car top or trailering

opk83

New Member
car top or trailering? which is better? I'm going 3-5 miles on residental streets. I'll be sailing solo most of the time. If i go with the trailer whats the best way to go? thanks for your imput. opk83
 
if you are by yourself, go trailer.

if you are with a friend, or there are people there to help, car top is a fine way to save the cost of having to buy a trailer.

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if you buy a trailer, get a kitty hawk or trailerX. I like Kitty Hawk the best, but the key is they support the boat on the gunwhale, NOT on the hull.

I drive my boat 5 miles or so to Laser races on the weekends with my Kitty Hawk. In the water and sailing in 20 minutes compared to whatever it would take to take the boat off the car, with someone else helping, and throw it on a dolly, etc etc.
 
Scroll down and read the similar threads listed at the bottom of this thread - Also do a search, we've had a lot of discussion on it.
 
I have a kitty hawk trailer. Very easy to load, and can also be used as a dolly.
 
Well, I tried car topping the Laser just once on a 2005 Mercury Mariner, and now have a perfect hull shaped V notch on top of the tailgate for my troubles :(. That's the first and last time I try and car top a Laser, even with two people.

MAYBE if I had a old car (non-SUV) and I wasn't too concerned about scratches and dings to the car I would consider rigging some method of dragging the boat off using pullies or something - but I would have to be desparate.

Picking up my $250 secondhand Kitty Hawk (actually Wright Brothers - it's that old) tomorrow, after fitting $100 hitch to the car tonight.
 
Car top is better for the boat than using the trailer. Trialer is better for the person, but not so great for the boat because it gets bounced around, dirty, and nicks from rocks and stuff.
 
I'm a big fan of my kitty hawk trailer, but most importantly it's all about which looks the coolest. But seriously, if you are going to use a trailer that does not support the boat under the gunwales i.e. some type of row boat trailer, I'd recommend trailering the boat upside down to not deform the hull. Plus, if you don't have a hull cover it will protect the hull from road debris.
 
If you're going long distances and have help getting the boat on/off, I would recommend cartopping. If you're only going a few miles as you describe, use a trailer. Better to spend more time sailing than loading/unloading the boat.
 
It all depends ...

1) Laser trailer needs to have really soft springs, not hard stiff springs
2) The boat should be stiff and not prone to being soft
3) Length of time you trialer the boat, distance, every other day or once a week?
4) Do you drive on rock roads, or good pavement?
5) Of course trailer needs to be made to support a laser, like on the gunnels.
6) Do you drive fast or slow?

Consider things like this when trailering.

I trialer my boat quite a bit, because I like the flexibility of going sailing on the Columbia river every now and then instead of just down at my club on the Willamette. Particularly when I get a hunkering to go down to Cascade Locks and sail in some gorge breeze. My boat goes ontop of the car when I go travelling.
 
Just to add my bit to the mix, last Friday I drove 850 miles at 70 to 80 mph in a major crosswind across Wyoming and Montana with my 'new' '96 Laser on a Kitty Hawk. It tracked straight as an arrow, and didn't even seem to affect mileage. I checked the tires at gas stops, and they weren't even warm (at a little over 100 lbs per tire, they're not working hard). You can lift the tongue and wheel the whole thing around with one hand, so it feels like it would work pretty well as a dolly, especially with the pivoting bow support.

I'm very impressed. The only change I may make is to switch from 8" to 12" tires so that they rotate the bearings slower and take sharp bumps better, and for a future second kid's boat deck to deck.

When I hauled a boat this summer on the roof, it wasn't supported very well by the roof bars because the locations are pre-set on my car (way too close together). I was concerned about the loads on the deck and bow eye, and I always needed help to load (not a problem at a race normally).
M
 
i always trailer my boat. i found the best way to do it is upside down and you akte your dolly and put it on top of it and remove the wheels. have the dolly supported by the gunwhale supports. but it is also easier if you have covers because you can put your top cover on have some body help you put the boat on then put the bottom cover on.
 
thanks for all the great input, I think the trailer sounds best for me. I'm looking into a kitty hawk i think. opk83
 

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