powersailer is an unusual crossover craft with a bias towards sailing but with a genuine motoring capability as well. It has both a main petrol outboard of 115hp with an auxiliary torqeedo electric outboard which does double duty as our dingy outboard as well.
The torqeedo has a remote throttle control mounted on the wheel binnacle and a conventional tiller control for the dingy use.
It powers the yacht quietly and adequately in no/low wind conditions and is also used as a light upwind wind sailing assistant to counter some of my yachts inherent hull form constraints to pointing higher in these conditions.
Off the breeze in light airs we run a monster asymmetrical spinnaker with retrieval sock system.
My 730 litre water ballast system now has an electric pump out ability allowing a variety of options. In lighter airs we sail without water ballast due to now having heavy low mounted additional freshwater tanks, batteries and stores to provide this stability instead. This recovers the design waterline and adds speed despite the huge long range cruising fit out.

I have seen videos of similar craft sailing in quite rough weather

 

[Grith]

I have seen videos of similar craft sailing in quite rough weather

Any links?

 

[Wansworth]

Any links?

Sorry no,I think it was the American version

 

[Grith]

You probably mean the American Mac’s then which are a lighter, smaller, built to a budget and slightly less sailing oriented earlier version of this relatively small and newish class of crossover style yacht.
With limited exceptions like the one Jimmy Buffett had built most are in trailerable format needing to be light enough to get up on the plane under engine.
We don’t use ours that way very often but it’s a nice option to have in your armoury at times

 

[Grith]

We are about to go out into The Whitsundays and Barrier Reef beyond for 2/3 months cruising having towed up here right through central Australia in about 5 days. It would have been a challenging few months to get here from South Australia by sea even in a much larger yacht.

 

[Grith]

We have been out in The Whitsundays cruising our 28 foot trailer sailer for over two weeks now. Despite the idyllic picture below taken at Whitehaven Beach we have generally had strong winds (25knots plus often) and fairly constant rain.
It’s supposed to be the dry season here in Queensland (Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next) according to their promotions!
Due in part perhaps the Strong Winds warnings and forecast ( and delivered ) rain I think we are by far the smallest yacht out here at present.
Still despite hosting an old 6 foot 2 friend from Perth for a week and then the two of us at times having to hide in the yacht from the wind and rain it has been very enjoyable.
We are going to be out here in the Islands and Reef for around another two months and with the extensive liveaboard style cruising fitout our relatively small yacht is still very comfortable for a couple.
It was a bit tight with Bryan on board but we coped and another couple might be a long weekend only limit we feel!
We have talked to a number of yachties who have sailed their yachts here from further south (but not as far as we towed from South Australia) and the general concedes was it was hard work getting here. Some have chosen even to leave their yachts here and fly back and forward from Sydney rather than sail.
Several were envious of our ability to get here in under a week and our ability to access so many diverse sailing/cruising destinations denied their larger yachts either by time required to get there or the physical constraints of the size of their yachts.
Whilst definitely not for everyone and especially those who love their ocean passages a very large yet still easily trailerable cruising yacht is a viable option in my view.

 

[Wansworth]

We have been out in The Whitsundays cruising our 28 foot trailer sailer for over two weeks now. Despite the idyllic picture below taken at Whitehaven Beach we have generally had strong winds (25knots plus often) and fairly constant rain.
It’s supposed to be the dry season here in Queensland (Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next) according to their promotions!
Due in part perhaps the Strong Winds warnings and forecast ( and delivered ) rain I think we are by far the smallest yacht out here at present.
Still despite hosting an old 6 foot 2 friend from Perth for a week and then the two of us at times having to hide in the yacht from the wind and rain it has been very enjoyable.
We are going to be out here in the Islands and Reef for around another two months and with the extensive liveaboard style cruising fitout our relatively small yacht is still very comfortable for a couple.
It was a bit tight with Bryan on board but we coped and another couple might be a long weekend only limit we feel!
We have talked to a number of yachties who have sailed their yachts here from further south (but not as far as we towed from South Australia) and the general concedes was it was hard work getting here. Some have chosen even to leave their yachts here and fly back and forward from Sydney rather than sail.
Several were envious of our ability to get here in under a week and our ability to access so many diverse sailing/cruising destinations denied their larger yachts either by time required to get there or the physical constraints of the size of their yachts.
Whilst definitely not for everyone and especially those who love their ocean passages a very large yet still easily trailerable cruising yacht is a viable option in my view.
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)In southern europe it has been exceptionally hot whilst in the Uk it’s been wet and windy,of course here in Iberia we haveOrcas to liven up the party

 

[Grith]

As usual our 28 foot trailerable minnow is the closest in and cheapest boat in the anchorage out here in The Whitsundays in Queensland Australia.
Still we are now nearly four weeks without going in for resupply and have been most places the big yachts go (and some they cannot) except the outer reef to date.

 

[Grith]

Super moonrise over our trailerable yacht in the middle of Hardy Lagoon on the outer Barrier reef off the Whitsundays. 2.5 hours at 12 knots under motor to get out there and 8 hours under asymmetrical spinnaker to return. 3 days snorkelling and living on the outer reef was spectacular. Few trailerable yachts ever get out this far I feel.

 

[Grith]

We have completed our over 8 weeks cruising out in The Whitsundays on our trailer sailer and it has been a resounding success.
I derigged and packed up our Imexus ready for loading onto its trailer whilst in a berth at Coral Sea Marina Airlie Beach and we then just motored around to the marina boat ramp the following morning loaded the yacht on trailer and immediately drove away.
By that night we had already covered hundreds of miles south and pulled into a free campsite provided by a remote outback pub and had a great cheap steak dinner with drinks.
Classic 50knots to windward trailer sailer cruising.
The actual wind was blowing 25-30 knots from the south and seas were reported to be 2-2.5 metres making pretty unpleasant and slow windward sailing which likely no one was choosing to do.
It did cost us some extra fuel bashing our high windage rig direct into a gale but we were still achieving about 22litres per 100klms whilst travelling at about 90-95kph.
I don’t even want to think about how challenging, costly and time consuming sailing/motoring from this Far North Eastern Australia cruising ground to our waterfront home on The Murray River in Southern Eastern South Australia would be. Let’s just say few would even contemplate doing it and few yachts would be even capable of doing it.