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Towing with or without support under cover


2011VTX

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We've had one of those typical springtime weeks around here. 70s on Monday & got to ride after work. Tuesday started out great, warmed up to the mid 60s by lunch. Then by the time I got off work, temps were in the low 50s & it was blowin & rainin like crazy. When I got home it calmed down a bit & the lake glassed up pretty nice. I checked the weather report & decided I saw that we had like 2 or 3 days of this in our future. So I decided to pull the boat out & start getting it ready for the holiday weekend. I pulled the boat out, drove it back up to the house & then the wind & rain started again. I decided just to park the boat in the driveway rather than tucking it away in it's normal RV spot. The driveway has a slight downhill slope to it, which allows the rain water to pool up on the cover... even the Rankin/Evolution cover. But I've had it a few years now & know when it will & won't do this. And this winter, I had a D-ring sewn into the top of it, right under the tower. This allows me to install a bungee cord from the D-ring to the tower & give the cover a little peak to it...... just like having a support pole under it. But I didn't have to get under the cover to install it.

20130521_181947_zpsb0f4b014.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

We just towed our 2013 Wakesetter a short distance without the cover and lost a seat cushion. 35 mph This is ridiculous because it was snapped down. Had a Mastercraft before and no issue ever. Even on freeway.

We went to the dealer and he just lost the same seat the same way. This is a design issue.

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We just towed our 2013 Wakesetter a short distance without the cover and lost a seat cushion. 35 mph This is ridiculous because it was snapped down. Had a Mastercraft before and no issue ever. Even on freeway.

We went to the dealer and he just lost the same seat the same way. This is a design issue.

This is a common problem on almost any brand of boat when you run without the walkthru shield installed in the bow. kinda crazy that the dealer did it. Almost every summer at least one person gets on these forums to complain about it.

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This is a common problem on almost any brand of boat when you run without the walkthru shield installed in the bow. kinda crazy that the dealer did it. Almost every summer at least one person gets on these forums to complain about it.

Do you suppose this is the reason for doing away with the three part hatches on the sundeck area? With my '08 V ride I always worried I would forget to put the locking pin in place for the engine hatch before trailering (never did forget though). I like the on water utility of the 3-way hatches better, but think the double hatches are safer for towing.

Edited by Cory
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We just towed our 2013 Wakesetter a short distance without the cover and lost a seat cushion. 35 mph This is ridiculous because it was snapped down. Had a Mastercraft before and no issue ever. Even on freeway.

We went to the dealer and he just lost the same seat the same way. This is a design issue.

Dude, a napkin wouldn't fly off the sunpad at 35 mph!! Nice first post!!

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Do you suppose this is the reason for doing away with the three part hatches on the sundeck area? With my '08 V ride I always worried I would forget to put the locking pin in place for the engine hatch before trailering (never did forget though). I like the on water utility of the 3-way hatches better, but think the double hatches are safer for towing.

Definitely a possibility, Cory. Although I haven't seen/heard of people loosing the engine cover. Because it is recessed & the wind can't get under it very well, I think it would take a combination of a big bump to bounce it up, then the speed to get under it & send it off. Obviously it crossed their minds at some point because they put that locking pin on it.

I usually trailer with my cover on. Too many stories out there about people loosing boards, cooler lids, seat cushions, PFDs, etc.

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ahopkins22LSV

I've traveled way faster than 35 without the wind screen in and never even lost a cushion from the boat, weird.

Considering we ski at 32-36mph and always have life jackets, skis, gloves, and ropes laying on the floor and I have never seen one item fly out I find this very strange too.

Good topic though. I was wondering the same thing for our new boat. We currently only trailer short distances if at all, so we just leave it un-covered. I really like the plastic wrap though, we are going to eventually travel to northern Michigan for some long weekend get-aways.

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I've traveled way faster than 35 without the wind screen in and never even lost a cushion from the boat, weird.

Just a guess but maybe the attitude of the boat or the fact that there is a truck in front of it when it's on a trailer has something to do with that.

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Just a guess but maybe the attitude of the boat or the fact that there is a truck in front of it when it's on a trailer has something to do with that.

Woulda thought they had a vehicle in front of their boat too when they lost the cushion??

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Woulda thought they had a vehicle in front of their boat too when they lost the cushion??

