Boat catch - Great idea for Trailer Launched Boats

I reckon this is great

 

I love the simplicity of the idea; it should make launching a very easy process, but I'm wondering how easy it is to get the locking mechanism to work on reloading the boat: even a slight misalignment of the boat would stop the hook aligning with the locking pin....

 

I suppose the bow support arm would force the alignment to be precise - and the bow support arm could have longer arms .........

 

If all boat ramps were at the same grade angle, this might be a useful device. Sad to say some ramps have a more shallow grade angle and worse, some are much steeper. This easily throws the contact point at the bow off by several inches and this device needs a fairly precise contact point. It also requires two people that know what they are doing and that is not at all guaranteed. Many launchings are real fun to watch.

 

Indeed. And most of launches fail when car tires lose the grip on the wet portion of the ramp. The boat launch then transforms into a boat&car launch.

I guess this video has become one of fail standards: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ce6_1324157025&comments=1

 

Not enough thought is put into trailer design for boat launching and retrieval.

This however looks like a brilliant idea that won't sell.

The system needs two people and normally the person who drives the car also owns the boat and is the one who will drive it (licence required).

All you can expect an assistant to do is hold the rope while you back the trailer in and hold it until you have parked the car/trailer.

Also when the ramp is busy there is already another boat waiting to take off from the end of the jetty, waiting for the driver to return so driving the boat off backwards is not possible otherwise you will hit the boat waiting at the end of the jetty.

And, finally, some boat ramps do not allow boaties to power their boats onto their trailers.

Poida

 

These things have been around for years and work well. Barcrusher boats come with them from the factory. They are only usefull on full multi roller trailers. Normal keel roller trailers usually have enough friction to control the boat while undoing the winch. I have always driven my boats on but find it quicker to slide the boat off.

 

What you are saying will only happen if the trailer is back in to far. The proper method is to only reverse in far enough to submerge the back rollers no more. By the time the boat gets to the winch it is supported by the rollers . The ramp angle does not matter.

 

That trailer in the video is a skid type thats why it is reversed in so far.

 

You have apparently not used many of the too steep ramps in the USA. One of the worse (and one of the best looking ramps) is in Georgetown, SC. So steep that the boat is fully floating when the bow hits the snubber. Has to be held in place to keep it from floating off and guide bars are only marginal workable. Doesn't help that there is heavy cross current running except at slack tide and the concrete launch pad is too far from the nice floating dock to reach with a boat hook. Brand new, built and engineered by tax money and nobody uses it, preferring to use an older one that has been rebuilt because the new one is so bad.

Tongue extensions are useful on shallow ramps with the grade restricted because of water depth but are of no help on steep ones. My state of NC has the best free ramps I have encountered and they are also plentiful. Surprisingly, the boating state of Maryland has few public ramps and the most onerous charging system I've encountered.

 

I am not sure what you mean. No matter what angle the ramp is you still only need to submerge the rear rollers. You are either putting the trailer to far in or you have one of them bunk trailers and have to float the boat off and on. Most trailers here are multi roller. We have steep and shallow ramps to. I prefer the steep ones.

 

Apparently very different experiences. Most trailers here are fitted with bunks.

 

Yes thats the difference. Bunks and multi rollers require completely different methods.

 

If you watch the dynamics of a boat getting hauled up a ramp, you'll see an obvious issue, unless the capture device is perfectly located and if there's a great set of fore and aft guides, no contrary wind and current, yeah, maybe you can engage the mechanism cleanly on the first shot. Most boats move around quite a bit as they shoot up the trailer in power loading, so good luck with that.

Rollers are great for plastic boats, but can pop the fasteners out of planking on wooden boats, if you try to drive it up.

What would be more interesting is how many "takes" did that boat need to "nail" the video. Particularly considering, the glass like water and probability of no wind or current either. It's like the hamburger in the picture above the price thing. They never quite stack up against that damn picture, when you open the bag.

 

Look up multi roller trailers . Mackay or dunbier are the 2 biggest manufacturers in aus. They are self centering drive on trailers and that is what most boat catches are fitted 2. I am not talking about plank trailer boats which are almost non existent these days. I only have an old keel roller trailer now and I always drive the boat on without out any guides at all in any tide or weather, but I have been doing it since I was 10 yrs old. I laugh when I see some of the antics at the boat ramp. I try and help if people want help but it is surprising how many of them think they are doing a good job. They usually have a new boat and landcruiser and a skippers ticket they got last week.