[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj9GuDvieFs[/youtube]
I've had a number of people ask me about my trailer, or about my sail tube, and a few people doubt that I can get the Bravo from trailer to sailing in about 5 minutes. Hopefully this post will help answer some of the questions.
First the trailer. I had the trailer custom made for the Bravo. The bunks are removable, and I could re-work it to fit something like a Wave if that's the direction that I choose to go in the future.
I chose not to use a mast stand as the Bravo has the permanent tripod built into the boat, but after trailering a few times with the sail in the sail bag, and up on the tripod, I noticed some wear on the sail bag. The solution was to put the sail into a 6" pipe so that when it is tied down, it has no pressure points at all. Once I got the 6" pipe, I didn't want to place all that weight on the tripod, so I made a small "T" out of black PVC. The bottom sits over the ball that holds the sail in place, while the top fits into the top of the tripod. I bought a rubber collar to keep it from damaging anything if it moved around.
To secure the pipe, I thought of many options. There are probably better options than what I chose to do, but I decided to drill through the pipe, and put straps right through. To me, this was the simplest and most secure way that I could think of to attach the pipe, as well as keep the sail in a safe place with no screw ends or anything sharp protruding in towards the sail.
I glued all of the seems of the pipe and back end of the pipe, but also placed several UV resistant Zip Ties through the seams. My logic was that if the glue ever failed, I would have the zip ties hold things in place for the remainder of the trip. The glue isn't likely to fade slowly, it's likely to give way all at once (if it fails. I doubt it will) I plan on replacing the Zip Ties yearly, or as necessary if I notice wear.
So here are a few pictures of what I've got, and the video at the top to show how simple it all is.
I can go from trailer to water in about 5 minutes.
The side view, with everything secure.
The rear of the trailer. Plenty of reflective tape!
This piece mounts where the sail usually goes, and takes the weight of the Sail Tube with the sail inside.
This is how I ran the straps through the Sail Tube
Each piece of the sail tube is glued together, but the Zip Ties are insurance if the glue ever fails
The next two pictures aren't exactly how I secure the sail, but it will give you a rough idea of how things work.
This picture shows how the rear of the sail tube is secured. It rests on the boat, so this strap just keeps it from moving side to side, and acts as insurance if something fails on the front end.
This is a picture of the straps that hold the boat to the trailer by running through the scuppers and down to the trailer. You are looking at the deck of the boat where you would sit. Using a continuous loop, is better than using straps with hooks. If the hooks loosen, you lose the boat, this way, you can afford to have the straps loosen, but they would have to break right through for me to lose the boat.
This shows the continuous loop running through the trailer, under the bunks which hold the hull.
Feel free to ask questions if you have any!