Right, which would cause the wind to be a bit different in the boat than if it was doing 35 - 40 mph across the water. I'm just saying that the wind may not be the same if it's just the boat railin across the lake as opposed to being on the trailer.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Right, which would cause the wind to be a bit different in the boat than if it was doing 35 - 40 mph across the water.

I'm talking about towing a boat without the wind block in and you're talking about a boat on the water without the wind block in. That clears that up.. My post was in response to someone towing a boat and loosing the cushion.

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Yea, I'm talking about towing a boat without the windblock in as opposed to driving the boat across the lake without the windblock in. Responding to ahopkins1988 post about being on the water at 36 mph & not seeing the issue.

Heres a Google search for "boat trailer lost cushion". As you can see this has happened to a few different people with different makes of boats...... Malibu, MB, Grady White, MC, etc.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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ahopkins22LSV

I was confused because you didn't quote my post, but I can understand that the wind is different while the boat is being trailered due to the tow vehicle causing turbulence and if the trailer is angled down or up and not on the same plane as when the boat is running on the water. It just seems like there would have to be some other extreme variables like trailer angle and outside wind speed/wind gusts. I guess you can factor in wind from passing vehicles too.

Not saying it can't happen, just seems strange to me.

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I may have to busy for the Evo sooner than planned... Pulled on the back of my cover a little when I got home tonight to drain one of the massive pools of water and ended up with this:null-8.jpg

I get massive water pooling here:null-9.jpg

That is after yanking on it to drain the pool

The cover that came with my 2013 VLX is much better. The material repels water much better. It's lighter and hugs the rub rail much tighter. The rear support pole is no longer located all the way in the rear. It's like 15 inches behind the middle pole. I still do not think I will tow with it.

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The support pole seems unecessary when trailering. Its not going to serve any purpose, other than maybe tigtening the cover. And wouldnt it beat up the carpet where the pole rests, or does it sit in the table support hole? ( I didnt receive the pole with my boat, so I honestly dont know where the pole rests.)

Unfortunately, the previous owner of my boat put on a snap cover. But it is good for towing, so I use that.

Passing a tractor trailer on a 2 lane road at 65 could cause a brief 100+mph wind that could lift seats. Although I cant imagine any wind lifting the engine hatch on a 3-hatch design. That thing is heavy.

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I trailer with the cover on and poles in for long distances. From storage to the lake is only about 5 miles, so we don't use the cover. With our Moomba, we had a problem with things flying out, so I started using the cover for anything over a few miles.

We had a problem with our 2010 with the cover leaving marks on the seats after trailering at freeway speeds, so I started using the poles and have continued on the 2013.

Two seasons in, the 2010 starting losing a cushion even on our short haul, but I wasn't trailering with the wind block. After I started using that, we had no more problems.

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I talked with a guy at the wow this weekend that just had his boat shipped. Said the shipper removed the three rear seat cushions for protection but arrived with no middle sunpad. :crazy: didnt even know he lost it, i doubt the windblock was in but I didn't ask.

Just towed 7 hours and 400 miles, mostly interstate, windblock installed and no cover. All the cushions were present and we were able to miss the rain all weekend so just had a few bugs to clean off the tower/speakers.

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I talked with a guy at the wow this weekend that just had his boat shipped. Said the shipper removed the three rear seat cushions for protection but arrived with no middle sunpad. :crazy: didnt even know he lost it, i doubt the windblock was in but I didn't ask.

Just towed 7 hours and 400 miles, mostly interstate, windblock installed and no cover. All the cushions were present and we were able to miss the rain all weekend so just had a few bugs to clean off the tower/speakers.

I know this is true. First trip to the lake (12 miles) without a windblock and we saw the middle cushion fly. We use the windblock everytime and have been at 70mph since without an incident. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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I've always towed with the cover on unless going a short distance. Never had an issue with the cover hurting the gel coat. A lot of times I'll leave boards, towels, life vests, etc in the boat while towing and would rather not have them fly off at freeway speeds. Drive through a decent storm on the way home yesterday and was happy to have the cover on. Made cleanup this morning a breeze.

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  • 10 years later...

Just adding my 2 Cents to this older thread- I always trailer short & long distances with the cover on racheted super tight with the poles installed. Zero issues !  I have read enough about broken windsheilds on here to not keep the cover on. -  As always appreciate everyone on this forum! :rockon: 

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