Setup time for trailer trash

Daveinet · #1 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

What is it about s bigger boat that takes so long to set it up. Currently I am sailing a 17 footer. Setup takes about 45 minutes, from the time I pull into the Marina, till the time the boat is in the water. While I understand stepping the mast on a larger boat may take more playing around, especially if it is tall and heavy, but with some of the rigging I've seen for stepping the mast looks pretty simple, such that it should not add that much more time. I had a guy tell me it takes around 4 hours to set up his Mac. I just can't imagine what would take that long. What else is there to do on those larger boats that takes so long? Comparing 2 boats, same brand, one at 21' and the other 23', a comment that an owner made was the 23' you do not want to trailer sail it very often, because it takes a long time to setup.

I'm thinking of getting a bigger boat, but still trailer sailing, so I'm trying to understand what I am in for. What can be done to make the set up time reasonable. Are the things that take time, conquerable?

Has anyone built a pole/crane into their trailer to step the mast? I'm not talking a short pulling system, but a long beam/crane type setup.

PorFin · #2 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveinet

I had a guy tell me it takes around 4 hours to set up his Mac. I just can't imagine what would take that long. What else is there to do on those larger boats that takes so long?

The skills and preparation of the folks stepping the mast. Four hours? Really? Sounds like a lot of time was wasted to me...

mdbee · #3 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

Four hours??

He must be doing something wrong. Maybe he's unhooking his standing rigging?

I have a Mac26s and if I am by myself / 95degree day / taking my time, it takes about an hour to hour and a half max. (moving slow) I would think with a 17 footer you could break that 45 min mark. (if you really cared too)

Of course there are plenty of mac owners that brag about 30 minutes but I haven't seen it.

CaptKermie · #4 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

It all depends on how complicated you make it. During my first year when all systems were simple I too could be in the water from 45 minutes to an hour and with practice I may have been able to do it faster. But that was a few years back when I had a simple main and hank-on jib and little else. Today I slip and if I had to trailer, which I do once a year or so, it would take a few hours. To make it more complicated I added a roller furler, lazy jacks, reefing system, mast rotating lines, halyards aft, extra mast supports, more fenders, more lines, more electronics, more everything to make it a long drawn out process, that is why I now slip. I could never go back to trailering at this stage of the game, just too much stuff to deal with. That is why some folks take so long to get rigged and into the water.

jephotog · #5 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

Four hours seems excessive but. The bigger the boat the heavier the mast, thicker the rigging. Based on reputation my guess is the Macs rigging is relatively light weight for its size. I had a Chrysler 22 and it took a gin pole and support rigging to get it up solo. I imagine if I had a larger crew we could have muscled it up but at some point you will need a gin pole, or some mechanical advantage to get the mast up. Other possible factors are heavier displacement and deeper draft.

My guess a good average may be 2 hours for a boat over 20 feet. If you had a crew of 3 or more that did it on a regular basis you could shave some time off. However a bigger boat will probably have more other rigging to install on each launch. I would say under 20 feet is the magic number to day sail and dry sail a boat.

One other option to consider is to find a marina with ramp and dry sail storage area for the season. You can leave the mast up and mostly rigged and just drop the boat into the water and be ready to go in 30 minutes. Or keep the 17 footer or get an even smaller daysailor to complement the bigger boat. Can't have too many boats.

Sn0wman · #6 (**permalink**) 11-08-2010

We have a Hunter 22 that we trailer sail. With some practice the wife and I have it down to a pretty good drill and can easily have it ready in just shy of an hour. But, like Kermie said, our setup is fairly simple as far as rigging, and we have most of the rest of the stuff well organized. We both have our jobs to do so that we are both getting things ready without being in each others way, before and after the mast goes up. We also have a very detailed checklist so that we make sure we didn't miss anything. And we are flexible, if its especially hot, or we had a hard sail, etc. we take breaks, or verbalize the next few steps to make sure that we don't make a mistake.

Cheers

Daveinet · #7 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

SO it does look like the setup time is conquerable if it is a priority. In other words, one can choose to setup up a larger boat simple enough to keep the set up time reasonable. I assume the longer setup time is managing "optional" equipment. Seems the other half the solution is designing a mast stepping process that is easy and quick, not requiring a lot of details.

I also notice organization can help. Making a list will help me - I can stare at something, analyzing it for hours. If I don't have to think about it and can trust my list, that could save a ton of time.

danr620 · #8 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

Dave,

The guys are right about getting the time down. My Clipper Marine 21 takes about 30-45 minutes, but I have a simple rig and from the clipper group had found a few shortcuts. On the 21 the mast is best raised from the back, etc. I only have to unhook the fore stay, so with a glorified 1 x 1, I can raise the mast myself. It goes quicker and safer with one crewmember. Some sort of gin pole would be nessarry for alot of boats and I think the Hunters come with mast raising equip as an option.
There are several riggs guys have built on the net one can build when you see what you will need. So, if you look at used boats sometimes you can talk to the PO and see what they did.

good luck

Dan

Barquito · #9 (**permalink**) 11-09-2010

There are some steps you can take that will streamline set-up. It usually took us more than an hour to set up our Catalina 22. We didn't like to trailer with the rudder or OB motor on the stern, so we had to take those out of the truck and put back on the boat. Our mast raising system took a bit of set-up (however, this is a step that cannot be rushed. Having a mast from a boat even as small as a C22 free-fall would cause massive damage to the boat and possibly worse to crew). There are quick release fittings you can get to avoid ring-dings (may risk rigging being released while sailing). But, I think the biggest increase in speed came when my wife learned enough of the steps that we could both keep busy the whole time.

In the end we ended up renting a mooring. 10 minutes from turning the car off to sailing off the pin.