My welding skills are definitely nothing to put on display anywhere but I'm in the process of reconfiguring a trailer that was previously converted to haul an a-cat but was in bad shape. My shop is also quite a mess and not terribly presentable because I've been bouncing from tons of work to projects without enough time to clean for the last several months...but photos are here - feel free to browse. I drop in a few photos when I get a new something completed.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskscCFHL

looks like you can jump on your neighbor's pool slide when you're done...

And do you need help to get the boat off the cradle? Seems like it's too high to lift off each end by yourself?

I presume a sail box will go underneath where the beach wheels are in that one picture?

It is unusually high on the trailer. Because the trailer was adapted from something else, the axle is wider than a catamaran trailer would normally be and it puts the wheels and fenders right under the hulls. That dictates the unusual height. The boat sits a couple of inches lower than in those pictures now that the bunks are notched for the beams but it's still high. I don't mind having the boat further away from road debris but it does setup a loading/unloading challenge. I do, however, think I have an answer for that and will be fitting some more pieces parts to make loading/unloading a simple one man operation. I'll have more on that as I get the main structure of the trailer done.

I'm building the mast support this weekend and will be extending the rear of the trailer frame 2 feet to get the trailer lights further aft and get the trailer balance a little better. I'm trying to find someone that has a brake and can bend 12 gauge steel locally so I can make a simple frame extension- the company I work for has sadly shut down all employee use of the shop equipment. Otherwise I'll have to cobble something together with angle pieces and some of the tubing I cut off the original construction.

Yes, there will be a sailbox made from an aluminum clad 1/2" outdoor grade plywood (sign material) with a unique top lid hinge...I'm still working out the details on that and it will be a while before I get around to that part.

Skip the heavy plywood (unless you need it for stability) and just lay up some glass over a thin "door-skin" core.

And I KNEW you were going to rig up some elegant one-person boat handling mechanism using two cotter pins, a head of lettuce, and mattress springs...

Looks like your garage is a little small. Why didn't you make it bigger?

It's about time to clear house in there.

Remember my mega box build thread from a few years ago? That thing is still awesome. The trailer lives indoors though. I would've much rather built it from diamond plate, but I didn't have the money for it at the time. Plus there was some design failures, or at least some things I would've done differently.

Something I've long wanted but never seen available is a box type trailer long and wide enough, and light enough, for a racing cat or two to be stacked up inside, carry the masts on top, and then use the box for a camper at the regatta site.

I've heard the 'It would be too wide for road legal' excuse, but what if you tipped an 8'6" wide cat up on a 45 angle, had padded racks up on one wall to hold the high hull up, nice soft carpet/foam on the floor? Seems a road legal box type could be had, if done right, and then you wouldn't need a motel off site, I've just never seen one.

Something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-5x16-Enclosed-Trailer-Cargo-V-Nose

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/AbsAAOSwGvhT8ELl/s-l1600.jpg

You just haven't been to an A-Class regatta lately. There were at least 3-4 rigs like that in Key Largo last week. Inside were 2-3 A-cats, bicycles, mopeds, etc. Pull them all out at the regatta site and sleep inside.

A-Cats are way easier since they are narrower.

I've thought an enclosed trailer with a ramp door on the sides would work slick. Open the ramp, put the cat on, strap it down, close the door. Down side is it'd need a 10' side or larger and it would pull like absolute butt unless it was 40' long being towed by a 2ton.

Thought about it. Decided I would be far better off spending $2 to 3k on a used popup trailer and mounting crossbars and cradles on the top. Gut everything but the refrigerator and the toilette and a bed or two and make room to store boat stuff inside when collapsed.

inflatable mattress, pup tent and the trampoline. And you'd know if your boat was floating away with the tide...

Well here's the thing about the box trailer concept. I like to wash and wax my boat before a regatta, but by the time I arrive at the regatta, the boat is covered with road grime, and I have to at least get a sponge and rinse it off, or maybe even do some serious scrubbing if it's Love Bug season. I figured a box would save the boat from all that, and then could be used a tent that won't leak or flap if a midnight thunderstorm comes along, as has happened in many past regattas, not to mention the ease of rolling the boat on board as Karl mentions above, and just put the mast on top. But it's the width thing we have to deal with, with a standard 8'6" wide cat.

The A cats are what, about 8' wide? So the extra 6" is really that big a deal?

I was thinking someone like Karl or Jake, with all their wood working ability, might be able to build a box out of plywood, just big enough for an F18/F16 and keep it light enough for towing behind something besides a truck, and still be road legal.

I have seen a few flatbed type trailers, if you just put walls and a roof on it, you'd be all set.

I have a 3 horse gooseneck trailer for the horses, but it's not nearly wide enough or even tall or long enough to jam a cat into. And the smell would drive you out if it rained and you had to close up the windows!

There were some club race cars in Sebring this weekend, I've been seeing some pretty wide car trailers going by that looked a lot wider than 8'6", and they have the ramp type back door, perfect for rolling a car or catamaran in. Next time I see one parked maybe I'll measure the back door and see if it's 8'6" wide.

The rear frame extension (aft and to the side) are done. I probably should have just looked for a more suitable trailer - this has taken quite a bit of time. Because the tires are almost centered under the hull, I need to provide some decking to protect the boat from tire thrown debris. This will be decked in 1/2" plywood.

Something like this. Flatbed/popup

Or like this, notice the roll up ramp in the back. Still, this one is only 8.5' x 16':

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-5x16-Encl...6-CALL-/201369143396?hash=item2ee2894864

My problem with something like that is fuel mileage (the lack thereof) and the weight. That's probably a 3,000lb trailer when empty and is asking a good bit out of a 1/2 ton truck.

I don't know what a half ton truck is, but I tow three 1,200lb horses in a gooseneck trailer (several thousand pounds empty) with my Ford F150, 5.8L V8. I think the owner's manual said it should tow up to 17,000lbs.

Before this truck, I towed the same trailer with a F150 with the 4.6L V8.

But most of my towing is in FL, and FL is about the flattest state in the country. I do take it up to Auburn, Alabama, there are some hills up there and it's slow going up those hills with 3 horses on board but it gets there.

I don't think a box trailer with a relatively light cat inside would be too much for any truck to pull, but the aerodynamic drag would keep you from going much over 60 maybe.

I stuffed seven disassembled H14's into my brothers 8½'x24' enclosed trailer and dragged it from Iowa to New York state. 12mpg average over the trip. With a triple stack on my trailer I get about the same, maybe 1mpg better. Way less than half the weight, basically the same mileage. The drag of a catamaran on an open trailer is insane.

My work trailer is a 7x18 enclosed Featherlite. I want to say it's 2700 #'s empty. All aluminum. It's got a taller 7' sidewall, it's a shitshow for mileage because of that.