Help With Trailer for Super Porpoise

rs1sensen

New Member
Earlier today I purchased a Super Porpoise without a trailer, and hence have been on the search for a trailer for it to pull behind my car.

The boat's hull is in rough shape, so I have some time to search as I need to do some fiberglass repairs, and drying it out! (when I initially drained it, a good three gallons of water came out of the boat, now I'm going to order 2-3 inspection ports to install).

Anyways, the trailer needs to be lightweight (so I can safely pull it. My car is only good for 1000lbs). I did find this one, but it only measures 13' from the winch to the tailights. Think it'd work? (see attached picture).




Also, Will a trailer designed for a fishing boat work for the Super Porpoise, or do I need something sailboat specific?
 
"...Will a trailer designed for a fishing boat work for the Super Porpoise, or do I need something sailboat specific...?"
Once your boat has dried out, I think you'll find that it's not all that heavy. If the trailer is especially short, you can add wood "beds" to support most of the hull.

Most any trailer would do: if you're handy with repairs, you can go cheap on Craigslist.com, or a new trailer can be bought from HarborFreight.com.

Although I'm a cartopper by choice, my guess would be to secure the boat to any trailer tightly enough so that it never bounces against the trailer's surfaces.

I sold my 20' Tornado catamaran recently which got loaded for a 200-mile jaunt onto a lawn maintenance trailer—with steel rails! Tornadoes are particularly thin-hulled. Except for the mast's taking out some tree branches at a local restaurant, the boat made the trip without further misadventure: It's out there sailing today. Carefully duct-taped boat cushions aided the effort.

Although you will want inspection ports for this older hull anyway, a hull left for a year, say, will collect water condensation which can collect to an impressive weight. Much that did not pour out from your hull will have been aborbed by the internal foam flotation blocks—blocks that are important for deck strength. (Search "sponge" at this site).

Moist climates with large swings in day/night temperatures will produce a lot of condensation.
 
Also, Will a trailer designed for a fishing boat work for the Super Porpoise, or do I need something sailboat specific?
Those rear bunks (which are pretty easy to recarpet) look like they have some width adjustments available on the trailer frame mounts. You should be able to move those in or out to better fit your sailboat.
You will likely need to build a small cradle or bracket up near the front of your boat otherwise your hull may get beat up by the mounting bracket for that trailer jack. This cradle will also be needed to support the front of the boat since your hull won't likely fit into that "V" pad up on the winch post. The cradle could be built from pressure treated lumber cut and glued together to fit your boat bottom. Then carpet them and bolt them to the trailer frame.
 
Once your boat has dried out, I think you'll find that it's not all that heavy. If the trailer is especially short, you can add wood "beds" to support most of the hull.

Most any trailer would do: if you're handy with repairs, you can go cheap on Craigslist.com, or a new trailer can be bought from HarborFreight.com.

Although I'm a cartopper by choice, my guess would be to secure the boat to any trailer tightly enough so that it never bounces against the trailer's surfaces.

Although you will want inspection ports for this older hull anyway, a hull left for a year, say, will collect water condensation which can collect to an impressive weight. Much that did not pour out from your hull will have been aborbed by the internal foam flotation blocks—blocks that are important for deck strength. (Search "sponge" at this site).

Moist climates with large swings in day/night temperatures will produce a lot of condensation.

I would love to cartop, but it seems to me like the Super Porpoise would be a bit much for my grand prix! (the boat is roughly the entire length of my car.)

Not to stray too far off topic, but yes, I know what you mean about the condensation! This boat sat around for at least 3 years, so I'm anticipating major drying, if not having to replace a lot of the flotation entirely. I'll hopefully know more once I cut for the inspection ports. Which... do you have any recommendations on where to place them? I've heard that I don't want to place it directly in the middle of the stern, like most sunfish-ers do?

I bought the boat for a whopping $130, delivered to my door. The sail, centerboard, and rudder are all immaculate and in fantastic shape. I figure that even if this all goes kaput, I'll still come out ahead!
 
I'll hopefully know more once I cut for the inspection ports. Which... do you have any recommendations on where to place them?

I just deleated my post info. I forgot you were asking about super porpoise and my info was about Sunfish blocks and port locations. Sorry for the wasting the space on this thread.
 
Sorry I missed it. The information could have benefited here for any changes in flotation between years and manufacturer for all types.

I put one 6" port near the transom on the starboard side, and encountered no flotation underneath. Because the rudder fitting had been torn off twice by the previous owner, I spaced it so my forearm could comfortably reach the bolts that reattached the fitting, and still just reach one hiking strap attachment point (of 4). Hiking strap points are unique to Porpoise.

There is a wide center internal structure underneath the rear deck, so I'd move the rear port all the way to one side or the other, and maybe go for a smaller port than 6" to avoid cutting through it, as I did. :eek:

So I could reach my paddle and other accessories while afloat, I put a second inspection port just ahead of the combing (port side), and encountered no flotation block there either. Unfortunately, three huge center blocks prevent inspections of halyard cleat, mast step, daggerboard trunk, or bow handle. The block is still in good condition—unlike the center "sponge" at the stern—which I removed.

Since the Porpoise II is narrower than the Sunfish, climbing back aboard after a capsize—for a heavy adult—means re-entering over the transom. (And looking like a sea lion while doing it). :eek:

I reinforced the center of the rear deck (topside) with two layers of cloth and epoxy, leaving a little texture for grip. Two previous spider cracks got covered as well.

While I spent 3x $ buying my "new" Sunfish, with so many Porpoise II parts being identical, I can have one sailboard "at the ready" at all times. :)

BTW: save the round cutouts from the inspection ports. They can be useful in future repairs. Using both cutout "waste" pieces, I reinforced the rudder mount area.

If the rudder mount goes again, the transom goes with it! :cool:
 

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