New Typhoon Owner - Lake Champlain

[Peter Young]

Hi All,
I am the happy new owner of a Typhoon Weekender (Hull #203) soon to be sailing on Lake Champlain once my list of projects gets just a little shorter. The prior owners in New Hampshire took good care of her, so happily its not much of a list.

At the moment, she is resting quietly on a Triad trailer while I clean up the teak and we make plans for where to put in. Any suggestions from those with any experience launching a Typhoon from ramps near Burlington, Vermont would be very welcome! At least the lake level is relatively high this time of year.


-Peter

[Paul D.]

Welcome Peter!

I don't have experience with ramps on Lake Champlain, though I did live in Saranac Lake at one time. We restored a Typhoon and sailed her a while back. Launching in our area was a bit of a challenge if the ramp was too shallow. We found having a tongue extension and rear wheel drive car helpful. Making sure you have a goo length of cable for the winch would be another thing I'd recommend. Also, be sure the keel can slide or roll both up and off the trailer is key too. That helps if the full weight of the boat is not in the water when you launch or haul. I modified our old trailer to create that by placing some timber along the bottom and guides along the side of it. A Triad trailer should be much better already in that regard.

Enjoy your 'new' Ty. She is a great boat that will sail in just about anything and do it with style. Someday, I'll probably go looking for another one!

[RLW]

Even with the Triad tongue extension I could not get deep enough to float off. I used a tow strap to extend the reach and buried the trailer except the winch stand to float her off.

[mgphl52]

Just helped a friend launch a Ty last week. How easy/hard all depends on the length & depth of the ramp plus having some sort of tongue extension. This Ty floated just before the rears wheels touched water!

[mgphl52]

BTW we launched at a state park that has lots of fishing boat traffic... the ramp is *far* longer & deeper than the nearest marina ramp!
Oh, it was on the "wrong" side of a bridge so we raised the mast after getting her to GGYC.

[Elbloch]

Hello-
Welcome to the 6th Great Lake, you will find endless adventures with your new Typhoon. I sail a 25d, currently moored in Shelburne bay at Queen City Park and although I store Cirrus on a trailer, I launched at Ladd's Landing in Grand Isle with a lift. The word from old salts in the marina is that the best steep launch around these parts is in Vergennes on the Otter Creek. Apparently this is a reliable ramp that will get you in or out with little fuss, no extension needed. I believe it is the fishing access on the way out to Button Bay and Basin Harbor. The down side to this location is the long sail needed to get back up to Burlington.
Good luck, enjoy the new boat!!

[Peter Young]

Thanks all. There are marinas if I need to use a hoist, and Ladd's Landing is a good spot, but its always nice to find someone with experience with at a local ramp. I am finding that the definition of "steep" for a ramp is a bit subjective and really hope to avoid finding myself lacking deep enough water with my back wheels wet, even with a tongue extension. Good to know about Vergennes.

Guess I'll need to take a long stick with me to do some reconnaissance work. And from week to week the lake level is dropping so what works in June won't necessarily work in August.

Will keep you all posted.

-Peter

[Peter Young]

You wrote:
Just helped a friend launch a Ty last week. How easy/hard all depends on the length & depth of the ramp plus having some sort of tongue extension. This Ty floated just before the rears wheels touched water!


Any way to quantify what counts as a "steep enough" ramp and what depth is actually required? Trial and error is effective but often a painful learning method in my experience.

-Peter

[Ben Miller]

I suppose one could measure the water depth at a particular distance from the shoreline. i.e. if I'm willing to back my trailer 20' into the water, I need it to be at least 4' deep at that point to float the boat. (Those aren't actual numbers, just guesses.) Real numbers would depend on your particular trailer--how long the tongue is, whether or not you have a tongue extension, how high it holds the Ty above the ground, etc.

[mgphl52]

a) Stand next to the boat on the trailer
b) Note where the water line is on your body
c) Walk carefully down the ramp until either the ramp ends or the water level is above spot from above
d) If ramp ends before water is deep enough, find next ramp and go to 'a)'
e) If water is deep enough, decide if tongue (+ extension, if ya got one) will keep from submerging tow vehicle

Sure hope it ain't a cold, spring-fed lake...

[Ben Miller]

Launching a Typhoon at a typical ramp makes me wish I had one of these for my launch vehicle.

[mgphl52]

Launching a Typhoon at a typical ramp makes me wish I had one of these for my launch vehicle.

And that's why they make tongue extensions!

[Peter Young]

I was hoping for a bit more specificity on length/depth/ramp slope...but guess I'll find out soon enough.

Might have more specific information about ramps to share in just a bit....

-Peter

[Peter Young]

So here's an update as of this weekend:

A successful trailer launch at Converse Bay on Lake Champlain using the ramp at Cedar Beach in Charlotte, Vermont - just south of Burlington. The concrete ramp is in good shape, and long enough after a recent reconstruction a few years ago that with a tongue extension on the trailer the Typhoon floated off just my vehicle tires got wet. The ramp is heavily used by fishing boats, but a number of sailboats are moored nearby and while the ramp is busy things move relatively quickly.

What with lake level dropping as the season progresses I might not try the same at the end of the summer, but it was a success this weekend, and a fun day of sailing.


Cheers,

-Peter

1971 Typhoon Weekender
Hull No. 203

[wikakaru]

I have a Typhoon Weekender on a Triad trailer with an 8 foot tongue extension, which sounds like what you have. When I launch at a new ramp I measure the ramp slope with the Bubble Level app on my iPhone using a straight piece of wood to even out the irregularities of the ramp. I find I need a slope of at least 11.5 degrees to launch with just the tongue extension. Otherwise you have to launch by disconnecting the trailer from the vehicle and controlling it with a rope or tow strap tied between the trailer and the vehicle.

It would be helpful to have a database of boat ramps across the country with the actual measured slope of each one, but I'm just dreaming now...

IMG_3248.JPG