Portable electric winch to launch and recover your boat and trailer

Do I gather that your main challenge is to keep the car wheels dry, as your boat does not float off the trailer when the car wheels touch thr waterline? If this is the case my first recommendation would be to find an extending bar. I used to have one. It was a masterpiece of engineering, being a three piece telescoping square bar that locked in position automatically as each of the three extending sections reached full length. The advantage to you would be deeper immersion of your trailer while still having a fast retrieval speed. This method works fine if your slipway is not slippery. Here’s an example:

My second recommendation would indeed be a winch, assuming you have enough weight on the jockey wheel so your trailer does not rear up. It’s an easy task to connect your winch rope to your trailer ball and wind in or out. The Goodwinch has a pull of 12,000 pounds. My Rule V42 RE was rated at 4,200 pounds and pulled boat plus 80HP four-stroke outboard, so your Goodwinch would cope very easily.

As for the bak rak adapter, by coincidence I had a Bak Rak platform on my car. I did also have the ball to flange adapter but never used it As my towball was flange mounted.

In summary, your setup should work well but you might save some money by using a less powerful winch. With the powerful clamps that wrap around tow balls, if my bike rack experience is anything to go by, your mount should be rock solid

cheers!.

Hi Jonny. Thanks for explaining your situation. I was pleased with my winch and setup. My boat was a dory very similar to the Wilson Flyer. I used various cars over the years but all modest in size. Having once towed a friend‘s 21’ sailing boat to Wales, then up a very steep track to my friend home, I know what you mean about struggling clutches. My car was in first gear, clutch pedal up, and going nowhere while belching stinky smoke.Do I gather that your main challenge is to keep the car wheels dry, as your boat does not float off the trailer when the car wheels touch thr waterline? If this is the case my first recommendation would be to find an extending bar. I used to have one. It was a masterpiece of engineering, being a three piece telescoping square bar that locked in position automatically as each of the three extending sections reached full length. The advantage to you would be deeper immersion of your trailer while still having a fast retrieval speed. This method works fine if your slipway is not slippery. Here’s an example: DIY Custom Trailer Tongue Extension . Mine looked like this: Extend A Hitch! Boat launching has never been so easy! My second recommendation would indeed be a winch, assuming you have enough weight on the jockey wheel so your trailer does not rear up. It’s an easy task to connect your winch rope to your trailer ball and wind in or out. The Goodwinch has a pull of 12,000 pounds. My Rule V42 RE was rated at 4,200 pounds and pulled boat plus 80HP four-stroke outboard, so your Goodwinch would cope very easily.As for the bak rak adapter, by coincidence I had a Bak Rak platform on my car. I did also have the ball to flange adapter but never used it As my towball was flange mounted.In summary, your setup should work well but you might save some money by using a less powerful winch. With the powerful clamps that wrap around tow balls, if my bike rack experience is anything to go by, your mount should be rock solidcheers!.