Transporting dinghy on a van

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guyd

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Joined
24 May 2009
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208
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Minehead
bossingtonhall.co.uk
Hi

sadly had to hugely downsize due to divorce, but needed something on the water so now have a dinghy.... (from a 7M Arvor :-( )

Anyway - I am trying to work out how not to tow it, as thats a pain, behind the sprinter van / camper. Has anyone put snap davits on the step of a van, and pulled up the bow to the 3rg brakelight area? Or put a bike rack base onto the towbar and sat the transom on that, again lifting up to the top? It only weighs 37kg iirc so hardly going to strain anything weigh wise.

Ideas on a postcard please ;-)
 
Be a slightly concerned about windage on the bit projecting above the roof? (if it does)

Seen m/bike carriers about here that are platforms hinged on the rear with one or two castering wheels to take the load. So no probs reversing like a trailer. Depending on the length of the dinghy, you could carry it at 45° to reduce the height.
 
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Dinghy 3.66m long. Sprinter High top 2.82M - so 84Cm sticking up. But valid point.

Edit to add that its a high top sprinter van, not a low van - so roof mount isnt an option.
 
guyd said:
Dinghy 3.66m long. Sprinter High top 2.82M - so 84Cm sticking up. But valid point.

Edit to add that its a high top sprinter van, not a low van - so roof mount isnt an option.
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Are you counting ground clearance on that? If only 84cm and well strapped, sounds good (assuming the bottom facing forward for airflow) Could always put a fairing on a rack ahead of it.
 
My Dad should have bought a dinghy and towed it, but was scared of towing, so didn't and missed out on years of fun - and so did I. When I got a dinghy on a trailer, I found it really wasn't a big deal. OK, I'm limited to 60 on motorways but, on a hightop van, that's a good way to improve fuel consumption anyway. Because the loaded trailer was light, it never tried to take over, it just followed along and if reversing started getting awkward, I could manhandle it easily enough. Bonus: it was a combi trailer, so I could launch without soaking the bearings. ISTM, you'll want some sort of trolly to launch anyway.

The biggest issue I had was towing the empty trailer. It was low enough that at least once on the journey from Gosport back to London, someone wouldn't see it and would try and drive into its space. This was stopped by making a wooden frame that raised the lighting board a couple of feet.
 
At the risk of being stuffy, all in favour of innovation etc, but there are insurance and legal implications about the way vehicles are loaded. You might just want to make some enquires, insurance co etc, rather than be stopped and find you can't proceed without taking it off and coming back for it with a trailer.
 
Maybe i should grow up and just get a Rib trailer. I'm not scared of towing in the slightest - I have a full HGV licence! I was just thinking that such a light thing would be easy to hoist up, and three point turns would still be do-able... I do wish someone would invent a car size version of the auto hitching system on HGVs
 
I don't know how much you love your van, but I drilled a couple of holes through a hatchback's bootlid to take two scaffold poles that anchored on the front of the boot floor. It was also only for light loads (Caution: rear doors may break, steering may be lost entirely) but it raised a few laughs and was way easier to load bikes etc.
 
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