My wife was pregnant when I brought our "new" South Coast 26 home. As she and I had usually rigged our old SC 22 by ourselves, and I had sometimes rigged it by myself, I realized that with this bigger boat I needed help. I recruited a strong friend to help with the maiden launch. After wrestling the mast up with great difficulty, I knew I needed a better plan. The procedure I describe below allows me to rig, launch, and recover my SC 26 single-handed.

Stepping the mast.

This was the critical element. If I could get the mast up, I was confident I could manage the rest of the process. What I devised works well on my custom trailer and may or may not be adaptable to other boat/trailer combinations.

The gear: My trailer has a ladder constructed of stout angle iron that is welded to the frame just ahead of the bow. One can ascend the ladder and climb aboard. I had a 10 ft. section of heavy, 2" tube cut that slides over one end of the ladder and comes to rest about 12" below on the first step. The tube weighs approximately 35 lbs.

With the tube in place I now have a post that rises nearly ten feet above the level of the deck. I reinforce it by attaching one end of the transom strap from the boat/trailer to an eye on the back of the post and the other end to the hitch on the truck, and winch tight. This post will give me the purchase necessary to start the mast. I attach a line to the secured jib halyard. The line runs to a swivel block affixed to the top of my 2" post, runs down to a swivel block attached to the stem fitting on the bow, and runs back to a winch on the cabin top. Setting up the rig takes only a few minutes. The 2" post stores on hooks on the side of the trailer when not in use.

So prepared, I simply start winching and watch the mast go up. A few hints: use stout tackle. Try to park the trailer as level as possible. I carry along a few 1x and 2x scraps of lumber to put under the wheels when needed to level it out. As the mast goes up I will grab a shroud with one hand if it starts to sway. Lowering the mast works the same.

Launching the SC 26

Despite its size, the SC 26 can be easily launched at any decent ramp. The ramps I launch at have a lot of slime which caused me to frequently get stuck. To remedy that I had a four foot long tongue made that slips into the receiver on my truck. (I never trailered the boat with that tongue) With the already long length of my trailer in front of the boat, I could usually launch and recover the boat without getting the wheels wet. However, since I bought a 4X4 I no longer use the long tongue--it's easier to back the truck in to about where the rear bumper touches water.

SC 26 owners should make certain their keel is retracted fully before launching. I accidentally left my keel dropped on the keel guide and found out the hard way a partially deployed keel will cause a lot of water to be shipped!

Recovering the SC 26.

What can I say? A 4700 lbs. boat is a bear to drive on a trailer, especially if there is current or wind. Through experimentation I have determined that it is better to have the trailer a little shallow than a little deep. If the trailer is too deep the boat can easily float over the bunks; a little shallow and you can back the trailer in a bit more after you attach the cable. A few times in windy conditions I have run a line from the stern (windward side), then had a helper haul the stern in place (or secure it to a tree or something if I had no helper).

With these procedures I have successfully rigged, launched, and recovered my SC 26 many times.