Prindle 16 newbie, looking for tips on faster setup, beginner configuration and overall not sinking

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Prindle 16 newbie, looking for tips on faster setup, beginner configuration and overall not sinking

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DamonLinkous

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Registered: Jul 19, 2001

Last visit: Apr 17, 2025

Posts: 3457
Posted: Sep 26, 2013 - 03:14 PM

rwj0j0
I think you can totally make the trailer you have work and only spend a few bucks doing it - so no need for buyers remorse!

Agree that you can probably make adjustments, but will need more pics of your trailer. Looking the picture you posted, just move the bush.

Actually, is that a bow stopper about halfway down the trailer? You may have a converted jet ski trailer.

Add some pictures to your album of the trailer cross bars and axle and how they are attached to the trailer.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 26, 2013 - 04:01 PM

DamonLinkousActually, is that a bow stopper about halfway down the trailer? You may have a converted jet ski trailer.

That IS indeed a bow stopper, and judging by the size it is indeed a jet ski trailer. There should be no problem with weight rating and what not, but I will have to assemble a better (longer) frame for it. four bars of galvanized 2" box tubing (two across to provide the proper width and two along the hulls) should do just dandy. I can manage the width based on the current configuration that fits the rollers precisely under the hulls, but would appreciate suggestions for the necessary length to properly support a P16.

Here is a better view:

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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DamonLinkous

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Posted: Sep 26, 2013 - 04:29 PM

What are the existing cross supports made of? They appear to be like wood 2x6's ?

I would keep my eye out over the winter for a genuine beachcat trailer and sell that one on craigslist I think.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 26, 2013 - 07:56 PM

Ugh, looks like I really pood the screwch with the trailer... I just walked up to it and lifted one of the hulls with my hand (the cat is tied to the trailer), and the trailer is WAAAY too wobbly to put on the road - the wheels are too close together (4 ft maybe) to support a cat. I was planning to pull off the 2x6 lumber and replace it with a wider and longer box steel frame, but I think it is too much trouble to move the wheels farther out. I will probably have easier time adapting a wider boat trailer to my cat.

I doubt that I will be able to find a cat-specific trailer in my neck of the woods, at least for less than what I paid for the boat itself. There are far more cats without trailers than trailers without cats on craigslist. Especially over the winter - nobody trades boat trailers in the snow. But taking a wider trailer and adding the necessary beams to it should not be a big problem.

Edited by mgoltsman on Sep 26, 2013 - 09:01 PM.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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RSabast

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Posted: Sep 26, 2013 - 11:30 PM

Hi. I am also interested in fast rigging, and I get my G-Cat ready in 25 min or less on most days. Trailer the boat stern first, that way you can step the mast with a belay man off he bow. The side stays and trap lines stay permanently attached. The forestay gets a quick pin. I looked up the shear strength of those pins and they exceed the tensile strength of the cable - it's not going anywhere. You can add a small cable tie for insurance. All the rudders, traveler, etc. are quick pins, and the jib and mainsheet attachment are Wichard clips. You'll spend some extra money, but you won't deal with 'ring dings' anymore.

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Hobie 16
Hobie 18
G-Cat 5.7
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rwj0j0

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 06:30 AM

how far apart are the wheels?
I'm not sure it matters how close together they are as long as the trailer is well balanced.
The "little dude" trailer has small wheels that are close together - I can measure and snap a picture later today

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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:30 AM

rwj0j0how far apart are the wheels?

Between 3 and 4 feet i would say. If it is the latter, then it matches the 48" on the diagram... Someone suggested that with a narrow wheelbase it is all too easy to tip the trailer over on a turn, and simly lifting up one of the hulls seems to bear it out - it feels tippy. That said, the dude that welded the trailer on the diagram seems to know what he was doing so maybe it is safer than I think as long as I don't screech down any clover leaves at 50 mph while towing the boat. I suppose I could put little sidecar wheels under the hulls if I am too nervous about it, but it's rapidly getting to the point where I am better off finding a bigger trailer.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:31 AM

rwj0j0how far apart are the wheels?

