That's a trailer sailer!

[johnsonjay17]

It's cool to hear from someone who actually owned one.  I don't exactly want to buy one, but I've always been curious about them.

What were the big negatives, in your mind?

I have a Mega 30 OD and I love it.  The picture was taken while I was removing the keel to sand blast and paint it. I can launch it from a regular boat ramp no issues. It takes me right at 2 hours from pulling into a boat ramp location to sailing away. 

Negatives:

1) very tender 25-30 degrees is the fastest on most points of sail. But at 55 degrees she still has a rock solid rudder feel. I have won money(beer) betting on weather helm at those angles. same 5 degree rudder at 10 degrees heel all the way to 55 degrees.

2) Some consider it ugly I actually like it though. I think most don't like the unconventional look.

3) The interior is very Spartan. In order to keep the weight down she uses very little wood. As mentioned earlier the head door is a zipp up piece of cloth. Most of the storage available are fabric "bags" attached at the deck/hull joint. Under the bubble you have a 6' standing area everywhere else is like 4'6".

4) Doesn't point very well. The keel doesn't have enough area to sail at the heel angles. She makes too much lee way.

5) ?Broaching? I have not experienced a single broach yet. The most I have had her out in is 30 knots of wind and not one broach.  Did the other Mega owner have a FK instead of a OD? I have heard they don't perform as well.

Positives:

1) Fast, I have on multiple occasions reached through a fleet of 36'-40' boats. Any time the wind is within a few degrees of the beam or behind I know that she will go.

2) 5' draft keel down 2' keel up. I can beach her and step off onto the sand. I rent a slip with only 3' of water. Much cheaper than the other 30' sailboats in the area.

3) Trailerable,  She does 75 MPH to the wind on a trailer. I can take a 2 week vacation and take my boat with me. 2 hours from sail to trailer or the other way. I am currently making some modifications to shorten this.

4) Sleeps 4 comfortably full crew is 7. 

Jay

 

[chester]

sweet

 

[johnsonjay17]

On 7/27/2020 at 7:52 AM, Marcjsmith said:





I have a Dehler 25 (It is for sale it has been replaced by my Mega 30 OD.) Check out the trailer originally designed for it. It has a little floating dolly that the boat mounts to. You tie the dolly on with the boat still at the dock. Motor around until the dolly hits the ramp then attach a line to the dolly and winch up onto the trailer. The trailer never gets wet and the dolly is so low profile you can launch on any ramp.

Also this boat has the best mast raising system I have ever seen. The forestay attached with a fitting that has a line permanently attached to it.  That line goes through a block that is inside the anchor locker when sailing it is stored in the anchor locker. When time to raise/lower the mast you run just pull that line out and run it back to the winches. Use the winch to to lower the mast with the spinnaker pole as a Gin pole. Notice the mast baby stays are mounted at the mast rotation point. They hold the mast centered no matter the wind or boat motion. You can lower the mast with one hand while the boat is rocking 15 degrees both ways with no concerns.

JJ

 

[Weyalan]

Hobie 33

 

[johnsonjay17]

Hobie 33

I bought a Mega instead of the Hobie mainly because of my wife. No question the Hobie is superior in most ways except for a few. 

1) My wife is Claustrophobic the 6' standing room on the Mega really helped her feel comfortable in the cabin. 

2) Keel raising, the Hobie's I saw did not have a very user friendly way to raise the keel. The Mega you just flip a switch and let the electric motor to its job. The Hobie had a cap to remove then a raising system to install. As I slip my boat with the keel up I raise it all the time. This was a show stopper for me. 

3) The hobie is even more tender than the Mega. If you look at the displacement they are basically the same except the Mega has another 400 pounds of ballast.

JJ

PS Yes the Hobie is faster and I believe designed for a little tougher but it just isn't as trailerable friendly. 

 

[Weyalan]

I bought a Mega instead of the Hobie mainly because of my wife. No question the Hobie is superior in most ways except for a few. 

1) My wife is Claustrophobic the 6' standing room on the Mega really helped her feel comfortable in the cabin. 

2) Keel raising, the Hobie's I saw did not have a very user friendly way to raise the keel. The Mega you just flip a switch and let the electric motor to its job. The Hobie had a cap to remove then a raising system to install. As I slip my boat with the keel up I raise it all the time. This was a show stopper for me. 

