I will try to explain here the basic setting up of steel and loading of a normal sailboat.

I am loading a small 37 Beneteau at Marion, SC. I figured this will be a nice one to make a basic tutorial on. Now, not all sailboats are the same. But it will have the same concept as this one just a little more to them and a lot more steel.

Sailboats are not as easy to load as powerboats. Don't get me wrong. They are not hard, but it just takes a little more ingenuity than a powerboat. Pretty much all your sailboats are up high. So you will need longer uprights. Your Keel is most times smaller. So you will be doing more of a balancing act with a sailboat than a powerboat. As with all boats, all of the weight is set on the keel. The bow pads, stern pads, and screw pads are all part of the balancing act. You will need a good base. What that is, is a good solid or strong piece of wood below your keel. You will want to be as low as you can get. I got Jon(Shipper at Beneteau) to get and cut me a nice 3/4 piece of plywood to set down in the keel basket of my trailer. The Keel Basket in the trailer is in the center of your trailer. Most times it has a wider cut out as well as lower cross member in your trailer.

The first thing I do when I find out that I am loading a sailboat is ask Dispatch what the draft and keel is. Some boats, like on the Island Packet, have a full keel. That is when you can not set cross bars. The keel runs the whole length of the hull like a powerboat. Then you will have a whole slew of different keels like deep draft or shoal draft keels as well as wing keels and the list goes on. Dispatch, if you ask them, will let you know about what length of steel you will need and sort of how the keel will sit on your trailer or in your trailer. But do not rely solely on them. This is your job and you will need to learn it and be prepared for what ever they put you under. One way or another that boat needs to be safely on your back.

Another thing I would like to say before getting into setting up the steel on this boat is: never have the keel sitting on the steal of the trailer or just carpet. Always put wood down. With a sailboat you don't have to put carpet under the keel but be sure the keel is always sitting firmly on wood and that the wood is sitting on the cross members.

When I get to the place I am going to load. If at all possible, I try to see the boat and take measurements. I always hope the boat is on flat ground but there are always ways to get around things. In the video below you will see that the first thing I do is see how far away the keel is from the ground. This one was 8 inches before it was on the ground. Remember that part. Then I walked up to the bow(Front) of the boat and measured where there cradle was.? It was 68 inches. Then about where I would like to see my bow pads sit. I sat them at 72 inches. I measured from the hull of the boat down to the ground. Then I remembered to take 8 inches away from that. I walked to the stern(Back) of the boat and measured from the hull to the ground. It was 68 inches and I took 8 inches away from that. So now I have how high the steel needs to be at my bow and stern pads with the keel on the ground. But wait, I still need a few more measurements. I now walk to the very front of the keel and measure back to where I would like my stern pads to sit. This is 8 feet. From that point I measured up to where I would like my bow pads to sit. This was 20 feet. So now I have the height of my steel as well as the length so I know where I want my pads to sit.

Now I will walk back to my trailer and start figuring out how I want to set the steel.
First I figure out where the front of my keel is going to sit. I like it on the first cross bar of the keel basket in the trailer. From that cross bar I measure back 8 feet to where I would like my stern pads to sit and place a marker(Small Steel) by the closest pocket in the trailer. From that pocket I measure forward 20 feet or to the closest pocket in the trailer to 20 feet and place another marker. So now I know where my keel is going to sit as well as where I would like my bow pads and stern pads. Now I have to find the right steel to fit for my up rights on the bow and stern. The bow will be easy because most times the boat is not as wide in the front and the sky is the limit for those uprights. The stern is where you can not go too high on. They will at most times be under the boat. You do not want them too close to the boat. Lots of guys try to put screw pads there as well. It is a good idea if you can make it work out but most times I just have the uprights with the cross bars for the stern pads.
Now remember the stern height was 68 inches, then take away 8 inches, so now it is 60 inches. Well you still have some figuring to do because if you put a 60 inch upright there and set it all up like that. You will be too high and might even put an upright though the boat. Remember I said most times the keel basket is lower than the rest of the cross bars? OK, to get you close to the right height, you will place your base (wood that you will use) in the Keel Basket. Mine is 3/4 plywood. You then measure from your base to the top of your trailer. My measurement was 11 and 1/4. You take that away from your 60 inches for the stern upright and now I have 48 and 3/4 inch measurement. So I have to find uprights around 4 foot tall for the stern pads.
After I find my uprights and place them where I have my markers. I will now start setting my cross bars. I will roughly set my cups to where they are pretty close to the height I need them to be. I will slide my bow pads on but not tighten them. If need be, I will slide the stern pads on but I like to have and use stern pads that use pins instead of a tightening screws. I think the pin ones are a lot safer but then you will need to make sure you have cross bars that have holes for those kind of stern pads.
After I have my bow and stern pads roughly set, I will slide the pads where they are over the upper most part of the frame of the trailer. I will again remember that the keel sits 11 1/4 inches lower than that part. Then I measure again. The bow pads are very close to 53 inches from about the middle of the pad to the top of the frame on my trailer. I will then make sure my cross bar is level either my making sure both cups are at the same height or the cross bar is at the same height on each side of the trailer. I will do the same in the back with the measurements I needed at the stern pads. Once I have my base set up at the right height, I either slide the pads to the uprights or if there pinned, I will remove the stern pads and wait to be told they are ready to load me.

