6. Sailboat launching with a large trailer extension; hitching up the extension

The truck and extension trailer prepare to back down to the trailer that holds the sailboat.


Do you sometimes think it's hard to back up your towing vehicle to hitch up your trailer? How about backing up a 70-foot trailer to within an inch of where you need to hitch up a trailer?

How many people does it take to hitch up a boat trailer? Besides "Twinkletoes", "Car Guy", and "Tadpole" in the picture above, there was "Dumbledore", plus the truck driver from the boat yard, the driver's assistant, and Carol Anne, who was taking photos. I was probably on the deck of the Hunter 34 by this time, getting a good view from topsides.

"Dumbledore" and "Twinkletoes" (backs to camera), "Tadpole", and a boatyard worker help hitch up the extension trailer to the trailer holding Windependent.

Even in the telephoto view, it can be seen that the sailboat and truck are separated by quite a bit of distance.

The towing truck for launching the keel sailboat is hitched to a large extension trailer, whose sole function is to provide enough length to allow the trailer with the boat to be backed far down the boat ramp into deep water.


Windependent is all hitched up. The truck in the foreground was used to get the boat out from the tight confines of the mast-up pole; the truck that is barely visible at the far left edge of the photo is the towing truck for the launch.