What is the biggest power boat I can legally tow.

[Jim@sea]

I am now looking for a Cabin Cruiser 22 - 26ft, preferably diesel, which I can tow. I have just sold a 1986, 6.6m (21ft) boat with an inboard diesel which weighed 1.6 Tonnes. 1600kilo.
The legal weight which my car will tow is 3.5 Tonnes 3500K, I understand I can buy a trailer which weighs 1000K so will carry 2500K, taking me to the Legal Towing Weight.
Can anyone suggest any boats to buy which weigh around the 2500K.
I would perfer a boat under 10 years old, if you have one for sale please send me a private message.

 

[neale]

A 3.5t rated trailer will probably weigh in around 800-900kgs, leaving around 2600 kgs for the boat. What you need to be aware of though is that manufacture quoted weights are usually much less than the reality. They are often quoted as dry (no fuel or water) and with no options. Then there is the kit you will put on as well.

You'll also need to keep within the width restrictions, which I think have recently changed. It used to be a 9'6" wide boat allowed on a 7'6" wide trailer but I understand it is now less.

Edit: Just check and the new rules are trailer 8'4" and it looks like no side overhang allowed, so 8'4" max boat width too.

So what you need os the biggest boat that has a beam of 8'4" and weighs, fully loaded, less than 2600kgs

I know of a perfect boat. The hull itself is over 10 years old but the rest of it is much newer! 200 hours on a new Volvo diesel installed in 2006. It even comes with a bow thruster and diesel heating.

I guess it all depends on budget. Sealine 240, S23, S25 is a nice boat that will meet requirements at around £25K upwards for a diesel version. Just be aware though that some boats of this size have a 130hp AD31 fitted and it might be a little underpowered. KAD32 at 170hp or D3 at 160 or 190hp would be the best engine IMO.

 

[PCUK]

My Bramber 3500KG trailer weighs 500Kg allowing up to 3000Kg boat weight.
Presume you have a Land Rover or similar to pull that weight.

 

[Racingfrank7]

Sealine s24 are in there as well and quite a few for sale come with a trailer, they are cheaper than s23 / s25 will b just in 10 year old bracket 25ish foot long can't remember beam think its 7 something and a lot come with a Volvo kad32.
Hope this helps

 

[neale]

My Bramber 3500KG trailer weighs 500Kg allowing up to 3000Kg boat weight.
Presume you have a Land Rover or similar to pull that weight.

That surprised me as my 3000 kg capacity trailer weighs 650kgs. Sure enough Bramber quote those figures on their website. De Graaff quote 650kgs for a 3.5t trailer, SBS quote 650kgs and 700kgs depending upon model. Boattrailers quote 700kgs as do South Coast Boat Trailers. RM quote 650kgs

I guess different trailer manufacturers build them differently. Mine must be built like a brick outhouse!

So it does indeed look like you can go up to 2.8 to 3 ton depending upon trailer manufacturer.

 

[Racingfrank7]

That surprised me as my 3000 kg capacity trailer weighs 650kgs. Sure enough Bramber quote those figures on their website. De Graaff quote 650kgs for a 3.5t trailer, SBS quote 650kgs and 700kgs depending upon model. Boattrailers quote 700kgs as do South Coast Boat Trailers. RM quote 650kgs

I guess different trailer manufacturers build them differently. Mine must be built like a brick outhouse!

So it does indeed look like you can go up to 2.8 to 3 ton depending upon trailer manufacturer.

I have vechicle that could pull that, but would u really want to ?!

 

[Nautorius]

I am now looking for a Cabin Cruiser 22 - 26ft, preferably diesel, which I can tow. I have just sold a 1986, 6.6m (21ft) boat with an inboard diesel which weighed 1.6 Tonnes. 1600kilo.
The legal weight which my car will tow is 3.5 Tonnes 3500K, I understand I can buy a trailer which weighs 1000K so will carry 2500K, taking me to the Legal Towing Weight.
Can anyone suggest any boats to buy which weigh around the 2500K.
I would perfer a boat under 10 years old, if you have one for sale please send me a private message.

Ok,

My Brother towed a FourWinns 268...but it was overweight. I think the Bayliner 2655 is the biggest legal (weight) boat you can tow. I have towed many 24ft boats, even down to Spain. Try and keep the boat and trailer as light as possible as towing heavy kit is exhausting! I had a Chaparral 240 which I towed all over, great boat.

Cheers

Paul

 

[neale]

I have vechicle that could pull that, but would u really want to ?!

I've pulled mine around a bit. It's only around 3000kgs but to be honest it's no hassle at all. On the road I find there is little difference towing 1500kg as towing 3000kgs as long as the car is well matched to the tow.

 

[Alistairr]

That surprised me as my 3000 kg capacity trailer weighs 650kgs.

Is that 3000kg payload, or Gross weight, giving you a payload of 2350kgs?

Al.

 

[neale]

Is that 3000kg payload, or Gross weight, giving you a payload of 2350kgs?

Al.

That is correct.

 

[landlockedpirate]

As mentioned above we have always towed our boats. I'm not sure about the new regs which limit width to 8'4", if its true, then I would guess 99% of trailer boats over 21ft are illegal ! The only exception will be the Sealine S23/24/25 which is under.

My understanding is that 8'6" is still ok ( source M6 motorway copper who pulls a huge Mastercraft.) If that's true, then weight becomes your limiting factor. No idea of budget but here's a few legal ones to start with:

Sealine S23/24/25
Four Winns 248
Chapparal 240
Searay 240
Maxum 2400
Regal 2460
Bayliner 2455 ( the 2655 may be ok depending on year and spec).
Jeanneau 805

It's a start, I will add more when I remember some !

 

[neale]

As mentioned above we have always towed our boats. I'm not sure about the new regs which limit width to 8'4", if its true, then I would guess 99% of trailer boats over 21ft are illegal ! The only exception will be the Sealine S23/24/25 which is under.

My understanding is that 8'6" is still ok ( source M6 motorway copper who pulls a huge Mastercraft.) If that's true, then weight becomes your limiting factor. No idea of budget but here's a few legal ones to start with:

Sealine S23/24/25
Four Winns 248
Chapparal 240
Searay 240
Maxum 2400
Regal 2460
Bayliner 2455 ( the 2655 may be ok depending on year and spec).
Jeanneau 805

It's a start, I will add more when I remember some !

As mentioned, the new limit is def for the trailer itself and I can no longer find anything that details acceptable overhangs on each side. Unless someone else can find it, I suggest you limit your search to boats with a beam of 2.55m (8'4") or less. Lots of 25ft boats will be within this. My Bayliner feels quite beamy but is still only 8'2". The 2655 came in two versions, one narrow beam, which is effectively the same boat as my 2455 but newer, and one wide beam which at 9'6" used to be able to be towed, but it looks like no longer. There was also a 2555 which was wide beam.

Most of those listed above will be ok width wise but many of them will have a petrol engine as standard and a diesel version will need hunting down.

 

[Cookee]

Here you go - with outboards it would be well under and it's OK with the diesels if we don't put any fuel in it!

The Tuareg can take up to 3500kg but we will be using a mini artic from now on as we can fuel it up and take spares with us as well.

 

[neale]

Racing boats are reasonably light for their length. I'm not sure this is what the OP had in mind

 

[Cookee]

Racing boats are reasonably light for their length. I'm not sure this is what the OP had in mind

The lighter outboard version is a leisure boat, I only posted the photos of the race boat up for an example, my fault for not making that clear!

This is what it will look like when we make one!

 

[neale]

That looks good

 

[DavidJ]

Sealine s24 are in there as well and quite a few for sale come with a trailer, they are cheaper than s23 / s25 will b just in 10 year old bracket 25ish foot long can't remember beam think its 7 something and a lot come with a Volvo kad32.
Hope this helps

We towed an S24 down to the Med for a number of years behind a 2.8 Pajero and a 3.1 Vauxhall Monterey (Izuzu Trooper) both great pullers.
Although lots of fun, we had loads of problems with punctures with our Snipe Trailor. We loaded the car rather than the trailer but I think trailer manufacturers design on the limit especially for wheel size. I'd say go for the largest wheel size you can even though it will increase weight.

 

[mlines]

The width limit for any towing vehicle is 2.55 metres. The length limit is 7 metres for a trailer towed by a vehicle weighing up to 3.5 tonnes (3,500 kilograms).

 

[GrahamHR]

Not the whole story I believe; the maximum length excludes the drawbar, which is basically the triangular bit at the front. Which on a boat trailer can be very long !

Graham

 

[landlockedpirate]

I tow a lot so I thought I would do a little research on the new regulations.

The maximum length of a trailer is 7m, this excludes the draw bar and a 1m rear overhang (Maximum Total length of Trailer & Towing Vehicle is 18m).

Maximum Width is now 2.55m (Up from 2.3m), you can also have an overhang of 305mm either side to a maximum width of 2.9m.

Maximum Weight is still 3500kg.

So maximum boat length 35' ? maximum width 9' 6" Maximum weight about 2600kg (allowing 900kg for trailer and gear) but to keep safe I would stay below 2400kg dry weight.

So all of the boats that I mentioned above are fully legal. Its a good job really because there are very few single engined sports cruisers that are less than 8'6". (Bayliner did make a 2651 between 1990-1991 which was 8'2" but all the 2655 and 265 since have been either 8'6" standard or 9'6" widebody)

Sources:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/CaravansTrailersCommercialVehicles/DG_192285


http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/law/dimensions.aspx