TOPIC: Lesson on trailer covers

Trekking the Aqua Ray to Hammondsport this weekend was the first time I have gone any distance with the boat under a trailerable cover. I bought this as a "semi-custom" through West Marine. It needs some modification, but is not bad as a base.

One problem I noticed was the additional windage the cover created. This was no more apparent than when I was driving up and down the Catskill mountains on Rt 17 in New York. On the way out, it was a struggle to get up some of the steep grades. The cover is far from a custom fit and there is a lot of blousing. On the way back, I came up with the idea of tying the cover right behind the windshield with a piece of rope. The impact of that was remarkable. The whole rig drove so much easier. No more power problems and better mileage as well.

The pic shows a strap I will use and where it was tied. Mine is connected to the trailer, but probably could go around just the boat as well. I'll always run with this from now on.

This may be common knowledge, but it was new to me.

Strapping the cover over the top REALLY helps!

I just got an off-the-shelf cover for my Citation-



Its a GREAT fit, even better once the support bow is in the back. Best of all, it's only like $60!

If you look, in the same places where it is strapped to the trailer, there is another snap for a strap that goes OVER the cover when you're trailering. It prevents the cover from ballooning out while you're driving.

You can do something similar on yours- Put a webbing strap over the cover at each point it attaches the the trailer, over the top of the cover. The difference is amazing!

-Andrew

I never trailer with a cover

I feel the covers are for the boats while sitting to protect them from the sun and leaves...the short time I am trailing the sun will not hurt and the few leaves will blow out or I can get them out


beside the extra drag the high speed wind caused by towing is bad for the cover and caused it to wear out faster

Beside the cover rubbing on the boat wears the paint/varnish down (and can scratch the windshield).

And if the cover comes loose or rips and you do not catch it; it can (and the lines that was holding it down) beats up on the boat

Like so many things, there are always different viewpoints and opinions on trailering with a cover. (My boat isn't in "show quality" condition, but I do want to keep it dry and clean inside.) I found the Atwood premium cover at a discount store for about $85, it has the straps sewn in to the cover for trailering. Good point though T, for those who didn't know.

My only thought about having it sewn in is that it might not make it easy to gather in the excess (unless that strap was in a sleeve and not sewn on). The strap will follow the contour of the cover and not be able to cinch up very well. The separate strap will gather the excess.

One of the other modifications I will make is to sew on some triangle shaped pieces of heavy canvass under the plastic strap fittings. I did have some marks from it after the trip. Also tie off the ends of the straps so they can't rub on the boat.

TT makes some good comments, but after coming back from the Buffalo show last year in a partial rain storm, I decided the cover is well worth the investment. This additional strap that I installed on my cover eliminated a lot of the extra drag and it felt like I was towing just the boat.

I went with the West Marine (actually Taylormade) cover because my Aqua Ray is a catamaran with a square bow. This required a special fit. They had one for square bow tri-hulls with fixed windshields, which is what I ended up with. Cost about $200. A local discount place, Ocean State job Lot, has nice boat covers for around $70 for a 15-16 footer. I have one of those on my Tomahawk.

A lot depends on what you do with your boat and how far you trailer it.