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[dserrell]

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[Steve Ullrich]

Also note Dave's tie down to the trailer from the bow eye.  A must do or the tongue will bounce up and down a bit on the road which can also lead to breaking the bobstay chain plate.  Check the pin frequently here as well.  I lost one somehow last summer but noticed it before I launched her and had a major problem.  You could be dismasted...

[Steve Ullrich]

Good work around.  I don't winch mine tight when she is in the water either.  I leave the boat a few inches awy from the bobstay and attach the safety chain to the bow eye.  Immediately after I haul her out and have her on the level, or slightly down hill if possible, I finish winching her up to the roller with no tension on the rigging.

Mine tends to hang up on the bow eye and not come off the trailer easily. The winch and roller are all one welded-on unit on my trailer so I just don't cinch it up so tight when we load and use a safety chain.

[Craig Weis]

Yea same problem with my trailer when I first picked up my boat.
So I slid the channel, winch, and vee block assembly down as a unit till the vee block hits at the tang above the bow eye. Tang and bow eye use the same fastener.

I did break a bob stay this summer but that was an 'on the water mishap'. And I was sailing with a broken bob stay and only noticed this problem as I watched my bow sprit undulating up and down while sailing. I heaved too and rigged in a braided line from the bow eye [a very hard reach while on the water] and up and around the bow sprit to hold the bob stay down for the rest of the day. We don't stop sail with such a small problem. LOL.

Next day had Great Lakes Yacht Service make me a new bob stay, and I installed it from the dingy with a vice grip, 'beater', philips screw driver to act like an awl.

Took some doing to pull the bow sprit down far enough to line up the last pin under the bow sprit for the swedged on fork. I did not want a turnbuckle. It's not 'factory' with a turnbuckle. I tied in a line from bow eye up and over and twisted the line with a second screw driver until it shortened up enough to pull the bow sprit down and the pin could be inserted and circlipped.

As for the bow eye I NEVER trailer the boat with this winch strap very tight. It should be slack and I should be able to push a little cantinary into the strap from the winch to the bow eye. Don't over stress anything. Ever.
skip.

[Craig Weis]

fo48, so how do you like the split hatch board?
skip.

[multimedia_smith]

HI All...
Interesting take on the trailer roller... I actually tried switching mine around to go over the bow...   I found that it hung up when launching, so I wound up puting it back the way it was (over the bow eye).  I do use a "Y" shaped stop as opposed to a roller though... and I cut a notch in it for the bow eye.
Like you guys, I don't crank it tight in the water ... I just put on the brakes hard after I pull her out of the water and get to the side to unrig.  She slides forward the couple of inches and then I tighten up the winch strap.  As soon as I get home, I de-tension everything... straps, bungies, turnbuckles.
We've been getting out every weekend lately... finally!!  We're good 'till about July now...
Best Regards
Dale