3) The hobie is even more tender than the Mega. If you look at the displacement they are basically the same except the Mega has another 400 pounds of ballast.

JJ

PS Yes the Hobie is faster and I believe designed for a little tougher but it just isn't as trailerable friendly. 

I have no dog in the race, but a good mate of mine has a Hobie 33 that he keeps on the trailer and launches pretty much weekly for whatever sailing he is doing.  He has built a neat little doohickey with a small 12v winch that raises the keel pretty easily and swiftly. I've crewed for him some... The boat sails like a witch, rates like a bandit and has just enough creature comforts for a little cruising if your standards aren't set too high.

 

[johnsonjay17]

I have no dog in the race, but a good mate of mine has a Hobie 33 that he keeps on the trailer and launches pretty much weekly for whatever sailing he is doing.  He has built a neat little doohickey with a small 12v winch that raises the keel pretty easily and swiftly. I've crewed for him some... The boat sails like a witch, rates like a bandit and has just enough creature comforts for a little cruising if your standards aren't set too high.

I think the Hobie sails better for sure, It is the next generation ULDB. Hobie said in a interview once that the Mega and I think it was the Olson 30 were the benchmarks for his Hobie 33.  

I probably could have figured out a way around the keel issue. BUT no way around wifey claustrophobia. 

JJ

 

[johnsonjay17]

44 minutes ago, johnsonjay17 said:



Found youtube of the dolly in action. 

JJ

 

[Ajax]

I have a Mega 30 OD and I love it.  The picture was taken while I was removing the keel to sand blast and paint it. I can launch it from a regular boat ramp no issues. It takes me right at 2 hours from pulling into a boat ramp location to sailing away. 

Negatives:

1) very tender 25-30 degrees is the fastest on most points of sail. But at 55 degrees she still has a rock solid rudder feel. I have won money(beer) betting on weather helm at those angles. same 5 degree rudder at 10 degrees heel all the way to 55 degrees.

2) Some consider it ugly I actually like it though. I think most don't like the unconventional look.

3) The interior is very Spartan. In order to keep the weight down she uses very little wood. As mentioned earlier the head door is a zipp up piece of cloth. Most of the storage available are fabric "bags" attached at the deck/hull joint. Under the bubble you have a 6' standing area everywhere else is like 4'6".

4) Doesn't point very well. The keel doesn't have enough area to sail at the heel angles. She makes too much lee way.

5) ?Broaching? I have not experienced a single broach yet. The most I have had her out in is 30 knots of wind and not one broach.  Did the other Mega owner have a FK instead of a OD? I have heard they don't perform as well.

Positives:

1) Fast, I have on multiple occasions reached through a fleet of 36'-40' boats. Any time the wind is within a few degrees of the beam or behind I know that she will go.

2) 5' draft keel down 2' keel up. I can beach her and step off onto the sand. I rent a slip with only 3' of water. Much cheaper than the other 30' sailboats in the area.

3) Trailerable,  She does 75 MPH to the wind on a trailer. I can take a 2 week vacation and take my boat with me. 2 hours from sail to trailer or the other way. I am currently making some modifications to shorten this.

4) Sleeps 4 comfortably full crew is 7. 

Jay

View attachment 411089

Hi Jay,

Thanks for some more real world owner experience.  I did the 80's stripes!

I don't plan on owning a Mega but I find them really interesting. They seem to meet their design intent pretty well. How do you raise the mast? A gin pole must be part of the process but are you using the primary winches to crank it up or something else? How do you stabilize it as it's raised?  I think 2 hours to rig such a large boat is pretty snappy.

 

[johnsonjay17]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for some more real world owner experience.  I did the 80's stripes!

I don't plan on owning a Mega but I find them really interesting. They seem to meet their design intent pretty well. How do you raise the mast? A gin pole must be part of the process but are you using the primary winches to crank it up or something else? How do you stabilize it as it's raised?  I think 2 hours to rig such a large boat is pretty snappy.

I live in Houston TX. Check out the early 80's Astros uniforms. I get stopped every busy weekend by people talking about the Astros.

