I hauled out Daisy Grace yesterday. The process gave rise to a few thoughts.
The water ballast makes an enormous difference. I hauled out on the Baiter public slipway in Poole, which is notorious for being at a very shallow angle. Every other person there recovering any boat either had to unhitch their trailer and push it far out, or else drove their cars so deep in that their exhausts were bubbling! I just had to get my tyres wet and I could crank her onto the trailer. Lining her up was a problem as there was a wind in just the wrong direction, straight up her stern, but someone held her straight for me and then she just came on.
The Coppercoat antifouling really works. It was just slimy, whereas any part of the paint work, or the stainless steel rudder mount, which touched the water had a great beard of green weed.
There should be a photo below showing her ready to drive off. You can see that the full length mast stows easily and doesn't need to be in two parts. It could be slid a bit further forward even. She was very "nose light" on the trailer. With the engine mounted she actually tipped down at the back. It looks like there is far too much space between the boat and the car. I moved the winch post 200mm forward after I got home which should improve the balance a bit. I also wonder how legal the light board position is. It is so far under the boat, it must be barely visible from behind. Is there a law about this? She tows beautifully. Only on steep hills do you notice she is there and there was little increase in fuel consumption cruising on the motorway. Now for a winter of tinkering and waiting for launch day. We are planning to motor her on the Thames from Lechlade before taking her back down to Poole.