I've launched my boat by "roping back" on occasions but you'll need a pretty robust jockey wheel setup, also keep a look out for rocks under the water! The trailer might "wander" if you are letting it back quite a way so a second person to "steer" it might be handy.

There is a slipway near Ipswich (think it might be Levington?) that has a cable that attaches to your trailer and car to allow launching on a steep concrete ramp.

At 600kg all up I'd have thought you could get away with it if you have a decent car, you ain't lifting 600kg dead weight vertically so give it a go.

 

It should be fine .............. use a good quality rope, 18mm or 24mm is nicer on the hands.

Use a safety line stop line from the trailer to the car in case your rope snaps or you get a 'run away' .........

Use 2 turns around the tow hitch to give you a 'rope brake' and wear decent gloves.

Also observe strict rope safety rules ............ make sure no loose coils are near your legs and once the rope is under tension your feet should never leave the ground until the job is done ....... if you need to move position then you shuffle your feet (this stops you inadvertently getting a rope loop around your ankle !).

 

It should be fine .............. use a good quality rope, 18mm or 24mm is nicer on the hands.

Use a safety line stop line from the trailer to the car in case your rope snaps of you get a 'run away' .........

Use 2 turns around the tow hitch to give you a 'rope brake' and wear decent gloves.

Also observe strict rope safety rules ............ make sure no loose coils are near your legs and once the rope is under tension your feet should never leave the ground until the job is done ....... if you need to move position then you shuffle your feet (this stops you inadvertently getting a rope loop around your ankle !).

Also worth having a couple of decent chocks for the trailer wheels IMHO.

 

It's certainly doable. However wander will be your biggest problem with a long rope and you will have no way of steering it effectively. In my opinion any rope length much exceeding 10 yards will start pushing the unmanageability factor to PITA proportions. As mentioned, when pulling out of the water your jockey wheel will be under significant strain. I've seen more experienced boaters employing this method for beach launching using double pneumatic wheels on the jockey and still struggling. What is really needed is a third wheel (temporarily put the spare on a hub at the slipway)

Also, I've rescued two boats off Beacons Slipway where the nylon strap (not rope per se) has seperated. Fishing a boat and trailer from deep water is bloody difficult when it all goes wrong and could only be achieved using the Landy's winch. Bear that in mind.

 

Roping a boat and trailer into the water is doable. I’ve done it on a steep slope without any problem. Get everything lined up before you start.

Tidal range will not be huge at Teeside so a 75 yard ramp that dries at half tide doesn’t sound like it will be a steep gradient. Recovering the boat and trailer may be the hard bit if you have 75 yards of rope between the car and trailer. It will need a long run-out before the trailer reaches the top of the ramp and the rope will drag on the ground as it goes over the top of the ramp to where the ground flattens.

A simple figure of 8 or other climber’s belay plate will help you to control the rope as you pay it out. Tying it to the car’s towbar would allow you to pay out the rope from the boat and walk beside it to guide it down the ramp. Simple three strand rope will work but will soon become twisted, octoplait or braid would be better but costs more.

 

Always remember that the trailer is still connected to the rope when you pull away all excited to get the day started. A couple of years ago I drove up the slip forgetting the trailer wasn't on the towball and the trailer twanged out to one side and slammed into the rear offside door of the car leaving a nice dent!

Wasn't to hasty next trip!

 

I watched a guy use a pulley on his towing eye and on his trailer, was able to steer boat while releasing the rope.rope went 3 times between pulleys. Must admit slip was not too steep.

 

One of the best things other than bleach is to get a bucket of winkles and pore them over the slip when the water covers the green bit may have to do it a few times but they love eating the stuff

 

Hi guys,
I know these posts are quite old, but I just wanted thank the discussion here. It helped me work out how to launch my trailer sailer yacht on the Norfolk Broads using a rope on a wooden slipway that doesn't allow cars on it.

I've made a video of the experience and am sharing it here in case it helps anyone else:

Keep boating
Danny

 

Hi guys,
I know these posts are quite old, but I just wanted thank the discussion here. It helped me work out how to launch my trailer sailer yacht on the Norfolk Broads using a rope on a wooden slipway that doesn't allow cars on it.

I've made a video of the experience and am sharing it here in case it helps anyone else:

Keep boating
Danny

Thanks for that. Always worth reviving an old thread for some decent advice. New people are always coming into boating and will always have questions. we all make mistakes! Great video BTW.

 

Useful video.
I would have fixed the rope to the centre of the trailer and had it wrapped twice around the tow hitch on the car.
You can then stand well clear and feed the rope out as the boat goes down the slip.
No need to steer it as it is only going in one direction.

 

Useful video.
I would have fixed the rope to the centre of the trailer and had it wrapped twice around the tow hitch on the car.
You can then stand well clear and feed the rope out as the boat goes down the slip.
No need to steer it as it is only going in one direction.

Thanks for your feedback Lavraki. When I watch my video the need to stand clear is really evident.
I was originally going to have the sliding-rope at the car tow bar as you've suggested because it seems more intuitive that way.
I'd read on a forum that someone liked to have the sliding side at the trailer so that they could monitor and steer it if needed - so I thought I'd give that a go.

Having now tried it, I can see that I didn't need to steer during the decent and if your trailer runs free - then I can't see why you would need to.
It was just a granny knot at the tow bar for me and a couple of wraps around the trailer.
Definitely choose somewhere central and strong though - the pulling handles weren't ideal.