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I've just started sailing and I bought small boat, and '81 Vagabond 14 fiberglass sailing dingy. It will spend a lot of time on the trailer going to and from the water since I live almost an hour from my preferred lake and three hours from the coast. So far I've trailered the boat with the 20' mast strapped to the boat and sticking WAY off the back dangling a red flag. I'm not real happy with this because people are idiots and someone could easily hit the mast - and that would drive it right through the back window of my SUV and into the occupants. I'm deciding what type of mast crutches to design and mount to the trailer.
Most designs I've seen put the mast high up on the tongue end of the trailer so it extends above the tow vehicle. Since I have an SUV with a cargo rack on the roof (that I use), I don't think that will work. By the time I get the mast high enough to clear everything it will be tall enough that some of the bridges on the local backroads could be an issue. That means I will have to low mount the mast at the front of the boat and raise the overhanging rear to clear most vehicular traffic, which I think is do-able.
Most of the DIY aft mast crutch designs I've seen simply hang off the gudgeons. Since my boat is small and fiberglass and the rear will carry a fair amount of the mast weight, I have real concerns about mounting it that way.
What do you guys think about the gudgeon mount in this case? Seen any designs that would work but mount differently?
Any good pictures of aft crutches you can share?
I did some searching on the site but didn't find anything that directly addressed this issue.
Here's the rig in question:
Most designs I've seen put the mast high up on the tongue end of the trailer so it extends above the tow vehicle. Since I have an SUV with a cargo rack on the roof (that I use), I don't think that will work. By the time I get the mast high enough to clear everything it will be tall enough that some of the bridges on the local backroads could be an issue. That means I will have to low mount the mast at the front of the boat and raise the overhanging rear to clear most vehicular traffic, which I think is do-able.
Most of the DIY aft mast crutch designs I've seen simply hang off the gudgeons. Since my boat is small and fiberglass and the rear will carry a fair amount of the mast weight, I have real concerns about mounting it that way.
What do you guys think about the gudgeon mount in this case? Seen any designs that would work but mount differently?
Any good pictures of aft crutches you can share?
I did some searching on the site but didn't find anything that directly addressed this issue.
Here's the rig in question:
