I've trailed large distances like this without incident. For short trips I
still do this, but run a tie-down strap from one aft cleat, around the
motor, to the other, to spread the load. For longer trips I remove the motor
and put it in the truck, but this is more to keep the weight low on my
under-engineered trailer than for transom longevity. A few strips of angle
iron (in stainless steel or aluminum) on the inside of the transom would
probably go a long way in stiffening it up.
> - trailer with the rudder on the transom (yet still holding the
> mast up somehow)
Another set of gudgeons would work nicely for this. In fact, thats a great
idea - its a pain stowing the rudder.
> - finding some way to bag the jib still hanked on and sheets still run
> - finding some way to keep the mainsail slugs in the mast/strap
> the mast to the boom (perhaps the most tricky of my thoughts)
I can't think of a good way to do this with the mast down. At least the jib
hanks on pretty quickly.
> - running the halyards aft to the cockpit, and leaving them
> strung when dismasting
Mine does this now easily, but my turning blocks are on the cabintop rather
than on the mast, so I actually need LESS halyard as the mast moves forward
for trailering.
Actually, I'd like to remove my two cabin-mounted turning blocks (for each
halyard) and put just one on the mast to make laying on and cleaning the
cabintop easier, but I hadn't thought of this issue before.
<snip>
> Any thoughts? Please shed some thoughts as to the level of
> craziness of some of these ideas, or perhaps some of your own
> crazy ideas which might get me in the water faster.
You DO keep all your shrouds attached, right? I was shocked to hear some
don't. I just take
one of the halyards, and starting from the rear (top of mast when down),
wrap spirals around the mast and shrouds to hold it all in place neatly.
Works wonderfully. Put those cheap covers on your shrouds to keep them from
staining your deck as you travel. A quick-release pin on the forestay helps
too. I had one, but recently sacrified it to neptune....