Trailerable Sailboats ? Convenient and Inexpensive

One of the best ways to enjoy sailing at low cost is to get a trailerable sailboat ? something you can cruise around in, or race, yet not have to worry about the wear and tear a boat suffers on a mooring. You will also save quite a lot of money in mooring fees.

If you have enough room to keep a sailboat of, 20-27 feet at home, you should consider a trailerable sailboat, as this will save you a lot of money. Of course, you need a car that is capable of towing, launching and retrieving your boat, and you need a good trailer. For a trailerable sailboat you also need a launching slip nearby.

I recommend a 4x4 if you are going to launch the boat every time you sail, although if the slipway is well maintained you might get away with a conventional car, but front-wheel drive is not recommended because when the trailer is loaded and you are on a slope, a lot of weight is transferred to the back of the car, leaving insufficient weight over the driving wheels to get good traction on a slippery surface.

With a trailerable sailboat you will save a lot of money, so long as you don''t leave it in the water fror more than a month at a time. In other words, it is fine to use your trailerable sailboat for an extended cruising holiday, but it is cheapest to trail it to and from home every time you sail.

This way, you do not have to antifoul the hull, there is no danger of osmosis, and much of the maintenance needed on a boat kept in the water will not be needed. Also, of course, you will not have to pay any marina fees.

The alternative is to keep your trailerable sailboat in the water for the season, and keep her at home during the winter, where it is easy to carry out maintenance.

A lift keel is ideal for a trailerable sailboat, and you will usually find that the trailer is designed to fit whatever boat you buy. Trimarans or narrow catamarans are also suitable as trailerable sailboats because they have little draft, and so have a low center of gravity.

The make of boat depends where you live, but here are some suitable trailerable sailboats:

Alberg 22
Balboas
Cape Cutter 19
Com-Pac 19
Cornish Crabber 17
Corribee
Enseneda 20
Hartley 16
MacGregor 19 and 26
Montgomery 15 and 17
Ranger 26
Red Fox 200
Sportina Swift 18.

Good sailing!

John Hartley, who runs Sail Boat started sailing sailing dinghies, but after a day in a keelboat decided that was his type of sailing boat. He has been sailing cruising sailboats for 16 years, first a Bermudan ketch and latterly a junk rig schooner.