Trailers: Boat centering gadget

[Hartley18]

I'm sure others have experienced this problem and I'm hoping some clever bunny out there has discovered a solution:

Anyone know how to set up a boat trailer so that, when retrieving, the boat ends up in the middle of the trailer and not half off one side or other??

Most things out there are made for stinkpotters with pointy-ends up the front and wide behinds, and don't work to well on trailer-sailers with wide keels (of varying widths at the centerplate) and up-turn (tumblehome? I forget) at the transom.

I've seen fancy screw rollers that are supposed to do this, but have been told they won't work too well because the keel is too wide. ie. wider than the half-micron metal strip used on your average stinkpot.

When I asked a boat trailer specialist he had no ideas. Anyone??

[christyleigh]

I've heard them called 'goalposts' or whatever but I've used them to help with alignment. Basically a 1" steel tube sticking up about 4' on each frame end on the back of the trailer frame. I also added a 4' - 2" PVC pipe on each one just floating there to act as rollers as you gently..... Crash into them.

[heinzir]

There are lots of gadgets and gilhickeys to center a boat on a trailer. I have found over the last 30 years that the simplest is the best. I bolted a piece of pipe (heavy duty conduit) between the underside of the trailer bunk on each side and the centerboard/keel chock. The two pieces were bent to form a shallow "V" with a little flare at the top. When retreiving the boat on to the fully submerged trailer, all I have to do is make sure the centerboard is down part way. The "V" strut will guide it to the center of the trailer as the boat is winched up. Works every time, and the investment was nil.

Henry
Chiquita

[scolil]

I am planning something similar for my boat. I was thinking of doing something with wood and carpet to match my bunks.

Henry do you have a picture?

[scolil]

here is a pic I found on another site

[heinzir]

I don't have a picture of the trailer here on my work computer but here's a link to my Webshots album:

CHIQUITA pictures from sailing photos on webshots


trailer pictures from sailing photos on webshots


You can just see the "V" strut near the back of the trailer. It is not nearly as elegant as the picture you posted but gets the job done.

Henry
Chiquita

[DrB]

When I was a kid, my dad had a Catalina 22 Sailboat. We used to trailer that a lot and we had the same problem that you do. A lot of times just as we would crack the boat on to the trailer rollers, the boat would float a little off to one side or the other and the keel would be partially or fully off. We then would have to refloat her again and I would push a little while my dad pulled the car up again. Odds were 1/4 that we got it rigght the first shot..

So one day, I bolted two 2X8 to the frame of the Trailer in a slight V on each side of the keel plate on the trailer. The keel was about 6 inches wide and about 4 ft long, so the front of the V was roughly 6 inches wide and the back about 8 inches in the back. The boards were about 6 feet long, so we had about a foot in front of the keel and a foot in the back. On the insides we attached astroturf.

Centering the boat was easy now. As long as you got the leading edge of the keel in the slot, the eight inch high wedge lined it up perfectly as you cranked it on. Even if the keel was all against on of the boards, the keel only hung over the base plate by a 1/2 inch at most. If you really screwed up and the leading edge went to the outside of the board as you were cranking, the angle the keel was deflected was a easy give away that you were not lined up.

I think it cost us like $15 and a hour to make, but probaly saved us 10 minutes each time we pulled the boat out of the water.

Several people asked us what it was and once we told them, they wanted to know were they could buy one.

DrB

[Watermelon]

The keel guides work well if you have a keel that sticks out somewhat after it's been cranked up. Mine fully retracts into the cabin, so I usually have to chase after alternatives. The suggestions that I've seen by other sailors of my boat were to use bunk guides and trailer bunk posts (the ones with PVC pipe on them. Make sure to have a hole on top, or they'll fill with air and pop off when you dunk the trailer).

[heinzir]

The idea is NOT to crank the keel all the way up. Leave it down far enough to engage the guides. Mine weighs over 600 lbs and does not pose any problems. It pivots up by itself as the boat is winched forward on the trailer. I did replace the single keel chock with a roller.

After the boat is pulled up the ramp you can raise the keel the rest of the way into the slot or (preferably) just take the slack out of the cable and let the trailer chock or roller support the weight of the board to reduce strain on the cable and boat while trailering.

This should work with any swing keel boat but will obviously not work with a daggerboard that does not pivot.

[dcherau]

If you look on the Montgomery owners site, msog.org and navigate to the how to and specs page you'll find some good ideas with good clear photos for keel guides using PVC pipe. I've built one for my trailer and it works very well loading my 26 foot shoal draft boat with a 2' 8" stub keel.