Between 3 and 4 feet i would say. If it is the latter, then it matches the 48" on the diagram... Someone suggested that with a narrow wheelbase it is all too easy to tip the trailer over on a turn, and simly lifting up one of the hulls seems to bear it out - it feels tippy. That said, the dude that welded the trailer on the diagram seems to know what he was doing so maybe it is safer than I think as long as I don't screech down any clover leaves at 50 mph while towing the boat. I suppose I could put little sidecar wheels under the hulls if I am too nervous about it, but it's rapidly getting to the point where I am better off finding a bigger trailer.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:36 AM

Whoops, sorry for the double post. Make sure all y'all check the two posts to compare :)

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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vinnyvincent

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:39 AM

mgoltsmanUgh, looks like I really pood the screwch with the trailer... I just walked up to it and lifted one of the hulls with my hand (the cat is tied to the trailer), and the trailer is WAAAY too wobbly to put on the road - the wheels are too close together (4 ft maybe) to support a cat. IEdited by mgoltsman on Sep 26, 2013 - 09:01 PM.

My custom made trailer's wheels are only about 4-5ft apart. It has two pieces of steel U-bolted across, with rollers bolted onto the ends that to support the boat(you can get these at any boating or outdoors store)

come to think of it just about any cat trailer I've seen has the wheels set at only about 5ft apart, give or take a little. Even the real deal "cat hauler" trailers I've seen are like this. If you put them much further out than that, the wheel wells hit the hulls.

it's not like you're hauling a motor yacht, its a 290lb boat. Thats less that half of what a jet ski weighs. I can lift my whole trailer up, with the boat on it from the rear and have done it to pivot it when backing into a tight spot. The reason it is so easy to lift the hull on your trailer is because a majority of the boat is sitting in front of the axle.

Un-strap the boat, slide it back about 3ft, so that the front strap is just in front of the crossbar, get the thing insured for 100 bucks and go sailing! Save the trailer fabrication and messing around with a hair dryer to find leaks for the winter. I know plenty of people who sail with pretty bad leaks. just keep your trips short and drain the hulls in between outings. You need to determine what is actually a problem before you try to fix everything.

both your boat and trailer look like they are in great condition from the photo's. Take a picture of the rear so we can see where the wheels sit in relation to the boat hulls.

Edited by vinnyvincent on Sep 27, 2013 - 09:42 AM.

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Vince
Houston, TX
1982 prindle 16 - became a parts boat shortly after purchase. "The Crackling Hullflyer"
1984 prindle 16 - current boat "Blew By You"
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:50 AM

vinnyvincentMy custom made trailer's wheels are only about 4-5ft apart. It has two pieces of steel U-bolted across, with rollers bolted onto the ends that to support the boat(you can get these at any boating or outdoors store)

Well, the hulls are over a foot wide of the wheels on each side. Given that they are about 7' apart, the wheelbase is probalby something like 48", which should be suitable... I suppose you are right Vince. How far apart are your hull supports fore-to-aft? (behold the awesomeness of my maritime vocabulary!) I have maybe 4' between mine, and it feels a bit short. However, to fix this I would have to mount two rails lengthwise because the trailer frame is not much bigger than 4'x4'. The diagram here http://www.thebeachcats.c…-sail-tube-construction/ suggests 7', which feels more in line with 16' hulls.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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vinnyvincent

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 10:46 AM

Your's are too close together, but it seems like it would work the way they are temporarily if you wanted to take the boat out on the water to test it out. Just strap it down good and keep it under 55. Once you shift the boat back a little, so the weight is centered over the axle, I really don't think it will be much of an issue.
Hook the trailer up once you shift the boat back and do some test runs close to the house and see how you feel about it. With the insurance really the worst that could happen is everything gets destroyed and they cut a check for more than what you paid for it.
You just want to make sure nothing crazy is going to happen like the trailer coming unhooked from the truck, or the boat flying off the trailer and cartwheeling down the freeway, because you run the risk of hurting someone else if that happens. Honestly if you keep your speed down none of this should ever happen regardless. The guy I purchased my boat from was using twine to strap it down!

