I still see John Barnett at the Wed Night races. http://www.clearlakeracing.com/ He is involved in the races at Lakewood Yacht Club http://www.lakewoodyachtclub.com/. I don't think he race cats a lot lately. But he did tell me some stories of a Hobie 21 race in Europe he won by a big margin. I will tell him hi for you if I see him this season. Check out our site sometime.
Doug Snell Hobie 17 Soon to be Nacra A2 www.tcdyc.com
Not me Mary, but it seems important to know. I'm not positive the guy wasn't feeding me a line but here is why I suspect he wasn't....... He only had one high-speed trailer tire in stock but he pointed to several others he said would fit but weren't rated for high speed travel and he said he wouldn't sell me one of those. He only sold me the one high speed tire (which I bought to replace the spare I needed) he had and then he made a few calls to see if someone else had 2 matched tires further along our route. I figured if he turned down business to someone that obviously didn't know any better than he might be telling me the truth. He showed me the markings that indicated High Speed ratings but I've forgotten them already! Greg
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. - George Will "It's not that liberals aren't smart, it's just that so much of what they know isn't so" -Ronald Reagan
jes and doug, You are both right. John barnett was originally from Clark Lake, MI and now lives in Texas. And I am sure he will always be a hotshot no matter where he sails or what he sails.
'Special Trailer' (ST) tires have been constructed for better high speed durability and bruise resistance under heavy loads. Trailer tire construction varies substantially from automotive tires, therefore it is essential to choose the correct tire for your towing application. In general, trailer tires have the same load range (or ply) from bead to bead and are bias ply construction. This allows for a stiffer side wall which provides safer towing by helping to reduce trailer sway problems. The use of 'Passenger Car' (P) or 'Light Truck (LT) tires a on a trailer is not recommended because their construction, usually radial or bias belted, allows for more flexible side walls. This could lead to increased trailer sway and loss of control.
I believe that advice is intended more towards larger 14 and 15" tires. There is certainly a huge difference between a 15" "Trailer" tire and a 15" passenger car tire. The trailer tire is, like the article said, designed with MUCH stiffer sidewalls to help fight sway.
If you go to the link I put up above, you'll see that most of the small trailer tire/wheel combinations there say "High speed". I never really noticed that before but there must be something to it.
A few of the TX sailors use very wide tires (8" or so) on 12" rims, and one told me he had replaced a worn-out tire in Houston only to have it blow before he got to Austin. Long story short, the original (and second) tire shops had both sold him golf cart tires, which are not rated for highway use. The third time was a charm, tho, and as far as I know, that set is still on his trailer.
I own 4 trailers, 2 galvanized, one steel, and one aluminum that I use for my snowmobiles. The aluminum one cost $ 1000 (vs. $ 650 if I had bought a similar galvanized one). While towing around on salted New England roads A LOT of gunk coats our trailer and even finds its way inside the frames. I am sick of worrying what the corrosion inside of the frame looks like while going 65 mph with 1500 lbs behind me. Now, I only use the steel trailer for "around town" trips. The galvanized ones I climb all over before each trip searching for trouble (but you can't see inside!). The aluminum trailer I only look at the welds. For me, the peace of mind is worth the extra. I know also, up here at least, the resale on an aluminum trailer is almost the same as a new trailer regardless of age. Definately not so with Galvanized or Steel.
On a side note: Has anyone ever seen a trailer treated with that spray-on bedliner stuff? I wonder how that would be for corrosion protection.
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. - George Will "It's not that liberals aren't smart, it's just that so much of what they know isn't so" -Ronald Reagan
I bought a Trailex aluminum trailer for my TheMightyHobie18 about 2 years ago. I love it. It is very light (less than 200lbs according to the shipping weight) and very easy to attach things to. I had the same problem everyone else does with the salt water. I was always worried about the corrosion. My past painted steel trailers were a nightmare in this respect.
I think you will be very happy with an aluminum trailer. Take a look at Trailex url=http://www.trailex.com]here[/url]
The best part about these is there are no welds. the whole thing is bolted togeather. To alay any concerns about that, I use a heavier grade version of the extruded aluminum to build machine tools and customized automation equipment frames. As long as the bolts are the torqued correctly they are not coming loose. This bolted extrusion is what lends itself so well to attaching extra stuff the the traielr frame without having to drill holes in it.
Nick
Current Boat Looking for one
Previous Boats '84 H16 '82 H18 Magnum '74 Pearson 30 St. Louis, MO
We have been using Trailex trailers ever since back in the 1970's. I can pick it up and move it around with one hand.
One of the great things about Trailex is that you can adjust the cradles in and out depending on the width of boat you are carrying.
But what we are doing now with our trailers is making them into flatbeds, so we can carry anything from a Nacra 6.0 to an F16 to a Hobie Wave on the same platform. And it works out really well for stacking, too. Very versatile.
When we went to Lake Eustis, we put one Wave upside down on the flatbed, and then put the second boat right-side-up on top of the first one, but off-center. And then the third one right-side-up on the second one. So the load was only actually two boats high for three boats, and nothng had to be taken apart. Pretty cool, and it trailered great.
I looked at the Trailex site this morning and noticed the stated beam limit for a 16 ft boat is 8'. Is there enough adjustment to allow for the 8' 2" beam on a F-16?
[quoteBut what we are doing now with our trailers is making them into flatbeds, so we can carry anything from a Nacra 6.0 to an F16 to a Hobie Wave on the same platform.[/quote]Have you hooked any pedestrians or bikers with the bottom boat yet?
Pete and Floppy Frog, The beams on the Trailex trailers are 8.5 feet wide, which, if I am not mistaken, is the maximum legal trailer width in the U.S. Therefore, there is plenty of adjustment room for cradles for boats that up to 8.5 feet wide. That particular trailer used to carry a Nacra 6.0.
The flatbed that we put on that trailer goes exactly to the ends of the beams, and the boats are within that. Waves are a lot narrower than bigger cats, so it was possible to nest them upside down and rightside up. I know the load looks wider, but it is not.
Here is what the trailer looks like without boats on it. It is just two sheets of 4'x8' plywood, with a little space in the middle to bring it out to the 8'6" width.
I was thinking just thinkging about the weight! 
