Trailering a 27FC

[plossl]

I'd like to hear from anyone who has towed a 27 foot Albin. I understand the 25 is trailer friendly, but is the 27 completely different? Thanks.

[obertra9]

I bought a 27SC in 2010 and towed her from Maine to Cincinnati. I purchased a new tri axle aluminum frame Venture trailer and have a chev 2500 truck. You have to make additions to the stock trailer to get the boat to sit correct and to retrieve your boat from a docking ramp. The boat trailers well at 65mph with 7-8mpg on gas. Any truck should have a weight distributing hitch for loads above 7000 lbs, and this one weighs in at 10,000lbs.

If you go that route I can share my modification plans to the trailer.

One is supposed to have a wide load permit for the 9.5 foot boat width, but no one on the forum gets one and no one has been stopped. You are not required or welcomed at any interstate weigh checkpoint.

I expect to tow 2 or 3 times this year to lakes that are ~300 miles from Cincy. When I retire my bucket list includes Glen Canyon lake in Utah and the Alaskan passage.

Roger
1990 27AlbinSC
Solitude II

[Panhdjoe]

I purchased a Float on (brand name) trailer from another list member that they had built for there family cruiser. Although I have only tarilered a few times it has been no problem. With the high bunks to acomadate the keel it is just unded the 13'6" hight limit and slighty wider than it is should be. as the previous post mentioned I have had no problems, around Charleston SC bigger boats than mine are seen on the roads all the time.

[Binford]

So what's the height of an Albin 27 sitting on a trailer? (And I guess I should ask too, given that height, what is the distance from the ground to the bottom of the keel?)

If Panhdjoe's reference to 13' 6" is close to the trailered boat's height, then I guess I'd have a little challenge fitting one into my 12' 6" shop, eh?

[eseyoung]

I towed my 27 from nc to pa to MD. My trailer is a modified planing hull trailer and tows well behind my 2500 diesel Chevy. The boat and trailer tip the scales at 10,500. My boat sits almost exactly 13' tall on the trailer. At 10' wide legally SHOULD havea permit to move. As for launch and recovery, you'll need 4wd or a friend to tug to get it up a ramp. IMHO it is too big to be a trailer boat. My trailer is listed for sale in the classified section. There are some pics too...take a look.

[eseyoung]

One question I forgot to answer...keel to ground, hooked up setting on level ground is about 20 inches in the front and 18 closer to the rear. I feel that this pretty much a minimum. If you have a steep ramp it doesn't let much clearance.

[Binford]

Sounds like pretty much the same truck I have (2500HD w/ 6.6L Duramax, 4WD).

I hadn't planned on this being a "trailered boat." Rather I'd have it pulled out on a sling and placed on the trailer so it could spend a few winter months in the warm shop where I could easily tinker on it. But it looks like that idea is pretty much crushed now....

I knew I should have added a foot or two of height to the shop....

Thanks for the reply!

[don123]

My 27 FC is on a steel gooseneck tandem axle trailer that I custom built for it several years ago. The keel sits about 18 inches off the ground, so I assume my overall height is pretty close to the 13 feet mentioned earlier

My trailer isn't galvanized and not designed to be submerged, so launchings and haul outs are done at the boatyard with a travel lift. I used 5500 pound torsion axles, so no springs and I only needed two of them. About 20% of the weight is on the hitch ball and carried by the truck. I used 225/75R16 10 ply E rated tires which are good for 2700 pounds each. I haven't weighed it, but I would guess the boat and trailer weigh at least 10,000 pounds, if not a little more

Since it's a gooseneck, it tows like a dream and I wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere, but my opinion is the same as ESEYOUNG's - It's not really a trailer boat. I would want no part of trying to haul the boat out of the water at any ramp in my local area - I think you'd probably need two trucks. I tow mine with an old '94 Dodge with the Cummins diesel and a 5 speed

I built the trailer only because after many years of owning a 34' sailboat and running up the rivers with every hurricane threat, I swore that my next boat would be 'trailerable' so I wouldn't have to go through all that ruckus every year. I'll probably never tow it out of the local area, but it's nice to own a trailer which fits it perfectly - Great peace of mind

Don

[sail149]

Hi
Had a trailer Built and waterline is about 52" off ground. Plus 8' bridge clearance is about 12'-4/6" height clearance overall.
I got a permit to bring down from Mass to pa. Permit only cost $25 and took an hour or so to get.
I am now looking for building to work on boat as at home under cover is too cold in winter and hot in summer to do work on. .... It would probably have been better buy a boat needing less work!
Boat towed great but it's not for ramp launch.
Warren
84ac

[DCatSea]

Can anyone tell me the max. height of a 27FC from keel to top of wheelhouse?. Need to know for hauling from SC to MD.

Thanks

[don123]

Measured from the inside (bottom of the bilge touching the keel just aft of the transmission) to the top of the roof and adding an inch for the thickness of the keel, I get . . . . 10 feet

Don

[DCatSea]

Thanks Don, that is very useful. Also thanks for your speed of response; it's the one dimension that is not widely published.

[DesertAlbin736]

Can't speak to the 27, but at this very moment we are trailering our Albin 25 from Peoria, AZ near Phoenix on the way to Rhode Island with a planned stop near Rochester, NY on the way for a 5 or 6 day cruise on the Erie Canal before putting the boat back on the trailer and finish the trip to RI. After a week in RI we head for the Jersey Shore for couple days, then take the Cape May ferry to Delaware to end up at Nanticoke River Yacht Club in Seaford, DE. The ultimate plan is to cruise down the Nanticoke to Chesapeake Bay, cross over to the Potomac and run the 96 miles upriver to DC in time for 4th of July and anchor in Washington Channel.

Right now we're stopped for the night in Morris, IL, about an hour West of Chicago. The A25 trailers great on our aluminum tandem axle trailer, and we get between 11 to 12.4 MPG with our '06 Dodge 2500 diesel 4X4 with 5.9L Cummins, mileage depending some on whether we're on flat ground or climbing hills or bucking a headwind or getting a boost from a tailwind. Our boat with trailer tips the truck scale at 6,850 lbs.

[smacksman]

I measured 8'6" air height and proved it going under 9' bridges (with heart in mouth) so plus 2'-6" draught = 11 feet keel to cockpit roof.
Keel has a rake aft so depending on the trailer design the overall transport height could be a few inches less.