Now at Beneteau I will not need to take down my stern uprights. But most other place I will have to. See, John loads from the side. Other places either use a crane or a travel lift and will have to go over you from the rear of the trailer. So you might have to take down your cross bars. Just leave your cup on the uprights so all you have to do is pin the cross bars back up.

In the above video you will see Jon Moving the boat over the top of the trailer and getting the boat where I would like it to sit. Basically we can call this a dry run to find out how close you got your steel to sit. Most time you will have to move it a little up or down and maybe move the whole system a pocket forward or back. My bow pads were perfect but I had to move my stern pad forward one pocket on the trailer and up one hole in the uprights. One pocket forward because where my pads were is where his strap was. So all in all my measurement were pretty damn close.

After you get your steel right. You can have the loader put half the weight down on your trailer. Remember I told you the Keel holds all of the weight. The rest is just a balancing act. So with most the weight on your trailer. The loader can then go do other things he need to do while you are setting all your screw pads and steel. But remember you are tying up that machine so you do not have all day. Have a plan and get busy. Do not play around. But make sure you do everything right.
I will start in the center of the boat. If it is a small boat like this one I will have 4 screw pads in the center holding up the belly of the boat. One about the front of the keel and one at the back of the keel on both sides. See the picture below.

When you set your screw pads be sure to mimic one side so both side are exactly the same. Meaning the same pocket and whatever steel you use on the right to the same direction of the screw pad cup. Remember I told you the rest of the pads are a balance act. So what ever you do to one side do to the other.

Since this is a small sailboat and I really could not find as much steel as I would liked to of had when I got the trailer. I will only be using 6 screw pads. We already have the 4 in the center between the bow and stern pads. Now I like to have two more behind the stern pads because there is so much hanging off the back. With the Beneteaus you will have to be very careful with your screw pads you need to knock on the hull and try to make sure you are on a cross member (solid part) in the boat and that it is firm. If you are not, you can and may crack the gel coat and then you will have a claim against you. You could also dimple the hall in a soft spot as well. Some time they will pop back out but again why take the chance. You future in boat hauling will not be too long if you are getting a lot of claims against you. plus it does not look good on the company.

Setting up screw pads on the rear of the boat. I use long uprights as well as a cross bar. After I set my uprights and get the pads into place making sure it is at a solid place on the boat. I will then set in a cross bar so the pads do not slid in or out on the boat. I will strap the uprights forward and backward so they can not move forward or backward on the boat. After I have my pads snug on the hull. I will then strap my screw pads inward on the trailer. That way they do not move at all. I have had it where my straps have loosened up and the pads moved forward and into the boat. That meant it worked its way into a soft spot and cracked the gel coat. That is how I know first hand what can and may happen to you. I use 6 straps at that point to make sure nothing moves.

After you have your pads all in place and tight to the the hull of the boat, it is always best to strap your screw pads to you trailer at this point. Be sure to strap or chain your bow pads and stern pads if there not pinned in. Not strapping your pads may let them move and again moving pads are bad for any business. After there strapped, you can have the loader let loose of the boat and remove their straps from the boat.

After you have the full weight, air up your truck and get the height of your load. That will be a great time to tell dispatch what is going on and your dimensions.

Now you can start strapping the boat as the shipper is most likely getting your boom and mast to you. When strapping the load be sure to use a lot of carpet. DO NOT let those straps slap the boat. Also make sure they stay tight at all times. If there is striping on the boat and your straps are not tight and move. They will rip the vinyl striping on the boat.

When the loader brings the boom, be sure to place it on wood and use a lot of carpet under the boom as well as where you strap it down. You may have other miscellaneous part. Be sure they are all safely secured to the trailer and protected.

Now you will need to load the mast. You should have mast racks at least try to get the one for the front that goes onto the gooseneck of your trailer and keep it. You do not need to hoard a bunch of mast racks or any other kind of equipment. Only one mast rack is needed at most times. You do have different kinds of mast racks to fit the goosenecks of different trailers, but don't be an ass. Others do load and need equipment too. If you have your gooseneck mast rack you can make the rest out of the rest of the short steel you should have on your trailer. Be sure to protect that mast and put wood on the steel as well as carpet on top of that wood. I always have three spots holding up the mast and at those three spots is the only place I strap the mast down. One is of course your gooseneck. Then the middle can be one of the uprights that you use holding the boat up. Or just make a new upright with of sets to get the mast away from the rest of your upright. Then one in the back of your trailer close to the end of the mast if at all possible. One thing about the mast, be sure it is at least 3 to 6 inches away from anything else on your trailer. The mast will wiggle and bounce. It may hit against anything else that is close by including your straps. Do not strap that mast where there is no support. You could bend it.

Below is a walk around on my load all ready to roll.

Always you do a walk around after you think you are ready. At that time make sure all your clips are in your pins as well as no straps are touching any steel. If they are be sure to put carpet between the strap and steel. If you have any straps crossed be sure to tie them together with either tape or zip ties.

In the above video I noticed I did not have my rear screw pads strapped to the trailer so I did that after the video. Always make sure there is carpet between your strap and what ever item you are tying down. You will notice on my mast I do not have carpet between the strap and the plastic. That is because now who ever is making the masts and booms for Beneteau are carpeting everything under the bag. I still like to put my own carpet between the strap and the bag but I ran out of carpet and it started raining.

I hope this helps anyone trying to learn the basics of loading a sailboat. If anyone has any question or input to help other out. Please talk with dispatch or just Ask them for me to give you a call.

Be safe and protect yourself as well as your load.