Has not been a problem (yet 
)...but if I'm doing more than a few hours drive, and high cross winds are a concern, my current trailer converts to hold the dismantled boat.
We knew a guy who towed his Hobie 18 behind a Porsche.
Mary:
I used a Toyota Terel when I had my 16. Can't get muck smaller 4 cylinder than that. It worked fine. Going to use a S-10 v6 on my Hobie 17 and Nacra A2 or Blade.
Doug
I used to know someone who towed a Tornado behind an old 911 Turbo - was about 20 years ago.
That was Nigel wasn't it? I believe he still has that car.
What highway is the toll road everyone talks about as the best way to get down there?
I'm assuming you're going through Orlando. It's the Florida Turnpike that takes off to the east from I-75. It's right around Wildwood. Be sure you're in one of the left lanes as you approach the left sweeper to the east onto the Turnpike. If you're on the outside lanes you will be headed toward Tampa. Watch that exit for confused tourists as they realize at the last minute that they are in the wrong lane and make kamikaze maneuvers between the truckers to correct their error. If you screwup, make sure your window is down so that you can yell "Starboard!" or "Water!" at the truckers. They will appreciate your attentiveness by agreeing with long blasts of their horn and a visual treat of smoking their rear trailer tires. Neato.
Watchout for speed traps around Live Oak; way east of Tallahassee.
"Quebec" or "Ontario" on a license plate is French for "I've been sleeping since Georgia."
From I-10, don't become so hypnotized that you miss the right turn from I-10 onto I-75. From there it will be thick until you get to the Flarduh Turnpike which was renamed "Ronald Reagan Parkway" but nobody calls it that because EVERY parkway was renamed for His Befuddledness. If you miss the turn onto I-75 you can launch at Jacksonville Beach.
I've heard that there are a lot of students in Gainesville and that beer is also sold there. I think some of them drink the beer and then drive around. I'm always extra careful going through Gainesville unless it's on a Sunday morning when they're all in church. There used to be a lot of football traffic through Gainesville; even during football season.
On I-4 in Orlando there are two speed limits: 7mph and 70mph. There is no in-between. Orlando will be recognized by the sea of Ohio license plates.
Happy Motoring!
You shouldn't have any problems. I towed my Hobie 16 from Philadelphia to Florida and back many times with a 1975 Toyota Corolla Fastback with a 1600 CC engine. Of course the speed limits we 55 then (wink wink). Keep an eye on things and you will be OK
oh and there are no gas stations in florida!
oh and there are no gas stations in florida!
AMEN. My buddy and I coasted into a gas station pulling his F27 on the FL turnpike. 
A 454 in a 3/4 ton truck dosn't get the greatest milage but that was too close.
pulling the doublestack down to tradewinds, we had a strict 170 mile policy no matter what the gas guage read.
If you go 170 miles since the last fillup, and you see a gas station, you stop at it.
They are seriously like 30 miles apart!
Do you find you have oversteer on right turns and understeer on lefties?
That was Nigel wasn't it? I believe he still has that car.
I don't know about Nigel. I was referring to the famous and infamous John Barnett, who was proably before your time.
Seems like Nigel had a 928. Coincidently, his TheMightyHobie18 sail # was 928.
Mary:
I still see John Barnett at the Wed Night races. http://www.clearlakeracing.com/ He is involved in the races at Lakewood Yacht Club http://www.lakewoodyachtclub.com/. I don't think he race cats a lot lately. But he did tell me some stories of a Hobie 21 race in Europe he won by a big margin. I will tell him hi for you if I see him this season. Check out our site sometime.
Doug Snell
Hobie 17
Soon to be Nacra A2
www.tcdyc.com
Was this the John Barnett from Clark Lake Michigan? Started sailing out there when I was a kid and he was the local hot shot.
Not me Mary, but it seems important to know. I'm not positive the guy wasn't feeding me a line but here is why I suspect he wasn't....... He only had one high-speed trailer tire in stock but he pointed to several others he said would fit but weren't rated for high speed travel and he said he wouldn't sell me one of those. He only sold me the one high speed tire (which I bought to replace the spare I needed) he had and then he made a few calls to see if someone else had 2 matched tires further along our route. I figured if he turned down business to someone that obviously didn't know any better than he might be telling me the truth. He showed me the markings that indicated High Speed ratings but I've forgotten them already!
