Transporting Lasers

GBR139438

GBR139438

New Member
Hia, as part of my GCSE resistant materials coursework i am looking into developing a device to assit transporting two boats on a standard 'combi road base'. Has anyone got any ideas on what features you would like a trailer to have and also any problems you have with transporting your boat at the moment. I have decided to look into putting two boats on one trailer as many people i know find it a pain to have two standard combi trailers and then a multiboat trailer as well. (mainly storing them when not in use).

In america i can see that 'kitty hawk' trailers seem to be popular can anyone who has seen both types give me some advice on the differences between them and a combi trailer? Or maybe someone can give me some features that they like in Kitty hawk trailers ?

Thanks in advance

Clare :D
 
can you post a picture or something about the "combi" trailer you're referring to? I'm not sure what that looks like.

My trailer started out as some kind of generic small boat trailer and was modified by the previous owners with two ~10" long carpet-covered bars that provide support under the gunwales near the rear of the boat and another support point at the front - so the boat doesn't sit on the hull at all... I think that's the biggest requirement for a Laser trailer... keep the weight on the gunwales
 
Hi thanks for your reply.
http://www.dixonbate.co.uk/Smallboat/westmersea_smallboat.asp
if you go onto this website you can clearly see the two parts that make up a combi trailer. the launching trolley (dolly) which is used to launch the boat clips into the road base via two pins.( i would try and take some photos of my own but the earliest i am going to be able to do that would be mid next week. )

Can you please post a picture of your trailer? it would be a great help to me!

thanks
Clare :D
 
GBR139438 said:
Hia, as part of my GCSE resistant materials coursework i am looking into developing a device to assit transporting two boats on a standard 'combi road base'. Has anyone got any ideas on what features you would like a trailer to have and also any problems you have with transporting your boat at the moment. I have decided to look into putting two boats on one trailer as many people i know find it a pain to have two standard combi trailers and then a multiboat trailer as well. (mainly storing them when not in use).

In america i can see that 'kitty hawk' trailers seem to be popular can anyone who has seen both types give me some advice on the differences between them and a combi trailer? Or maybe someone can give me some features that they like in Kitty hawk trailers ?

Thanks in advance

Clare :D
Click to expand...

So are you planning to design something that allows for 2 boats (each on its own dolly) to be transported on 1 trailer, or are you looking for a way to transport two boats with one dolly on a single trailer?
 
Kaiser it would be great to see a photo of your trailer, particularly the gunwhale supports added by the previous owner. I think I have the same kind of trailer as yours originally was where the boat is supported by two boards in the rear and one under bow end. In other words, the weight rests on the bottom of the hull, not the gunwhales.

I was driving the other day and hit a huge raised expansion joint and saw in the rear view mirror that the boat and trailer bounced about a foot off the ground. Ouch. I'd be curious to see how they added those supports.

Thanks!
 
At the Club we have many roadtrailers of Echterman Ltd. It si s company of my region at Germany.
We have a "4x Laser or 6x Optmist" of that Company. This Trailer was built in middle of the 70ties and still runns well. So Echtermann produces in high Quality. Below is a link to a photo of a roadtrailer for 420er-Sailboats. It includes solutions for the dollies and the spars. Easily one is able to imaigne a solution of such a trailer in lighter version for the Laser (2x) of alterative a sailing boat if one not do carry the Lasers.

http://www.echtermann-trailer.de/Bildergalerie_1/Bildgalerie_1/bildgalerie_1_15.html
and
http://www.echtermann-trailer.de/Bildgalerie_2/bildgalerie_2.html <-Scroll down to the trailer modell "113 SSL 420er Doppelstock (2 boats)"

I also search for other solutions ( = I have seen a nice idea at ebay, but just cant't find the pic's in the moment).

Good Sunday racings

LooserLu
 
Well I'm a bit embarrassed about my old shabby trailer and messy garage... but here goes:
http://tinyurl.com/4to6ku

They cut that board in the rear to the shape of the hull and then put in some kind of metal piece with carpet over it to cradle the hull - but they also had the pieces on the sides to hold it by the gunwales. The ends of the board had rotted - so I cut them off and replaced them with pieces of 2x4. When I did that, I drilled the holes for the side supports shallower - so the boat really sits on the side supports now and doesn't even touch the center cradle.

There isn't anything special about the front support (no lip or anything) - the carpet is just thick enough that the boat kind of dug its own little channel that it likes to sit in.
 
Hia everyone, thanks for your comments.

i am planning on making a device that transports with their dollies on a single road base ( i did a questionnaire at my sailing club and found that almost everyone wanted to take two dollies as well) but my device won't necessarily transport boats on their dollies, as i need to look into lots of possible solutions.

Thanks Kaiser for putting up your photos its very helpful.

Also thanks to everyone for finding those links they are going to be very useful.

One last question though, for those of you who don't transport boats on or with their dollies; is it difficult to get the boat back onto the dolly off the road trailer? and also if you don't use a dolly how do you launch your boats?

thanks again

Clare :D
 
I either launch at the boat ramp like any other trailered boat, or I just unhook the trailer and walk it into the water. It's heavier than a dolly... but it's still easily manageable with any small sailboat (though to be fair, I'm 6'1" and over 200lbs.... it might be difficult for a smaller person)
 
@Kaiser...thanks for the photos, I never thought of trying to rig something like that but I'm going to take another look as it would make me cringe less at the huge bumps in the road.
 
I have a low profile double stack trolley. Low profile was my priority when shopping around as being a short arse I can't lift the boat that high and some double stackers are far to tall for the purpose. Neither launch trolley came with the trailer but both fit easily and we can be packed and on the road very quickly.

Its not the clearest photo but only one I have of the trailer in use.
 

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My idea despite my OH protesting. Was blimin freezing that day but we didn't get sailing as the M27 was a 20mph crawl due to the weather and he decided enough was enough and turned around. Annoyingly the sun came out and it turned into a lovely afternoon for sailing.
 

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Sign that you're hardcore #6443: You TRIED to go sailing, but traffic from the ice storm stopped you :eek: :p
 
GBR139438 said:
Hia everyone, thanks for your comments.

i am planning on making a device that transports with their dollies on a single road base ( i did a questionnaire at my sailing club and found that almost everyone wanted to take two dollies as well) but my device won't necessarily transport boats on their dollies, as i need to look into lots of possible solutions.

...

thanks again

Clare :D
Click to expand...

I have thought it should be possible to have a trailer structure that is 2 A-Frames, one fore and one aft, with some sort of lip on the bottom edge that will engage the rolled edge of the laser deck/hull joint, allowing you to tip the boat (with dolly attached via bungee across the deck) up against the A frames and then strap it in place against the frames for transport.

One big question is how happy will a laser be with its weight on the edge during transport.

good luck with the project, sounds like a fun one!
 
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