Dart 15 Forums

As the proud owner of Steve Sawfords first trailer box I was wondering about attaching a lighting board to the back of it. The one I use at present is a great big thing that sits on the back of the boat, attached via the rudder fittings. However it all needs to be removed when you arrive at your destination to get the boat off the trailer.

If a smaller lighting set is attached to the back of the box low down, the back end of the boat will stick out a bit and could obscure the lights from the side, rear view would be ok.

Is Mr Plod going to pull me over for this ?? Brunstrum our chief plod in N. Wales isn't to keen on the motorist ( although he does sail a Hawk day boat ).

Her Majesty's constabluary simply adore road trailers. It gives them the chance to throw the rule book at you. Kevin's post reminds me of an incident about thirty five years ago.

I was in the front passenger seat, having just collected an Enterprise sailing dinghy from the Bank sailing club at Putney in London. We had just turned onto Putney bridge when my driver observed we were being followed by a police motor cycle.

After about five minutes, the policeman overtook us and flagged us down. He dismounted, and as he approached our car, my driver unwound his window with a "Good afternoon officer".

The policeman replied by saying, "I've been following you for a full five minutes, and in that time, I have counted at least nineteen faults with your road trailer. What is your destination?"

My friend looked at me, so I leant across and ventured, "Actually officer, we are going to the Bank sailing club at Putney."

The police motor cyclist rolled his eyes and said, "That's not very far, but you're going completely in the wrong direction. You need to turn around, and re-cross Putney Bridge, turn at the traffic lights, and.............." After that, he sped off, and we never saw him again.

We continued our journey, and laughed all the way to Salcombe in Devon.

Andrew,
TBYC.

Hi Kevin

If you don't need your big number plate attached to the transoms for carrying your mast heel you might be able to do this. You would still need extra tail lights on the transoms if they stick out more than 3 ft from the main lighting board on your box.

I seem to remember reading here somewhere that the lights should be no more than a certain distance in from the sides of the boat/trailer (but I guess that a lot of people could fall foul of that one). If there is no more than a 3 ft overhang I reckon you'd be alright, but ideally it would be good to install some lit "markers" (red rear; white front) on the extremeties and probably some extra orange flashers if you can too.

How hard is it to remove the present tail board?

Hi Rob....The set I use now is good and robust (and heavy), not to difficult to get on and off and does have a mast step. When I take the boat to and from the club I have bolted the set to the back of the trailer for the return trip home (minus boat), but as the box sticks out a bit beyond the back of the trailer I cannot do this. Moving the box forward would make the hitch weight very heavy.

I have a standard size lighting set which if attached to the box would make things nice and simple but maybe not legal ?

I made up a wooden board that fits across the rudder pintels and has red reflector triangles near the pintels.

I can then use the 'standard' narrower plastic lamp board bolted either to that board when the boat is aboard or the box when it is not - the 'plank' drops in the box when not in use.

It is probably not strictly legal 100% in terms of how far in the lights are from the sides but the red reflectors outboard help indicate the width.

This does away with the heavy frame that was across the pintels and worried me somewhat in terms of what it was doing to the pintel/hull interface when bouncing along the road.

I wrap thick foam (25mm) around the mast and rest/tie it to the rear beam.

Steve

Here is something I found on the Trident Trailers website:

Marking of rear overhang

Between 1m and 2m, the end must be clearly visible, do so by attaching a piece of cloth or similar.

Between 2m and 3.05m, a marker board as defined in the regulations must be fitted and also illuminated at night.

Loads must not extend more than 305mm either side of the trailer, up to a maximum width of 2.9m.

Kevin,

If you "Search" using trailer AND board you'll find something from Keith Chidwick, where a PC told him that lights must be within 300mm of the side of the trailer (forget the 150mm halving bit) on both sides.

If you search using trailer AND law you'll find a wadge under "Cartopping" which includes info from "David" which relates to overhangs (esp rear), and I think the same regs apply to trailers as well as cars.

Personally, especially after an incident travelling home on the M4 from Saundersfoot, I'd always want to have a full width lighting board at the very rearmost point.

Hi everyone,

This site might help:

http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/index.htm

Ian (Yorkshire Dales S.C.)

Hi Ian,
It is ages since you sold #1955 - just goes to show it's hard to keep an old Sprint 15 man down.
Fancy another?
Cheers
Bob

I read this at: http://www.sonata.org.uk/hints/trailing.php

Lighting
These regulations vary slightly depending on the age of the trailer and the width of the towing vehicle, but this is what is normally required. The trailer board needs; 2 red rear lamps, 2 stop lamps, number plate and light, 2 red reflectors, 2 amber indicators, 1 rear red fog lamp, 2 white forward facing reflectors. In addition, as most Sonata trailers are more than 2.1 meters wide, we also need white forward facing lamps on the trailer board or mudguards. The lighting board must be wide enough so the outer edge of the rear lights is within 150mm of the outer edge of the boat. This lighting board should be positioned within 1 metre of the end of the total overhang (which is often the mast), or otherwise the end of the overhang would have to be lit with an addition reflector and red lamp. The lighting board should not be more than 1.5 metres off the ground, (or 2.1 metres if the structure of the trailer makes this impracticable - so can we put the board up on the transom?) The trailer also requires at least two amber reflectors down each side.

A lot of it would seem to apply to towing a catamaran, but perhaps not the reflectors down the sides. A sonata weighs in at 2 tons but the width is probably relevant. Oh - do we all have fog lights? (I think my trailer is too old to qualify.)

Hi Bob,

I loved my Dart 15 but I sold it for a few reasons. At the time I was the only person with one at the club. Due to the very rocky shore at Grimwith Reservoir I got fed up of gel coating the skegs and keel bands. I also found that I was constantly repairing the battens. However the main reason was that at 15 stones I thought that I was far too heavy for the boat - I now have a Phantom. I like my Phantom and I have had the odd decent result at the club but I still get panned at Phantom open meetings. I have very fond memories of 1955 and the Dart/Sprint 15 fleet members. I still check the website every day, hence my recent posting about trailers. I am glad to see that you appear to have made a good recovery from your recent illness.

Ian (Yorkshire Dales S.C.)

Ian, Nice to hear from you and I'm pleased that you keep in touch by reading our website (still one of the best around).
Yes, the Phantom is well liked by those a bit on the heavy side. Simon Childs (ex National Champion) use to sail at Grafham & I see he is back to his winning ways in his new Phamtom - just in time for your Nationals. He is a big chap. Our leading 15 stoner (Keith Ball) was 9th in our Nationals at Saundersfoot but he would be better if he practiced more.
Best Regards
Bob

Kevin Parvin wrote: If a smaller lighting set is attached to the back of the box low down, the back end of the boat will stick out a bit and could obscure the lights from the side, rear view would be ok.

Kevin - would something like this be useful: http://www.towsure.com/product/1090-Pod_Lighting_Board ?

Kevin

Keep your wide board, it's safer & will keep Mr Plod happy. I believe the min distance of lights from the edge of a vehicle is 400mm, but this still makes standard trailer boards illegal.

I use a standard board when I'm trailing without the boat.

Will you be at Carsington? I'd like to see this new box.

Charles

Thanks to all for the information, what a good thing the chat page is !

I will continue to use the big lighting set for long trips and rig up the smaller one for sailing club boat delivery ( and do the trip on the quiet when Mr Plod is busy doing something else ).

I cannot make Carsington for two reasons..... My lovely wife is 40 on the 15th and plans have been made...... The back problems I suffered before and during the Nationals have continued, Sciatica is a horrible condition.

On the mend soon I hope ..... Kevin