I have a Hobie cat and need a good solution. We sail it up to shore then put it on a set of trax and pull it up about 15 feet. Even with trax the boat is pretty tough to pull up the incline (Getaway with wings) - we've thought about a battery operated vs manual winch to attach to a tree, PVC pipe contraptions to build, etc. Has anyone been through this or have any great economical ideas? Also, we need to secure it against blowing it away with winds.

Bill Hendrix at mainsail Marine in Greenville SC has an inexpensive option involving a set of unique sandbags. Works better than anything Ive seen, and as long as the bags are kept clean, no scratches or dings will result. Light and portable and easy enough for one person to use.
BTW he has a highly modified TheMightyHobie18 that uses them with, and his wife's Trac 16 and his friend's Mystere 6.0 all sit on the same beach and use these.

Duckbill ground anchors attached to wire loop/strops. Hammered in with a steel rod and when you remove the rod and pull on the strop the 'bill' anchors securely.

Cheshirecatman

long purchase system with old cheap blocks? I used to use my car to pull my prindle up on shore.... didn't care about dragging it.

Don't use a winch, for 15 feet just get yourself a 2/1 or 3/1 purchase with cheap blocks and cheap strechy rope.

I built a simple roller system using ringer washers rollers and some old cedar. I collected eight rollers from the dump near our cottage. I built 2 by 4 boxes to hold 4 rollers each. Now I can launch my Cat all by myslef. There is a gentle slop up the beach. Are you down the beach from me,if so take a walk and look at my set up. round lake ont canada

Thanks for all the great ideas. A few questions from this newbee - what is the "long purchase system" in PTP's response and what is a 2/1 or 3/1 purchase in Pepin's response? Boy I have a lot to learn! We are actually in North Carolina but thanks for the offer windsurfingsteve!

You might look at the Hobie cat forum under Hobie 16's there is a thread talking about a similar topic. Some neat ideas. Try this link.
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=10603

A purchase system is an assembly of blocks and rope. Like the mainsheet on your cat. When saying 2/1 or 3/1 it describes the number of strands between the two blocks, and as such the number of feet of rope you have to pull to move you boat one feet.

As an example your mainsheet system is probably a 5/1, your jib halyard is likely a 2/1.

For your application you probably don't need marine grade blocks and rope, you can find some cheaper alternative in a builder yard.

Pictures are available on Wikipedia.