removing Scot from Trailer

I use bails of hay or straw to launch the boat off the trailer. They are the same height as my trailer, they are cheap and the local supplier takes them back if they are in good shape. I leave the boat on the bails and roll it on them. I tie a line to the mast where the shrouds meet the headstay and roll it.

Hi, I have taken my Scot off the trailer a number of times ... mostly for trailer repairs. I have the old (1992 vintage) Trailmaster galvanized steel trailer. I assume this is happening in the yard, mast down, starting from "ready to travel" position. 1. Remove motor, cover, mast. Hook winch to front eye. Remove tie-down strap(s). 2. Organize family members (in my case, wife and son). 3. Tilt trailer up, until back side touches ground. My tongue weight is probably 50 lbs or so.. can easily lift it. 4. Let Scot glide off under winch control, until stern touches ground (soft pad, folded tarp, ...) 5. Pull trailer forward while paying out the winch strap, a foot or two at a time. 6. When backside of trailer is just forward of centerboard slit, here is the trick: I sit on trailer tongue, with my wife as well --as close as possible [:)]. I estimate it takes about 300 lbs on the tongue to lift up the front end of the Scot this way. I am about 200 lbs, so I need a 2nd adult or two kids. Our combined weight on the tongue lifts up the front of the boat enough so that my son can stick a 10 ft beam 4"x4" (or so) under the boat, just behind the trailer, and put the beam on jack stands: 1 each on each side (and spaced further apart than the boat's width!). I estimate that the jack stands are about a foot high each. 7. Gently lower the boat on the supported beam by standing up. The boat will rock to one side because of the keel shape. 8. Pay out more of the winch strap and roll the trailer out. Putting it back: reverse procedure. 1. Back the trailer up almost to the beam, hook on winch strap and tighten. 2. 2 adults provide tongue weight to lift front of boat. Lightest person takes away beam and jack stands. 3. Stand up from tongue -- trailer tongue assumes launch position. 4. Winch trailer under the boat / boat onto the trailer. Be sure that the back side of the trailer does not plow the yard. Voila. Please think safety all the time. Clear communication and a good winch strap are of the essence. A twist: this works smoothly with my old stiff galvanized steel trailer. This is the one case where its height also helps. But I once swapped trailers with a friend, who has a new fangled aluminum beauty low-rider trailer. While that trailer was much easier to handle otherwise, it was *not* for the above manoeuvre, because it bends! I needed more tongue weight to get the boat's front end high enough to clear beam + jack stands. Hope this helps, Ruud.