sleeper,

I don't have a direct path from the transom eyes to the trailer either; however, I fold the strap lengthwise, and it passes through the edge gap between the K-plane tab and the K-plane mounting plate. It works well, and little to no fraying. Contact OSO member WarParty36. He owns a company called Process Manufacturing out of the midwest, and he has supplied many an OSO member with SERIOUS straps and winch straps. I bought 4 transom rachet straps from him, (two transom, one used on bow eye, and one spare) and a new wider winch strap. Its quality stuff. Do a search and you will find his info.

I use 2 on the stern, one over the deck and a saftey on the bow. Maybe I'm paranoid? but I'de rather be safe.

I have always used them on my previous boats but I havnt found a good way to do it with my 27 Fountain. The tabs are in the way. If I run some straps from the stern eyes to the trailer it would put a lot of sideways stress on the tabs. Any ideas?

On my 28 AT the straps ran past the tabs too. I didn't think it was a big deal, most of the strap was touching the transom plate & the hull. It may ride differently in your application, but my guess is that it would be fine; those tabs are pretty tough.

I had that same problem wtih a past boat. The straps did not put a lot of pressure on the tab, but it was enough to damage the strap over time. I found my solution at Wal-Mart. I got two of the fuzzy things that you are supposed to put on your seatbelt to keep it from rubbing your neck. They worked pretty well, but had to be replaced each seasos. A folded up rag will kinda work as well, but these fuzzy things for the seat belts wrap all the way around the strap and are held in place with velcro. Not a "fix", but it will certainly increase the time between strap replacement.

I bought some inexpensive straps with a nice high strength rating, and wrap them around the bunk and strap to the eyes on the back of my 27' Fountain. They interfere with the tabs, and put some sideways pressure on them, but no where near the pressure of landing at 40 mph with the tabs down, i figure. The way i wrap them around the bunk and hook the strap back to itself is starting to fray the strap, but it should be okay for a couple seasons, i figure. Then i'll just replace the straps.

At the front, i replaced my winch post with one rated for 12,000 lbs (boat + trailer + fuel only weighs 7100), and replaced the whole trailer tongue with a thicker, larger version. I hook the front up with the winch strap and safety chain, then i run another strap from the bow eye to the back of the tongue, holding the front of the boat back and down on the trailer. That should keep the front of the boat on the winch post in the event of a collision, and between the winch post and the strap it should keep the boat off the truck, also.

Personally, i'm not going to try to jump any kind of ditch with my truck, if someone pulls out in front of me and does something stupid. If it's your fault i'm crashing, i'm crashing INTO YOU. I'll make damn sure your names on the police report somewhere. It's a lot easier to convince the insurance company that it wasn't my fault if i'm not the only one involved in the accident. If i'm for sure going to crash, the only consideration left to take is trying to aim away from the passenger compartment in any side impact.

Nice clean transom you got there.

On my trailer, my bunks are further outboard, so the boat sits further down in between the bunks. I think yours is supported better, but mine has a lower CG and the chines will catch on the bunks to prevent any lateral movement in the event of trailer sway. In your case, i'd install two more tie-down eyes directly over the bunks, and wrap the strap around the bunks at one end.

It takes way too much time to put them on!!

All of this from the guy who says that you don't need no lanyards!!!!

I have mine permanently affixed to the trailer. I drilled a hole into the clip for a small padlock so they can't be removed, and now the padlocks are corroded shut!

Anywayz, I have it setup so as soon as I remove them from the boat, I clip the loose end to the trailer for launch and retrieval, and then clamp them right back onto the transom rings before towing again. Its a lot less hassle then pulling them completely off and sticking them in the truck.