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Fortuity - Rope Launch This tip submitted by Doug Sycamore
Rope Launching a C250 Wing Keel Made Easy.
Figure #1 shows all the pieces I use to rope launch. It includes a Taylor winch bolted on a Reese tow mount extension, a tire that locks in the up position as a spare tire (& bearings) or in the down position as a launch wheel, towing ball and mount, and a 1" launch rope that is 40 feet long.
Figure #2 shows the configuration connected to my vehicle. One end of the rope is bolted onto the trailer's safety chains and the other end is connected to my Class V towing receiver. The winch cable is connected to the trailer acting as the safety chain. Since our boat is dry docked at the marina, the mast and sails always remain up and we have about 300 yards to the ramp. I do not tow my boat on the open road this way. I remove the winch and connect just the towing ball to the hitch receiver with the safety chains connected to the vehicle.
Process:
1) Back trailer down the boat ramp until the tires are about 10 feet from the water (figure #3).
2) Drop launch wheel (spare tire) and lock into position.
3) Snug the winch cable to prevent trailer from rolling when disconnecting from vehicle.
4) Disconnect trailer from tow ball.
5) Power out winch cable a couple of feet to clear the towing ball (figure #4).
6) Block back tires with a pair of 4"X4" pieces of wood.
7) Power out winch cable to verify trailer does not roll back & create slack in cable (figure #5).
8) Disconnect winch cable and drive truck up ramp until rope is snug (figure #6).
9) Remove 4X4 blocks.
10) Slowly backup the necessary distance until the boat will float off the trailer (figure #7).
Reverse the process to pull the trailer out or retrieve the boat onto the trailer.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Commentary:
When I took these pictures, I did everything myself, thus it is easy to do by one's self. The worse part about single handed launching is if you do not have a dock next to you, you will have to get a little wet in order to get on and off the boat. Generally I launch on the part of the ramp that is right next to a floating dock. This enables me to jump on and off the boat without ever touching the water.
More Commentary:
Most of the time I am with my wife or a good friend. With two people who have the system down well and perform many of the steps in parallel, we can launch and retrieve our boat within 10 minutes. It is always fun to impress others on the ramp with launching or retrieving such a large boat, especially if it takes us less time than it does to launch their power boat.
Safety Issues:
To avoid a potential, serious accident, do not disconnect the trailer from the towing vehicle until the trailer tires are about 10 feet from the water and no one is behind the boat. If for some reason the trailer was to roll down the ramp, the boat would splash into the water after rolling only a short distance. This is not a desirable situation, but would probably not result in loss of life or boat.
Also, I use the winch cable as a safety measure. I make sure the boat will not roll backwards before disconnecting the winch cable from the trailer. I do have enough winch cable length to launch and retrieve the boat by using just the winch, but the power in and power out features of the winch are too slow.