Sails, trailer and cover

Hi all,

Seasons greetings.

I don’t yet have a boat shaped thing but am making progress on the spars during the UK cold snap.
I’m trying to get ahead a bit to avoid delays later. Can anyone advise on:

1. Where to commission and purchase sails from? I am going for the balanced lug rig and am defaulting to cross-cut and battened. If you chose vertical cut and no battens I’d be interested in what drove your choice.

2. Where to buy a trailer from? I know little about trailers but think the combi-trailer might be best so I can launch the boat at my local reservoir and then also tow her on some longer trips.

3. Where to have a boat cover made? She will be kept outside all year at the reservoir dinghy park. Need space in the garage for whatever project comes next ;)

Many thanks for your time and thoughts. Excited about the chance to meet up in due course.

Best,
Marc

Hi Marc.
I ordered my sail from Jeckells of Wroxham.
I chose them because I know that being on The Norfolk Broads they are used to producing gaff and lug sails for the many traditional boats in that area. I was also aware they had made the sail for at least one other Morbic 12 which the owner was very pleased with.
I went for the standard un-battened verticle cut sail. I want to be able to stow the sail and yard along the boom when camping, and I'm not in any great hurry to get anywhere so keeping things simple seems the way to go for me.

I haven't bought a cover yet but I'll probably go to TidentUK https://www.tridentuk.com/gb/kbase/made-to-measure-boatcovers.html  They make made to measure covers for any boat if you provide the dimensions.
I have bought a few of their ready-made covers for various club boats in the past and they made a bespoke one for my Coot which I was very pleased with. They also do things like mast socks for the bits that stick out from under the cover.

I decided to go for a Combi Trailer. A seperate launch trolley is handy for launching by hand on the gravel hards around Chichester Harbour and The Solent.  I can also use the road base on its own to transport my 16' Sailing Canoe, with a detachable extension, leaving the Dinghy at home on its trolley.
I've found with previous boats that having the boat correctly balanced on the trolley makes a huge difference to the ease of use when moving it around. Too much nose weight can make things very difficult  so the distance from the snubber to the axle is quite important.

Again I found that Tridents standard launch trolly
https://www.tridentuk.com/gb/product-standard-launching-trolley-upto-12ft6-trtra125lt.html

 and road base

https://www.tridentuk.com/gb/trident-vario-1-eu-dinghy-road-base-trailer-sailing-trtravrb1.html

 were  about the right size, the pair together would set you back just under £1000 and to that I would add their Inflatable Trolley Nose wheel, and bracket.  

 https://www.tridentuk.com/gb/product-trolley-nose-wheel-deluxe-trtranww.html

In the end I found a good second-hand combi on FaceBook Marketplace for £400.
The central beam on the trolley is adjustable so the boat fits very well.
Wheels Tyres and bearings are all easily replaceable so as long as the galvanising is good a trailer should last a very long time.  
Its worth keeping an eye out in the usual places.



Anyhow, I hope  these rambling help.
Keep having fun, stay safe.
Graham.

Hi Graham.
Wishing you and others on the forum a happy new year.
Thank you for you detailed response. Loads here for me to follow-up on.
Will get shopping!
Best,
Marc

Hi Marc
I got my balanced lug made by Michael McNamara, who makes all my racing sails. Mike made me a cross cut sail with battens, using a nice off-white Dacron, but he's happy to make it any colour you like!

Regarding trailer, I had one left over from a barn find. The Morbic is really not very heavy, so I thought the luxury of a combi was a bit much, so I make do with washing the road bearings off in fresh water after every sail. I suppose it all depends on how far you will trail it.

For "Proteus":-

Sails from James Lawrence - Same as supplied to "Swefn" 'cos we liked to traditional look and colour.
Another time I might go to Jeckells, (after enjoying a convincing presentation by Chris J.)

Cover from Banks Specialist covers - David Banks was very obliging, even installing some post delivery mods to improve water run-off.  Not cheap but a great investment (we hope).  If you go to him, the BOAT dimensions should be the same as Proteus, but our horizontal mast stowage*, through the bowsprit iron may be different to yours.
*(designed so the mast overhangs the tow-bar, not behind the boat.  ie shorter and safer stowage.)

Trailer from Tony at Admiral Trailers.  Ours was probably the second he'd made for Morbics.  He's done more since.

The above are linked from tghe website.