The Mega has a A-frame that is stored on the trailer. There are padeyes on the deck you attach the A-frame to. I run both jib halyards to the A-frame then attach both to the trailer hand winch and use it to crank up the mast. It works well but not as slick as what the Dehler does. The A-frame is of course self centering and it keeps the pull on the mast centered but the mast is free to move about. As the boat is still on the trailer I only have to worry about wind. So the standard operating procedure is to point the bow directly into the wind before raising the mast. That way the wind is not moving the mast side to side. On calm days I am comfortable doing this by myself. On windy days I tie a line to each shroud down low then have 2 volunteers keep pressure on them from the ground while I crank up the mast. The boat colors help me get volunteers here in Houston.

One of the changes I am making is copying the Dehler system. I am replacing the A-frame with the Gen pole and creating a bridle using wire rope that suspends a stainless ring at the rotation point of the mast one on each side of the boat. From that ring I can run lines to the mast and to the Gen pole to keep both centered. No more worry about the mast not staying centered. From the gen pole to the bow I am thinking of using the main sheet and tackle. This way I can raise/lower on the water. I can still use the trailer winch when on the trailer I think it would be faster to rig. My goal is to get rigging time to an hour. I am getting faster each time so far as I figure out little tricks. My next project is redesign the mast supports when the mast is horizontal to make them easier to move the mast from road transport to raise position and back to transport position. Currently that is almost an hour of the 2 hours and it kicks my butt to do it by myself. 

JJ

 

[Ajax]

@johnsonjay17 Awesome!  Got any photos of the boat under sail?

 

[johnsonjay17]

@johnsonjay17 Awesome!  Got any photos of the boat under sail?

On a different computer I do. Attached are some additional pics I have on this computer. I will post some action pictures later.

The last pic is the hull under the waterline. I glassed over a leaking thru-hull when I bought the boat. I took the picture because it scared me. 1/8" of glass, 1/2" balsa, and less than 1/8" glass on the inside. Ready for a Transpac? Not me.

 

[Mark Morwood]

I think the Hobie sails better for sure, It is the next generation ULDB. Hobie said in a interview once that the Mega and I think it was the Olson 30 were the benchmarks for his Hobie 33.  

I probably could have figured out a way around the keel issue. BUT no way around wifey claustrophobia. 

JJ

Probably a good call on the keel if you were wanting to leave it in the slip with the keel up (however I may have misunderstood your use of "slip my boat"). Regardless of the lifting mechanism, it leaves a big opening in the boat not very far above the waterline so I was always very cautious while it was up in our Hobie 33, and got the keel down as soon as I could after launching from the trailer.

 

[J_Grove]

My next project is redesign the mast supports when the mast is horizontal to make them easier to move the mast from road transport to raise position and back to transport position. Currently that is almost an hour of the 2 hours and it kicks my butt to do it by myself. 

JJ

Cool boat! And as a north Texas native I'm more of a Rangers fan but love that your sporting those vintage 70's Astros colors.

What kind of mast supports do you have, and what are you considering? I'm slow as hell at mast raising/lowering on both the Corsairs I have owned (it's a rare event for me, I keep her mast up on a trailer at the marina) but it never took more than a few minutes to move the mast to/from transport/raise. On these boats, the supports are only two: lying  the mast on the pulpit, and a removable support that inserts into a bracket on the transom that has a wheel on top. Lower mast onto aft support, walk forward with mast rolling along wheel aft until you reach pulpit to stow. Opposite to raise. It's definitely the brute force part of the operation, but only takes seconds to minutes, depending upon if your spreaders snag. Some guys build there own middle support at the mast step if they are hauling boat 1000's of miles but not necessary for short hauls. Here's a couple of pics (not my boat) that I pulled off the web.

 

[johnsonjay17]

Probably a good call on the keel if you were wanting to leave it in the slip with the keel up (however I may have misunderstood your use of "slip my boat"). Regardless of the lifting mechanism, it leaves a big opening in the boat not very far above the waterline so I was always very cautious while it was up in our Hobie 33, and got the keel down as soon as I could after launching from the trailer.

yes sir it is left in the water 24/7 with the keel up unless I am sailing.  With the Mega I get a little water that splashes in if it is storming. After a big storm about 2-3 cups worth.