Best case scenario and most likely is you're going to get out there this season, get some time on the boat and have a blast, then be able to determine what really needs to be done to everything to make it all more ideal.

To answer your question, I've never measured mine, but 7' seems about right. when I put the boat onto my trailer, the rear cross bars line up with the rear support and the front crossbar ends up just behind the front support. Basically just measure your cross bars front to back and add on about ten inches and you'll be in the ballpark. Just because this is the "right" spacing doesn't mean what you currently have won't work for you short term.

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Vince
Houston, TX
1982 prindle 16 - became a parts boat shortly after purchase. "The Crackling Hullflyer"
1984 prindle 16 - current boat "Blew By You"
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nacra55

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 10:54 AM

mgoltsman
How far apart are your hull supports fore-to-aft? (behold the awesomeness of my maritime vocabulary!) I have maybe 4' between mine, and it feels a bit short. However, to fix this I would have to mount two rails lengthwise because the trailer frame is not much bigger than 4'x4'. The diagram here http://www.thebeachcats.c…-sail-tube-construction/ suggests 7', which feels more in line with 16' hulls.

To use your awesomeness of maritime vocabulary, the trailer hull supports fore-to-aft, should be the same distance as your main beam is from your rear beam, ie the length of your tramp fore-to-aft. The hulls have bulkheads under the beams so it is the sturdiest part of the hull.

Down south on hot days, a tight strap across the hull will cut into gel coat and leave an indention so we strap fore-to-aft across the beams.

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Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 11:43 AM

Ron,

Thanks for the suggestion of using straps fore-to-aft, seems a lot more appropriate. After all, the boat is a lot more likely to slip back (or forward) in transit than jump the roller and move sideways. That. of course, is in addition to the preservation of the hulls from undue pressure.

Cheers,
Mike.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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DamonLinkous

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 12:14 PM

The pictures in the home made trailer article were broken because the article was from 2002, still good info. The designer/builder Jack Hoying was able to find them and get them to me.

Updated article
http://thebeachcats.com/f…ms/viewtopic/topic/14692

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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DamonLinkous

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 12:26 PM

I've added an album for trailer designs if anyone want to share pics of how their trailer is setup.

http://www.thebeachcats.c…ctures/?g2_itemId=105885

I had a Hobie 16 trailer in the back yard so I added some pictures of it. The basic design is a lot like Jacks build.
http://www.thebeachcats.c…ctures/?g2_itemId=105887

measurements are
Overal length 20 feet
Main rails are 48 inches apart
cross arms that support the boat are 8 feet long and 7 feet apart.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 12:54 PM

Thanks Damon, very helpful photos! I think I will be OK if I can find an axle tube about 5' long.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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nacra55

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 01:20 PM

mgoltsmanThanks Damon, very helpful photos! I think I will be OK if I can find an axle tube about 5' long.

You don't want the tires or fenders under the hulls. If you have a blowout, the tire can do damage to both the fender and the hull. If you have a blowout on one side, replace both. Don't ask me how I know.

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Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
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mgoltsman

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Posted: Sep 27, 2013 - 09:51 PM

Measured the trailer width - 40" between frame rails side to side and 48" between the center lines of the wheels. Probably 8-12" too narrow, but marginally acceptable I think - especially after I drop the boat down by 4" after I replace the 2x6 lumber supports with 1x2 steel. Just have to be mindful on turns...

Edited by mgoltsman on Sep 28, 2013 - 07:18 AM.

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Mike
Prindle 16
Rochester, NY
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the-renovator

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Posted: Sep 28, 2013 - 07:13 AM

A note of caution, in Damon's pics above, on the left hand pic showing the entire trailer, the cross-beams are under-slung, this usually causes the cat to sit so low on the trailer that the rudders will hit the ground,especially if you have 8" wheels, mount the cross beams on top of the frame. Also, look closely at the brackets holding the rollers, notice those sharp corners? Just waiting to eat your hulls if you make a mistake loading and un-loading, they need to be rounded off, don't ask me how I know.....

Edited by the-renovator on Sep 28, 2013 - 07:14 AM.