Trailer Tie Down Question

[ayacht]

I just bought a used '06 Sailfish 282 and have a new Venture Aluminum Bunk trailer for it. We refit the boat to the trailer yesterday and now it fits perfectly with a few minor adjustments. The guys at Bass River Marina and their lift were a huge help. Everything went fine until I went to tie down in the back. The tabs are right in the way of reaching the rear trailer tie down from the transom eyes. So I strapped across the back to the trailer so I had something holding it putting the strap behing the cleats. I was not ideal and the rub rail kept me from cranking too hard down on it. I would feel better and I think it is better to use the stern eyes on the transom. To do this I would need to locate a new tie down on the trailer which I could do easily enough. A guy at the marina recommend using loops over the rear cleats down to the trailer instead of the strap across the back. I think if I was going to always use the strap all the way across the back I would need some foam standoffs on the side to protect the rub rail and probably a few on the top for good measure. For the front I put a strap through the bow eye going back on the trailer to keep from sliding forward. The worked really well and had a great spot for it. Needless to say made the 100 mile trip home without incident and she stayed put perfectly.

I would love to hear others solutions and thoughts on tie down for her. Any more creative out of the box thoughts?

I was toying with moving the tie downs to the outside beam and that should allow them to be used for the stern eyes, cleat method and full strap method. If done right I could do a stern eye tie down and a cleat or full across the back at the same time. That would put me up to 6 points of tie down which safety wise would be best I think. Am I over :hmm this?

 

[seasick]

I don't use the transom eyes. I use a long web strap that I place over the boat , on the gunnels, and hooked to the trailer rings underneath. Yes it pulls on the rub rail but if that is a concern as might be the top of the gunnels rubbing, just place a towel under the strap on each side, On my set up, using the transom eyes means that the straps would rub the transom but more importantly pulls the boat forward a bit instead of straight down. The over the top strap works better.

 

[Tucker]

With Seasick here. Run the strap under the cleats.

 

[1st grady]

I use the winch strap through the cut off sleeves of an old sweatshirt and zip tied them in place. I don't think it (the winch strap) needs to be that tight, just keep the boat from bouncing up off the bunks.

 

[ayacht]

Like I said I was over :hmm the issue. I like the towel/sweat shirt idea in a few key spots will probably do the trick. Also under the cleat does make a lot more sense for locking it in. I had to hook the ratchet strap to the beams on the trailer because they cannot fit in the small holes provided. I use the same straps we use to tie down trailer loads. Each one is rated for 10k#. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Curmudgeon]

just keep the boat from bouncing up off the bunks.

Tie down straps should really be thought of as tie 'up' straps. The idea is to keep the 1200# trailer secured to the boat, not the other way around. Think about it, straps aren't going to stop that 5000# boat under 3 g momentum, but they may let the trailer come along instead of going who knows where ... :wink:

 

[Tucker]

X2 with curm. The wast strap will not hold down the boat, it keeps the trailer with the boat. With that said I'm a little queer about safety chains. I keep them pretty tight and: 1-to winch area, 1-straight down to keep the front of the boat down, and 1 from bow eye aft to trailer frame. Saw a pic of a CC sitting on the top of a pickup truck. Driver hit something and boat kept going.