BYYB Forums

Morning all! Can I ask any Vacationer owners out there if you have a ball park finished trailer weight for your rig - ie, what does the boat plus trailer weight as you head off to the launch ramp?
Cheers
Gerrard
ps - shamefully I must admit to not having got any more done on mine yet!!
pps I will happily convert youe weight in pounds to kg!!

Gerrard, the Saralee with trailer, motor, sailing junk,  and coolers full of ballast came in around 2.5- 3k lb.  The trailer was 1k by its self as it was 30' long and dual axil.  It seemed that my spared length kept growing.  I would guess a normal rig woud be inthe 2k range.

A 1,000 pound trailer is way over kill for a Vacationer which is much like Craig's approach to things. A good quality, single axle trailer can easily handle a Vacationer and will be in the 500 pound range. An empty Vacationer will weigh 750 pounds, but this figure will rise quickly as sailing reality settle in. Figure 850-900 pounds minimum once the anchor, rode, batteries and cooler full of beer are aboard. An outboard and tank full of fuel will add at least another 100 pounds. Are you shooting for the magical 750 kilo trailering weight?

But Paul I never had a bearing failure and ALL of my boat was on the trailer.  Yes it was over kill but the moral here is don't let your trailer builder work from a sketch!  And also don't let a motorcycle trailer builder buld a trailer for a sail boat!!!  I'm learning.....

Thanks guys, all good input. I'm going for a combined weight of 1000kg (about 2200lbs) as that is my current vehicle's max towing capacity which I think should be fine - prob weigh in all up at about 8-900kg from your figures Paul - by the way, is the 'magical 750kg trailer weight ' some American standard?

Would love to see more pics of your Vacationers - especially sailing; always good to have inspiration and practical musings of others who are actually out there doing it!

cheers

The 750kg is not an American but a European standard. It is the max total weight for a trailer without brakes, which makes it an attractive alternative if you can keep the weight that low. Trailers without brakes are cheap to buy and keep, bacause at least in Finland you don´t need to do any annual scrutineering or other typical vehicle bureucracy and expence.

Greetings all,

Wow, that's quite a difference.  The Stevenson Projects web lists the Vacationer at 750 lbs. Paul agrees. Yet Craig says he regularly sailed above 2,500 lbs displacement.  Good god Craig! Just how much beer DO you take with you?

So, is this the problem holding up the successor to the Saralee?  Paul is having to redesign the Discrete plans to carry that much beer?  May I suggest insulated "water" ballast tanks made from aluminum with some plumbing lines that lead directly to the cockpit and terminate at a tap fixture. Then Craig can top off the ballast tanks with whatever fluid he desires and the fleet he sails with will be set for a nice long trip. I would also suggest separate port and starboard tanks to suit the changing tastes of the skipper.

Actually, from an engineering standpoint, filling the ballast tanks with beer would lead to a more efficient sailboat as the specific gravity of beer is higher than water by at least 3%, and ranges higher than 8%. All of those dissolved sugars from the wort weigh the beer down more than the alcohol lightens it up. It turns out that the specific gravity of "Lite" beers average around 1.03, good lagers and wheat beer are about 1.05, ales and bocks about 1.07, and the really nasty stouts can exceed 1.08. So the "lite" beers really due weigh less.

I word of caution though. There are some newer regulations in effect from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) designed to limit the spread of invasive species that will require you to wash down your trailerable boats as you pull them from the water and to drain all live well and ballast tanks before leaving the launch ramp area. So you will have to plan ahead and bring some extra sailing companions to help drain the tanks to comply with DNR regulations.

;D

Cheers,
Tom

We are sort of hijacking this thread but this is vital information for mariners:

"The following tale is from the history of the oldest commissioned warship in the world, the USS Constitution. It comes by way of the National Park Service, as printed in "Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft", a periodical from the oceanographer of the US Navy.

On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston, loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass English shipping.

On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later, Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 2,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard their rum. By this time, Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here, her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 13,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.

On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum and no whiskey. She did, however, still carry her crew of 475 officers and men and 18,600 gallons of water.

The math is quite enlightening.
Length of cruise: 181 days
Booze consumption: 1.26 gallons per man per day (this does NOT include the unknown quantify of rum captured from the 12 English merchant vessels in November)

Naval historians say that the reenlistment rate from this cruise was 92%."

I may be wrong wagging my displacement (never weighed her),  however if you see the photo of her at the 08 BEER she is riding pretty low.  As for the ballast considerations the information above seems to present a positive correlation between a well oiled crew and reenlistment.  One never knows if he will com upon a prize or run out of refreshments.  Especially on the BEER cruise.  The first sortie is over 20 miles to Navarre you know!  Does my Letter of Marque exempt me from DNR regs?  I can get around the CG with my ID card.


The above historical narrative was first seen on the bathroom wall in the Santa Rosa Brewery (figures right)  in Ft Walton Beach, Fl.  I stole it today from the Artisans Distiller site.

And now back to our discussion of trailer size.......  Sorry Gerrard

Quote: On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston

Unfortunately, this story smells of grog, if for no other reason then the revolution was still in full swing, not to end for another 3 years and the sight of any stars and stripes bearing ship, would have caused the British to block every river in southern England to stop her. I might also mention we didn't officially didn't have a US Navy, until the early 1790's.

The most important thing about urban myths is to have enough accuracy to make them believable. For example the USS Constitution, after being stuck on her "ways" for a short time, was eventually launched in the fall of 1797, making her romp through the English country side in 1779 quite difficult.

In Craig defense we've had many discussion here about displacement of Vacationer. The figure of 750 pounds is the raw hull. Once you count all the "Tractor Supply" hardware, the outboard bracket and related gear (like the outboard), an extra 3 gallon can of fuel, Fidel the wonder dog and your well fed crew, yep, displacement goes up exponentially. I think the average Vacationer is sailing at close to 1,500 pounds, though likely will trailer at 1,000 to 1,200, depending on how well fed your crew is and how much ballast you can consume before arriving at the scales.

This still places you within your target of 2,200 pounds of boat and trailer, unless you're like Craig and use a trailer that could actually haul the USS Constitution down the road.

  Good to see some action on the forums, beginning to think we had all gone to sleep for the winter,  I did weigh my Vacationer, on the trailer ready for the water without crew. it came out at 1425 lbs.  My trailer is on the heavy side 27ft which I have converted from two axle's to one. I built the boat very much to the plans apart from rising the cabin roof 6",my engine is a 6hp  Evinrude.
    We had a great 1st season sailing,  lots of fun with just a few mishaps like punching a hole in the bow. The only thing I am looking to do over the winter is to change the mast, I am hoping to pick up a aluminum mast. I found it hard work rising my existing wooden one by myself.

                                    Happy holidays  Skylimey Keith[attachment=1]