a little stringy thingy... Could be right up KM's alley.

[madyottie 82]

I'm interested in how you solve the trailer folding. I am considering doing the same thing with my cat and have a few basic sketches. Ends up being pretty tall if you keep it all above the wheels but a lot simpler.

What I came up with for the trailer is bows forward. Because the boat has to "Expand" to get the beams out, I thought swing arms mounted from a central spine, as far back as possible. To load, the arms are set to the sailing width, lets say 75% maximum. I'm thinking about basic lift-out jockey-wheels on the arms, as far out as possible without fouling anything, just to ease the strain. Rig and launch in this position.

 

Unlock the arms and swing out to 100% width and the beams can be slipped out. So far so good.

 

Of course the next bit is tricky, getting the hulls up an over the guards/wheels. The arms can just swing in, no problems.

 

To get over the arches, I looked at several options, but in the end simplicity won out. Instead of raising the arms, why not lower the wheels? 

 

I decided to mount the axle on the back end of a rectangular frame, which in turn is hinged from another matching frame at its front end. Kind of like trailing arms, but joined rather than independent. The back end of these frames has rubber blocks between them as a basic form of suspension, which coupled with the tyre sidewalls will provide some shock absorption. 

 

I then realised that a cam type arrangement mounted on the spine just behind the axle could be used to push the axle down when swinging the arms in, controlled by a winch at the front. It only needs to move a few inches to get the wheels below the hulls. Once the hulls are inside the wheels, the jockey wheels can be removed before the suspension is lowered again. 

 

Also, to spread the load throughout the length, I drew in half-supports spaced along the spine, so once in trailing position the boat is well supported along its length. The main pads are also quite large (and swivelled) to prevent point loads under the hulls.

 

If it gets too hard to source suitable tyres, or if the boat turns out to be heavier than I think it is, then an alternative would be to mount tandem swing axles in place of the single ones.

[madyottie 82]

Bias cut bolt rope tramps never get tight no matter how hard you pull 'em, they also travel around on the bolt ropes as they stretch more in the centre which changes the edge length - result is they are always noisy to walk on as the bolt rope slides back and forth, even though it's only a meter on mm.

 

Not overly keen on bolt ropes either. 

 

The ones I was referring to earlier were literally hung from the corners, with no other lashing. Basically suspended between a square of rope or wire. I'm just not sure how well it would work on a boat with cabins, as the small boat ones come half-way over the decks.

 

I'll see if I can find a pic somewhere.

[madyottie 82]

 

This is probably what I was remembering - it was close to 10 years ago.

 

How about this arrangement, with additional flaps on the sides above some lacing?

 

The basic tension could be put in at the corners, then the edges would not take any point loading, mostly just there to stop the ropes escaping.

 

Instead of going around the pod, why not go over it? Zip-up flaps could allow access to motor etc.

[Nate 2]

No picture before we put beams on, but arms of trailer slid in on rollers until hulls met in middle and pinned in place. Hulls sat above wheel arches. Trailer was very easy to manipulate to line hulls up for beam attachment. It was a fairly simple arrangement that would scale down pretty well I would think.

[ScottiE 174]

There ya go - just get one of those!

[madyottie 82]

Hmm, I'm suspecting that the VX? hulls are a wee bit slimmer than the GBE. 

 

And a whole lot lighter?

 

I'm probably looking at 350kg each hull, plus beams and pod.

 

I'm also guessing the beams "bolt on" rather than "bolt through" so the trailer doesn't need to expand outward beyond loading width?

 

I think sitting the hulls over the wheels with a GBE could result in a cg too high for fast safe towing, due to the hulls being 6 feet deep, as well as being harder to load/offload. 

 

The one thing I haven't given a lot of thought to, is what to do with the pod. Probably easiest to winch it out using a halyard, then drop it down between the bows, facing backwards, with all the gear still in it. Front mast support could be designed to also support the end of the outboard.

 

I'm full of bright ideas, just short on funding to make them reality.