David Hughes

Wow, 11 minutes. That is impressive. It takes me that long to bend my sails on. Which boat do you have and how are the sails arranged?

The new owner did get the boat in the water but only got a chance to sail it maybe 6 times. Although we did not sail this year in the annual Stephen King Regatta, I was to afraid of a sea serpent attack or something similar, we did participate in the infamous "Duffer's Cup". Now the Duffer's Cup, once known as the Gaffer's Cup, has been taking place for more than 30 years and it was once rumored that the combined age of the boat and captain had to exceed 100 years. It always takes place on the same day, the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend; rain, snow, hail or gale. In my fifteen years of sailing the race I have experienced all of that. One year I was sailing the race on a 32 foot pilot sloop with my fiancé and a 40 knot gust knocked us down with the sails hitting the water. There were several times that our winches were under water; by the way we are still together and are now married. Ya, ya, ya, we all knew were over canvased but sometimes that's fun, what can I say. Mind you there is no handicapping, we have 45 footers sailing against 17 footers. It is a 16 mile race around the islands and the little guys can dance between the rocks and closer to the islands if they choose to trim some distance and get out of the currents which can be a major advantage which is what I did this year and smoked a Colin Archer but couldn't keep up with that same pilot sloop. Frankly, it is more of a mess about followed by beer and fries for a last hurrah on the water during one of the best sailing times here in Maine, which oddly enough takes place after all the yahoos have pulled their boats which makes it even better. No molds taken off the boat but the boat was referred to as the mysterious green boat during the Duffers Cup. None of my buddies had seen the boat yet. Speaking towards the economics. The fact of the matter is, its tough selling a home built boat. When I go to sell, I know I will have a hard time which weighed heavy on my decision. I certainly could have found a good used boat for less money that frankly when I go to sell I would be able to recoup most of my monies. But I had specific wants and needs and I thought the CS20 better met those goals thus I was willing to pay a premium. I think I ended up buying it for $7500 which I think was a lot for a home built boat but I'm sure Doug thought I got the boat at a bargain. Having been in Doug's position, I can understand his feelings. Doug also drove the boat to VA cutting down a lot of travel, so that was also worth something. In the end, we both took some pain so I guess they were successful negotiations. Still trying to get used to the boat and plan to do some minimal repairs to things this winter; I'm trying not to make this boat a project nor a heirloom, I've been there and done that but it does need some work. I think next summer I'll get a better feel for the boat and hopefully trim some of the setup time. With the two masts, hanking on the sails, and then the running rigging, there is a fair amount of setup time involved. When you have two young kids running around, every minute is precious. I also need to adjust the trailer, I'm pretty anal on trailer set up and I need to get rid of a lot of tongue weight. The boat sails well enough, very light on the helm and relatively fast. Certainly nice to be able to sail in skinny waters. The saga continues. Hope you enjoyed the epilogue. Dave

The new grandparents couldn't be prouder. Don't be to surprised if they move to Colorado. Just give me a shout either through here or look me up in the phone book. I actually live in scarbough just outside of Portland.

I have great childhood memories of "Jeff". Family friends, the Urie's, owned a dairy farm in Jeff at the end of what is now known as Urie road. Good luck with your new boat and look me up if you ever come to the Portland Maine area for a sail. David Hughes CS 20

I think you can just put lighter weight springs or maybe pull a leaf out; not sur how that works. I would check with a trailer shop but 2300 is to much. I'm guessing the 17 weighs about 500 lbs so I would think you would want more like 1000 rating.

I just took some measurements on my trailer. I have a Core sound 20 that came with a trailer that fully fit the boat, bow chock to end of the bunk is 20 ft. The axle is 16 feet from the bow chock and the tongue weight is over 500 lbs in this position. I pushed the boat back 2 ft reducing the tongue to I'm guessing 300 lbs. I think another 2 ft would get the tongue weight about right. So for my boat I need the axle about 11 -12 feet from the bow. Dave

Glad I could help. I just reread Par's Feb 2014 comment on this topic and it is inline with mine. His first comment is matching the springs to the weight of the boat. His post is worth a reread if you get a chance. He also suggest the axle location just aft of midship. So on a 17 foot boat that puts your axle somewhere between 9 (per Par) and 11 feet (per me) from the bow. I think it would be ideal to be able to fine tune the axle location within those parameters. Remember that not only can you move the axle, but you can also move the bow stanchion where the winch is mounted which would also change the position of the axle with regard to the boat. Ideally, I would want a trailer to fully fit the boat, bow chock to end of trailer being 17 feet in your case. This helps protect the boat from life's little mishaps in the parking lot and driveways versus having its ass end fully exposed. But sometimes with life we have to make compromises and will have to hang our arses out a couple of feet. Best of luck and again keep us informed. By the way, I think it is great that you are doing this with your son. I have found memories of working with my Dad as a kid that I will always cherish. I also learned a lot. Dave

I to am looking for a replacement trailer. I bought a used CS20 and the trailer that came with it is way overkill for the boat. A badly set up trailer is no fun. Axle position with respect to the boat is critical to tongue weight. My trailer with boat on it had more than 500 lbs of tongue weight. I have since slide the boat back 2-1/2 feet which has helped tremendously. I also took the spare tire off the tongue. I "spoke" Graham on this and he was good with the aft end hanging off the bunks by as much as 3 feet. His recommendation was to focus on matching the weight rating of the trailer with the boat. He said that a trailer that is over rated for more then the boat is very hard on the boat. You want a soft ride. Some trailers you can move the axel position, some you can't; mine is welded. I suspect starting with the axel about 2/3rds of the way back from the bow would be a good starting point. You should have at least 100-200 lbs tongue weight. Most trailers are set up for a motor boat and they assume there will be a huge outboard on the back of the boat, consequently they set the axels far back to compensate for the weight of the motor. You might need to get a shorter trailer to get the axel position right depending on your boat. 8 versus 12-inch wheels. Well personally I think the 12-inch wheel thing is over rated. I had both. I had one trailer for over 15 years with 8 inch tires and put on many, many miles including many highway miles on it with absolutely no bearing or tire issues. When I replaced that trailer, the dealer talked me into 12-inch wheels and I wish he didn't. First thing I noticed was how much further I had to back into the water to launch the boat. Think about it, you have to get four inches deeper to launch. If you are on a shallow ramp, that could be a long way. All your weight should be on the keel, set the bucks out to hold the boat upright with very little weight on them. The bucks need to be positioned under the tanks such that there structural support. My thoughts, take them for what there worth. Good luck and let us know what you end up with. David Hughes

I'm the sailor in Maine and hope to get out on the water shortly. I'm sur I'll have questions as I put her through her paces. I live just outside of Portland so Casco Bay is about 5 miles from my house. Doug was nice enough to haul the boat to his cousins in Virginia where it sat for a week or so befor I blasted down leaving 3am Monday getting home 5 am Tuesday. Who ever invinted concrete paved highways should be made to drive on them for 24 hrs non stop.