Six Boat Trailer

[Andy McCormick]

Hey guys Andy McCormick here. I am a west coast sailor and boat jig. I will have a big trailer showing up shortly that will be able to carry six Vipers in one trip. I have been discussing the plans with Gerrit and Drew here on the west coast. As well as Dan Tucker out east. My goal is to make it easy and affordable for the teams that want to travel. The more boats that can get on brings the cost down for the owners. Now to make this work the keels will have to come out of the boats. The plan here is to have a hoist that is mounted on the trailer. Boats can either be on their own road trailer, or dolly. The boats will stay on the current bunks. Each boat will be on its own, not stacked deck to deck. The goal is to have this up and running by June. The base trailer is getting built early mid May. I take delivery towards the end of the month, then get going on the rack system. I am working with a naval architect/engineer to design and structurally engineer the racks. My goal is to get Vipers up to Whidbey Island Race Week in July. Cost per boat per mile has not been fully dialed in yet. For six boats I think you can expect to be under a dollar a mile per boat.

[Peter Beardsley]

Do the keels have a resting place on the multi-boat trailer once the keels are removed from the boats? 

[Garrett Johns]

Love the concept and even love getting boats up to WIRW even more! :)
A dollar a mile seems steep though since you can tow your own for a 1/3 of that. It does save the drive time though.

[Andy McCormick]

The keels will stay with the boat on the same trailer. The boat package stays together. Keels need to come out to keep the height under control.

[Peter Beardsley]

Yes, but once the keels are removed from the boats, where precisely are they supposed to go -- underneath the boat on the small trailer used for the boat?  If so, everyone would need to build some sort of holder for the keel.  Or is there another spot on the larger 6-boat trailer where all of the keels would go? 

[Andy McCormick]

Plan is to have them vertical as they are transported currently. On their side under the boats gets complicated with loading and over all height, that was the first thought though. Boats will most likely be bow to bow with the keels on the sides of the trailer on the inboard side of the racks. Last thing I want to be doing is fixing and fairing keels before a regatta. Want to use as much existing bunks/trailers as possible with out teams needing to buy/build/supply bunks. Would be prefered if the boat was on a dolly but not mandatory It will be a little bit of musical boats. Axles will need to come off trailers when they are loaded and in position before loading the next level. Teams do not need any extra parts.

For six boats, price per mile will be UNDER a dollar per boat.

[Dan Tucker]

Under $1/mile is a screaming deal for professional transport. At 10 MPG self towing, your cost is $0.40/mile JUST FOR FUEL with gas at $4/gal. IRS mileage is $0.55/mile these days. Factor in your time and hassle.

[Drew Harper]

Under $1 mile is an AWESOME price. The math on towing it yourself or hiring it to be towed is considerable. My double trailer hauls at 11 MPG behind my gas pickup. Diesel would gain some advantage but then fuel is more expensive.

My latest road trip ran $1.27 mile including fuel, wear and tear. If I add labor it jumps sharply.

Just a side note...Andy is a great guy who gets the job done, does exactly what he says he'll do and will honor his word without fail. Hard to beat that.

[kevinbrown207]

Does $1 per mile apply to N.A.s?  So roughly $6,000 to Marblehead and back to Long Beach?

[Garrett Johns]

At 10 MPG self towing, your cost is $0.40/mile JUST FOR FUEL

Good god Dan, what the hell do you drive?? :)

[Andy McCormick]

There is power in numbers here. With the Vipers being so light and a little shorter than the M-20 we can get six on as opposed to four boats. As long as there are six boats going yes under a dollar applies. Less than six the rate will be higher. The keels do need to come off. There are two choices here. One, your team can lift the boat off and have the keel sitting next to the boat ready to load. Or two, I can lift her on and off the keel with the hoist. There will be a small charge for option two. Option three is full service break down and assembly. Long Beach to Marblehead is roughly 3k miles so WITH SIX BOATS expect too pay less than $3k to get out for the NA and yes roughly under $6k for round trip.  Actual mileage will depend on pick up and drop points, this is just an estimate. Long Beach to Whidbey and back roughly $2,400

[Dan Tucker]

At 10 MPG self towing, your cost is $0.40/mile JUST FOR FUEL

Good god Dan, what the hell do you drive?? :)

1/4 ton Chevy Silverado. Might be almost 12 mpg with only 1 Viper @ 70 MPH. My Saab convertible would get 16-17 mpg towing a Viper at 70 MPH  :)  Cost me $1200 in engine/transmission mounts after ~10K of towing, and a $1500 cylinder head replacement on the way to Miami last year though  :(   Yeah, there are those indirect costs of DIY towing in my case... so that was another $0.27/mile for me.

So figuring I towed 10K miles @ 16 mpg @ $4/gal for gas, including those repairs, my cost/mile was $0.52 + tolls + oil changes + tires + brakes + my time. Pretty easy to see how even $1/mile to just drop your boat somewhere and have it magically appear at a regatta is a value.

There's a good reason most of us don't actually look at the full true cost of travelling to a regatta. If I recall my psychology class from long ago, I believe it's called cognitive dissonance?

[Tim Carter]

I must be deep in "cognitive dissonance", becasue I am still having a problem with the maths.  The matrix for Widbey looks like $250+ / hr of driving.  I guess is a good gig if you can get it.

[Jim Sears]

My cost for 3,800 mile round-trip to New Orleans with K-Mag driving my Ford Flex (17 MPG): $950 in gas plus $250 per day labor (4days), for total of $1,950.  This is about 51 cents per mile.

[Jim Sears]

Something still doesn't add up for me:  For Whidbey, we have a marine transport trucker that can get 6 Vipers to Whidbey and back for $4,000 (on bunks or trailers, keels IN).  That's $800 per boat - round trip.

Andy's cost will be $14,400.  I know our guy is a friend and is giving us a break, but that is a pretty big difference in cost.  Of course, there's some more labor with our plan getting boats loaded & unloaded, but I'm happy to spend an extra day in Whidbey.

I still love Andy's plan to build a bitchin trailer, but I'd like to understand the cost breakdown that leads to charging $6 per mile.  I imagine this is an expensive trailer.
-Jimbo