westernman
Well-known member
Better to use an electric winch such as the one in post #8.In the event that you buy something heavish, like the Wayfarer, for launch and recovery why not use about 10-12 metres of rope connecting the trailer to your tow-hitch. I have seen this done many times in Baltimore and other places in West Cork.
Reverse the car+trailer halfway down the slipway,lower your jockeywheel, unhitch then lower the trailer down the slope until the boat is in the water. Having secured the boat to the side of the slipway, drive the car+rope+trailer up onto horizontal ground, where the trailer can be re-hitched without too much effort. Recovery is the reverse of this procedure except that you have to reverse down the slope until the trailer o the end of the rope is immersed sufficiently to float the boat on . The beauty of this method is that your car's wheels and brakes do not get immersed, and you can keep it above the slippery coating of seaweed that is to be found on slipways in the early part of the season which has previously caused cars to slide into the sea, sometimes with tragic consequences.
I would attach the winch itself to the trailer and the end of the wire to the tow hitch on the car (rather than the other way around) so you can better control the trailer and see what is happening.