JJ

 

[johnsonjay17]

Cool boat! And as a north Texas native I'm more of a Rangers fan but love that your sporting those vintage 70's Astros colors.

What kind of mast supports do you have, and what are you considering? I'm slow as hell at mast raising/lowering on both the Corsairs I have owned (it's a rare event for me, I keep her mast up on a trailer at the marina) but it never took more than a few minutes to move the mast to/from transport/raise. On these boats, the supports are only two: lying  the mast on the pulpit, and a removable support that inserts into a bracket on the transom that has a wheel on top. Lower mast onto aft support, walk forward with mast rolling along wheel aft until you reach pulpit to stow. Opposite to raise. It's definitely the brute force part of the operation, but only takes seconds to minutes, depending upon if your spreaders snag. Some guys build there own middle support at the mast step if they are hauling boat 1000's of miles but not necessary for short hauls. Here's a couple of pics (not my boat) that I pulled off the web.

View attachment 411341

View attachment 411342

View attachment 411343

Basically bad execution is the issue. The wheel comes up from the rudder very similar to the pic above but it is too far forward, not robust enough, and the wheel has no sides so the mast wants to roll off. The hour does include rigging the mast with the A-frame and lines but not raising it. 

The process is untie everything, remove the center support at the tabernacle, route all the shrouds, slide the mast back 4" go to the rear wheel and re-center, walk back forward pick up the mast and roll it back 4", walk to the rear wheel and re-center, walk back forward and move the mast back 4"........... It gets real interesting since the rear wheel is too far forward the mast CG ends up behind the wheel for the last 3 feet or so. So every time I have to walk to the rear I have to tie the front down. Since I have a rolling furler I also have to fight the extrusion.  If it wasn't so frustrating it would be comical. 

The next time I lower the mast I am going to build a better rear wheel it will be back enough that the center of gravity of the mast stays in front of it and have sides so the mast can't roll off. I also am going to build a PVC chute that the furler runs through that way it doesn't get hung up.  It has taken me so long to fix cause my son has been helping me so I didn't have to fight it but since he is in boot camp I now have to do it by myself. 

JJ

 

[J_Grove]

Whoa, having the CG of the mast behind the wheel sounds dicey indeed! Good luck engineering a solution on that one!

A common and simple mod for many in the Corsair community (haven't done it myself) that may help you as far as the mast staying centered is as follows. Keep only the rod (or replace it) of the rear support which will continue to serve as an axle. Upon this, thread 3-4 (however many appropriate) lawn mower wheels (the smaller kind 6" diameter or whatever). On the ends, use much larger diameter wheels (10-12" or whatever is typical for the rear wheels of some push mowers). The whole assembly of 5-6 wheels still fits inside the outer poles of the rear support, keeping them captive. Simple, cheap, effective solution to the problem of mast wondering laterally as it is slid forward/aft. On my to-do list even though I don't raise/lower much.

 

[johnsonjay17]

Whoa, having the CG of the mast behind the wheel sounds dicey indeed! Good luck engineering a solution on that one!

A common and simple mod for many in the Corsair community (haven't done it myself) that may help you as far as the mast staying centered is as follows. Keep only the rod (or replace it) of the rear support which will continue to serve as an axle. Upon this, thread 3-4 (however many appropriate) lawn mower wheels (the smaller kind 6" diameter or whatever). On the ends, use much larger diameter wheels (10-12" or whatever is typical for the rear wheels of some push mowers). The whole assembly of 5-6 wheels still fits inside the outer poles of the rear support, keeping them captive. Simple, cheap, effective solution to the problem of mast wondering laterally as it is slid forward/aft. On my to-do list even though I don't raise/lower much.

I will take a look at the wheel thing that is a good idea.

JJ

 

[Wess]

That not a trailer sailor.  This is a trailer sailor. 

Its 36 on the waterline and 47 feet on the deck.  Goes 20 knots by sea and 55 mph by trailer.  Standing headroom, not a cave, two staterooms, nice galley, hot and cold running water shower fun.

Oh and you can tow it with a Miata...

... in the snow! 

 

[johnsonjay17]

@johnsonjay17 Awesome!  Got any photos of the boat under sail?