I live in Minnesota and take my tramp off in the late fall. I leave the rest of the boat assembled, with the mast up. I keep the boat away from the shore enough to stay away from the ice push. This approach has worked well for me. Just be sure you have all the water out of you hulls, before it freezes.

With that being said,... After a violent wind storm put a tree on top of my garage and scattered my roof shingles in the neighborhood, I was amazed to find my Hobie 16 untouched by the +100 mph winds. My house must of wind-shadowed the boat that was sitting unsecured on its special dock. I was lucky, THIS TIME.

As I like to plan ahead, I thought, "I need a back-up Hobie, ready to go incase disaster strikes." Why dare missing any sailing?

I kept an eye on the want-ads, and eventually found a Hobie 16 for $800. Located at a nearby lake, I checked it out. The boat had been sitting outside for at least 15 years and had only been used twice when first purchased. The sails were stored indoors and were in BEAUTIFUL shape.

Oh, but the boat looked awful. Mildew and lichens were everywhere. A check of hulls showed, despite their appearance, they were extremely solid and in great shape. I figured, after 15 years, the tramp was shot. Besides, who cares about the tramp,...the sails by themselves were worth the $800, as were the solid hulls.

I brought the boat back home. I got a hose, a sturdy brush, a bucket of soap, and began to clean. The hulls scrubbed out beautifully and looked in wonderful shape. I was proud of my clever purchase.

Then I thought, what the hell, I've still got soap,...why not try scrubbing the tramp? It will just probably rip or fall apart, but I'll have to take it off anyway. I scrubbed and scrubbed. Thick masses of lichens began to relent. The more I scrubbed, the more amazed I became. This tramp make be OK. More soap and scrubbing revealed a trampoline that looked almost new. There was no apparent rot anywhere!
Outdoor storage didn't hurt this tramp.

Well, I still wouldn't recommend leaving a tramp out side all winter. Its foolish not to be careful about such things. But maybe the Hobie 16 is foolproof!