Hi  John,  and  fellow  pram  owners:  can  you  give  me  your  thoughts  on  this?  

We  have  the  Eastport  pram sail  rig,  and a  tall  19' long  102 "  high  chevy 3500 Roadtrek  mini  rv  . the  Chevy  rear  width  is  8 ft. . The  roof  has    a TV  antenna , and  opening  AirCon and  fan  vents,  so a  roof  carry  of  any  boat    is  just  not  possible.  We do   have a  trailex  trailer  (for  our  CLC  Skerry and  the  pram.) We  find  it very  cumbersome  to  drive  the  rv - plus - trailer  rig , as  the   combined  length  makes  lane  switches, camping,  parking  and  navigating  very  difficult.  We've  customized   the  mast for the  sail  rig  so  it  fits  inside. 

We  have  a  very  heavy  duty  trailer mount as  factory equipment on the  van ( hitch is rated  for  6,000#) .  since  the     weight  on the  pram  is  about  62  #,  it's  easily  accomodated  by  the  strength of  our  trailer  hitch.  for long  trips,  we'd like to    to  carry the  pram, completely custom-covered  and   with  hull to  the  rear, resting  on one of its sides in a  custom made tray-style   mount. pram   length  of  6' 6"  would  lie  lengthwise  across  the  back of the  van, pram  width  runs  vertically with  upper  side  suppported  aainst  rear  doors  of the  van .  we  propose  to  attach a  rear  tray  to the  trailer  hitch assembly,  and  build  the  tray  up  with  wood  and  foam  padding  to  receive and  cushion  the  pram,  protect  agaisnt  road  splash  and  dirt,    and  hold  her  securely. the  pram  would  fasten  securely,   with   double  retaining  straps  through  eyebolts, going  from  rear  to  front  of  the  carrying  tray . I  assume  there  would  be  some  road  vibration  transmitted   to  the  pram  from  resting  on  her  side. she'd  be  shielded  from  wind  by  the  high  van  body.  can  the  sides of  the  eastport   take  this  road   stress  without  buckling ?  (i'm  thinking of  using  modified  Euler column  equations  for  buckling  strength  assuming center seat  performs  as  a  column..) 

all  thoughts  welcome, as  usual.  the  trip  we  are planning  for  late  summer  is  several thousand  miles .  we'd  love to  have  the  sail rig pram  with  us.    but    taking her  on the  the  trailer  is  just  not  an  option. i'd  love  to get  this  figured  out.  (we'll  show up  at  the  Okumefest  next  spring  to  demonstate...)  

fair  winds,

The  Eagle  Scout,  Eastport  Pram sailrig (sister  to  The  Eaglet, CLC  skerry No. 1,  and  tender  to  Eagle's  Wing, a  non-CLC sailboat)