Smilodon on Trailer

Smilodon sitting on its completed trailer.

In addition to a fresh coat of Zophar paint, the trailer got a new upright to support the mast. Like the rest of the trailer, it's made out of quarter inch wall steel. The previous owner had cut all the parts except for the mast fork. I went with 3/16" steel for that, figuring that was overkill enough.

Everywhere boat or mast can touch the trailer, there's something cushioning it. Inside the mast fork is 1/8" neoprene with trailer carpet glued on top. It's actually quite soft. There's another neoprene/carpet pad on the rear of the upright to cushion the front crossbar.

The blue and white rope tying the crossbar to the upright is strictly a safety. When not parked in the yard, the boat is strapped down fore and aft. The eyebolts are visible in both spots.

So far, no sail tube or boat box. I really REALLY want that to change. But the boom on the P-Cat is twelve feet long! So no off-the-shelf sail box will fit it. I've found nice pieces of 12" sewer pipe on Ebay, but shipping a beast like that from Chicago to Hawaii would cost more than my boat. As we say in Hawaii, "If can, can. If no can, no can." It'll happen when it happens.

The winch on the rear of the upright is strictly for raising the mast. Despite its 540 pound curb weight, the boat is not that hard to push up onto its trailer.