dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
I get some great stuff in my inbox
trailer sailing a Centaur
- Thread starter dylanwinter
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interloper
Well-Known Member
^^ You have to worry about the contour of the ramp below the water. There is a ramp in my area that ends abruptly with a vertical drop. If the trailer wheels go past the drop, there is trouble. I've been told that such a condition commonly forms at ramps due to "power loading". Some powerboat owners bring the bow up to the rear end of the trailer and then gun the engine to push the boat up onto the trailer. This has the effect of hydraulically blasting away any loose material just past the end of the ramp.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
I fear that the pickup may lose out to a Micra in mpg.
TC Tuckton
Well-Known Member
Impressive! Are the trailer wheels set inboard of the keels? Would this make it more (or less) legal on UK roads?
DownWest
Well-Known Member
As a trailer sailor who reckons to rig/launch in 5 or so minutes, I wonder how long it takes him.
Dom't know about the legality of the trailer, stability might be a problem.
Dom't know about the legality of the trailer, stability might be a problem.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Stability - in roll, anyway - depends on the ratio between track width and cog height above the road. Putting the wheels inboard reduces track but also allows the boat to be substantially lower. My wild guess is that it's more stable than a conventional trailer. Dunno about legality: there are all sorts of rules about dimensions and overhangs and all sorts of exceptions based on the load.
aquaplane
Well-Known Member
They have different rules in the US of A.
I could probably tow my Centaur with my car, so long as there were no hills and I didn't want to stop sharpish, but it's not sensible or legal here.
With a suitable trailer and mods to the Disco brakes I could probably tow the Centaur legally here, but I wouldn't want to.
That would be a good yard trailer, not much more water than the 3' draught needed to float the boat off.
I could probably tow my Centaur with my car, so long as there were no hills and I didn't want to stop sharpish, but it's not sensible or legal here.
With a suitable trailer and mods to the Disco brakes I could probably tow the Centaur legally here, but I wouldn't want to.
That would be a good yard trailer, not much more water than the 3' draught needed to float the boat off.
mtb
Well-Known Member
can you email the guy d about how he raises the mast
I cant see any clues
I cant see any clues
Hambler Rambler
Well-Known Member
I get some great stuff in my inbox
Is that lake as small as it looks??!
Searush
Well-Known Member
Probably not, that is likely to just be one small sheltered inlet. It is America after all where everything is likely to be bigger.
As said elsewhere, that would make a great yard trailer with an old tractor to push/ pull it into the channel at low water & leave it there to float off on the incoming tide.
DownWest
Well-Known Member
I think your wild guess might be a bit out. I suspect he is not far from his launching spot and, as said, in USA. Looked at Centaur specs and width is marginal and weight + trailer would probably be outside UK limits. Talking about real weight (as checked by police) rather than the listed.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I'd estimate that the hull is a foot lower than it would be on a conventional trailer, putting the cog at (say) three feet above ground instead of four. With wheels outside the keels they would be about 8 feet apart and with wheels inside about 56' apart. OK, you may have a point. 3'/6' against 4'/8' ... there won't be much in it either way.
Do you have a handy link to the official trailer width limits? The normal length limit for a trailer pulled by a car is 7m, but glider trailers longer than that are fine (mine was 9.5m long) as long as they are built to carry a "single indivisible load", Likewise, I think you can go over the normal 2.55m width limit if necessary, as long as you don't get to the width that needs a police escort.
interloper
Well-Known Member
In the United States, the maximum vehicle size varies by state. The following are the limits in Virginia without a special permit < http://www.dmv.state.va.us/general/#hauling.asp >. The beam of a Westerly Centaur is just 1" under the limit for width.
Height: 13 feet 6 inches
Width: 8 feet 6 inches
Length (Motorized Vehicles other than Buses or Motor Homes): 40 feet
Length (Trailers): 48 feet (53-foot trailers are allowed on interstate system)
Length (Vehicle/Trailer Combination): 65 feet, Overhang: 4 feet - Rear 3 feet - Front
Weight (Single Axle): 20,000 pounds
Weight (Tandem Axle): 34,000 pounds
Height: 13 feet 6 inches
Width: 8 feet 6 inches
Length (Motorized Vehicles other than Buses or Motor Homes): 40 feet
Length (Trailers): 48 feet (53-foot trailers are allowed on interstate system)
Length (Vehicle/Trailer Combination): 65 feet, Overhang: 4 feet - Rear 3 feet - Front
Weight (Single Axle): 20,000 pounds
Weight (Tandem Axle): 34,000 pounds
DownWest
Well-Known Member
The trailer must not be over 2.55mt wide, but there is an overhang allowance. The Centaur, at 2.85mt would be inside this, I think... Had a quick look, but just the basic regs. There is a site that covers it, just can't bring it to mind. Not the Gov one.
Interesting from Interloper. 34000 lbs Hummm.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
That's the standard limit, yes, but I think there may be exceptions to it, as there are for length. I haven't been able to find the regulations, though - just the standard rules.
Seajet
...
Another rule I've heard of the police enforcing is that the trailer wheels must have mudguards.
At the Western end of the M27 as it enters the New Forest the police sit and wait in their Mad Max ' Interceptors ' and pounce on trailed boats or sometimes caravans as easy targets in an attempt to justify their dubious existence and funding - they have stated ' trailed boats have got away with flouting the laws for too long ' - then it apparently requires several interceptors to escort the highly dangerous criminal trailed boat to a weighbridge...
At the Western end of the M27 as it enters the New Forest the police sit and wait in their Mad Max ' Interceptors ' and pounce on trailed boats or sometimes caravans as easy targets in an attempt to justify their dubious existence and funding - they have stated ' trailed boats have got away with flouting the laws for too long ' - then it apparently requires several interceptors to escort the highly dangerous criminal trailed boat to a weighbridge...
Kylora
Well-Known Member
I don't have time to look for back up at the moment, but I always believed that a commercial vehicle, ie transit / sprinter etc van could tow a slightly wider load than a car. I'm sure that you would find info on caravan sites. I thought that a car could tow 8ft 2in wide. Talking UK regs.
See here - https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/car-towing-weight-and-width-limits
From here - http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120606172804/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-information-sheets/american-caravan-trailer-brakes-and-coupling.pdf
Ash
See here - https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/car-towing-weight-and-width-limits
From here - http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120606172804/http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-information-sheets/american-caravan-trailer-brakes-and-coupling.pdf
Ash
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JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Thanks. That, however, is just another statement of the standard limits. As I wrote before, glider trailers are often (a) substantially more than 7 metres long and (b) perfectly legal to tow behind a car. Though there was a time when a distressing number of traffic cops didn't know that, or claimed not to know that, and the British Gliding Association had to get a letter from the DoT which we could carry around and wave at Mr Plod if necessary.
But I digress. I did once find a copy of the full rules, which made that exemption clear (you can't have a general purpose trailer more than 7 metres long but you can have a specialist one) and my memory is that there was a similar option for width as well.
Seajet
...
It's the weight one has to consider, especially with secondhand or operational boats,which may have taken up water in the laminate or at least the bilges - and are probably full of junk like anchors & fuel / water tanks which didn't figure in the brochures...
