Trailering

Posted By: Mark N, Nimble Arctic, Jax FL
Date: 3/17/07 5:28a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Nimble 24 trailering (John Healy)

For a boat that size, the Nimble is pretty easy to trailer. First and foremost, you will need a significant tow vehicle. On a certified scale, my Arctic with all gear weighs ~6500#. The N24 will be a little lighter but IMHO a full sized truck/SUV/Van and trailer with brakes are required. Due to its flat bottom and shallow draft, the Nimble is very easy to launch and recover. It can be launched at nearly any ramp without a tongue extension and without getting the wheels of the tow vehicle wet. For the last two years, I have been dry sailing (stored at the marina on the trailer with the mast up) my Arctic and I routinely launch and recover by myself. I will note that my boat is a centerboard version. I expect that the fixed keel version would be harder to launch and recover and may require a deeper ramp and tongue extension. My launch procedure: 1. Back down until the trailer tires are in the water and stop there. 2. Disconnect the winch cable and tie the bow line to the winch stand with about 5 ft of slack. 3. Slowly back further into the water. When I see the boat starting to float, I tap the brakes and the boat slides off the trailer. The bow line and trailer centering (goal) posts keep the boat floating over the trailer until I get out and move it back to the dock. My recovery procedure: 1. Back the trailer into the water until only the forward 3 ft of the bunks are out of the water. 2. Using the boat hook and bow/stern lines, position the boat over the trailer. 3. Wrap bungie cords around the jib winch and trailer centering pole on each side. This keeps the boat centered as it in winched onto the trailer and pulled out of the water. 4. Use the winch to pull the boat up to the winch stand. Using either "Liquid Roller" or regular dish soap on the bunks will make this easier. 5. Pull the boat out of the water just until the stern is no longer floating. 6. Get out of the truck and winch the boat forward ~3" until the bow is against winch stand again. 7. Pull the boat out of the water. Stepping the mast and rigging the boat will take considerably more time than launching and recovering it. Since I do not do this very often, It takes me 2-3 hours each way. If I did it frequently and had an experienced helper, I could probably get this down to near one hour. One thing that will be a big help is if you can find a N24 that has a tabernacle. I believe that the earlier N24s had a deck stepped mast and not a tabernacle. The tabernacle makes it much easier to step the mast because it hinges the mast about 3' above the deck and provides some lateral support as the mast goes up/down. Because I can stand on the PH roof and my boat has a tabernacle, stepping the mast on my Arctic is MUCH easier than many smaller boats. I can actually lower the mast by myself but need a second set of hands to raise it. When raising it, the second person really helps untangle any snags and keeps the roller furler drum from beating against the foredeck. I am actually considering taking the RF off the boat so that I can step the mast solo. One last note is that many people leave the genny on the RF when they drop the mast in order to cut down set up time. If you do this, it adds considerable weight to the mast and makes it harder to step. Hope that all of this helps.