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Deano
United Kingdom
1843 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Nov 2012 : 23:22:27
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quote:
Originally posted by df
A guy bought a fairline fury from our old marina a couple years back with the intension of taking it to scotland on an inadequate trailer, I beleive at least 2 members of this forum saw it skate down thw A1,
And there wasn't much left after!!!
I always fancied one of those though .... good, small, fast, coastal boat.
Dean - Boating on the Great Ouse.
Freeman 30 "Silver Gem"
See the photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/54758027@N00/ |
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jamesbagnall
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2012 : 08:49:01
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Hi all.
To be fair, the whole towing thing is a bit of a minefield!
With the various boats I've had, even getting the police to confirm the legalities is quite a challenge - I got the impression that they weren't really sure themselves, including a phone call to the traffic police.
However, I understand that as a previous poster has said, with a suitable tow vehicle (and they are quite few and far between ranging from 'proper' Landrovers (90, 110, Disco, real Rangie) and some of the bigger Nissans, that 3.5 tonnes (metric tonnes note) ALL UP WEIGHT is the law. So that's the total weight of the boat and trailer combined.
There is also a legal length and weight limit, which we worked out meant that in practical terms a boat that weighed in at less than 2.7tonnes and was 27ft x 9ft 6in total - funnily enough the exact dimensions of the Elysian 27 or a Sheerline 24 or 740. We figured that the Bounty 27 (Elysian mould) was probably just slightly too heavy although based on the Elysian.
Now, speaking from a real world experience towing a 2.7tonne boat of these dimensions on a brand new purpose built CE plated boat trailer, behind a two year old Landrover 90 is a pretty hairy experience!! I'd not recommend it to anyone as even when properly balanced and setup, with a significant tow vehicle, you do need a change of underwear I can tell you.
In the end, we concluded that even with the proper gear and spending a fortune of tow vehicle, trailer and researching the rules, it really wasn't a pleasant experience - sold the whole rig and let professional drivers take the strain!! We now use a guy with a flatbed, hiab and boat movement experience - in the long run it's so much easier and actually probably cheaper.
A joiner once said to me that the 'D' in DIY stants for 'dont' and I think the same applies here. If you have anything other than a 20-ish foot long boat, it's really a whole load of effort, stress and expense to tow yourself - leave it to the pros!
Cheers,
James.
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Knighty
United Kingdom
654 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2012 : 12:30:09
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I get paranoid slipping my 20 out and towing it the 2-3 miles home every year and back again in the Spring and that's with a 4x4 and sturdy Peak trailer so god knows what i would be like towing a 32ft boat. Even a 20 looks huge out of the water...well to me anyway.
Huge sigh of relief after i have taken out the conifers either side of my drive entrance (again!) and reversed it on the drive  |
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stratford4528
United Kingdom
414 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2012 : 20:14:13
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How about this for a story.
Some one stole a large boat and tried to get away with it on a launching trailer with no brakes. He had an accident a few miles from me then drove off. The boat was put in a compound by the police and he had the cheek to go and steal it again. |
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Normans and trailers
