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Old 11-29-2007, 02:36 PM   #28
Bill
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Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
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Camp2canoe -

Wayne has nailed it. You kind of know the weight of the sailboat, now add the weight of the trailer and all the gear you have added to the boat. You know - the aux motor, gasoline, battery, anchors, life jackets, coolers and beverages of your choice, etc. The tongue weight should be a minimum of 10% of the total weight. TM's run closer to 14%, if I recall, and this is what gives them their wonderful lack of sway. If you can move the axle on the sailboat trailer back, to put the tongue weight somewhere in the 10-15% range, you should be a lot happier.

Naturally, all numbers are the loaded, ready-to-tow numbers, of the boat and trailer, not the dry weight of the boat alone. If the dry weight of the boat alone is 2300 pounds, the loaded weight of the boat and trailer is probably around 3000 pounds, so the tongue weight should be at least 300 pounds, and 400 pounds would be better. In other words, if you can bend over, pick up the tongue off the ground and put it on the hitch ball, it is way too light.

Bill
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