Greg
jes and doug,
You are both right. John barnett was originally from Clark Lake, MI and now lives in Texas. And I am sure he will always be a hotshot no matter where he sails or what he sails.
Greg, maybe this is what he was talking about:
Mary,
I believe that advice is intended more towards larger 14 and 15" tires. There is certainly a huge difference between a 15" "Trailer" tire and a 15" passenger car tire. The trailer tire is, like the article said, designed with MUCH stiffer sidewalls to help fight sway.
If you go to the link I put up above, you'll see that most of the small trailer tire/wheel combinations there say "High speed". I never really noticed that before but there must be something to it.
Okay, I see it now. I didn't rummage around enough in that link before.
A few of the TX sailors use very wide tires (8" or so) on 12" rims, and one told me he had replaced a worn-out tire in Houston only to have it blow before he got to Austin. Long story short, the original (and second) tire shops had both sold him golf cart tires, which are not rated for highway use. The third time was a charm, tho, and as far as I know, that set is still on his trailer.
Is an aluminum trailer worht the buck$?
I own 4 trailers, 2 galvanized, one steel, and one aluminum that I use for my snowmobiles. The aluminum one cost $ 1000 (vs. $ 650 if I had bought a similar galvanized one). While towing around on salted New England roads A LOT of gunk coats our trailer and even finds its way inside the frames. I am sick of worrying what the corrosion inside of the frame looks like while going 65 mph with 1500 lbs behind me. Now, I only use the steel trailer for "around town" trips. The galvanized ones I climb all over before each trip searching for trouble (but you can't see inside!). The aluminum trailer I only look at the welds. For me, the peace of mind is worth the extra. I know also, up here at least, the resale on an aluminum trailer is almost the same as a new trailer regardless of age. Definately not so with Galvanized or Steel.
On a side note: Has anyone ever seen a trailer treated with that spray-on bedliner stuff? I wonder how that would be for corrosion protection.
Hadn't even thought of that! 
I was thinking just thinkging about the weight!
I bought a Trailex aluminum trailer for my TheMightyHobie18 about 2 years ago. I love it. It is very light (less than 200lbs according to the shipping weight) and very easy to attach things to. I had the same problem everyone else does with the salt water. I was always worried about the corrosion. My past painted steel trailers were a nightmare in this respect.
I think you will be very happy with an aluminum trailer. Take a look at Trailex url= http://www.trailex.com ]here[/url]
The best part about these is there are no welds. the whole thing is bolted togeather. To alay any concerns about that, I use a heavier grade version of the extruded aluminum to build machine tools and customized automation equipment frames. As long as the bolts are the torqued correctly they are not coming loose. This bolted extrusion is what lends itself so well to attaching extra stuff the the traielr frame without having to drill holes in it.
We have been using Trailex trailers ever since back in the 1970's. I can pick it up and move it around with one hand.
One of the great things about Trailex is that you can adjust the cradles in and out depending on the width of boat you are carrying.
But what we are doing now with our trailers is making them into flatbeds, so we can carry anything from a Nacra 6.0 to an F16 to a Hobie Wave on the same platform. And it works out really well for stacking, too. Very versatile.
When we went to Lake Eustis, we put one Wave upside down on the flatbed, and then put the second boat right-side-up on top of the first one, but off-center. And then the third one right-side-up on the second one. So the load was only actually two boats high for three boats, and nothng had to be taken apart. Pretty cool, and it trailered great.
See attachment.
I looked at the Trailex site this morning and noticed the stated beam limit for a 16 ft boat is 8'. Is there enough adjustment to allow for the 8' 2" beam on a F-16?
[quoteBut what we are doing now with our trailers is making them into flatbeds, so we can carry anything from a Nacra 6.0 to an F16 to a Hobie Wave on the same platform.
Have you hooked any pedestrians or bikers with the bottom boat yet?
Pete and Floppy Frog,
The beams on the Trailex trailers are 8.5 feet wide, which, if I am not mistaken, is the maximum legal trailer width in the U.S. Therefore, there is plenty of adjustment room for cradles for boats that up to 8.5 feet wide. That particular trailer used to carry a Nacra 6.0.
The flatbed that we put on that trailer goes exactly to the ends of the beams, and the boats are within that. Waves are a lot narrower than bigger cats, so it was possible to nest them upside down and rightside up. I know the load looks wider, but it is not.
Here is what the trailer looks like without boats on it. It is just two sheets of 4'x8' plywood, with a little space in the middle to bring it out to the 8'6" width.