Difficulty launching

[Dominic]

I have just launched for the first time, and I was surprised how far down the slipway she had to go before she floated, the water was a good foot above the top of the mudguards. I ended up release the tow and lowering the trolley into the water by rope. I was expecting her to float when the water got to the top of the mudguards.
She had been sitting on the trailer since September.
Would appreciate any suggestions of whether this is normal.

Thanks

[bellalistair]

A foot above the mudguards sounds generous, a couple of inches is more normal, but it does depend on how steep the slipway is. I think the South African trailers need a bit more water than the UK ones as well. Regardless lots of people use a strop/rope/bar to keep the tow vehicle out the water.
Did she seem to float to line once off the trailer?

Alistair

[Andrew Scullion]

It makes a significant difference how much kit you have on board when you launch.
We have noticed sailing with four on board for a week with all our kit that the boat is a good 100-150mm lower in the water than others sailing solo with emptier boats.
So to make it easier at launch, if you have a pontoon to load the boat post-launch then that helps her float off the trailer empty. I even leave the anchor off until we load the boat afloat.
The gradient of the slip is the most significant though, on a steep sloping slip you can float the boat off without even submerging the mudguards, but make sure you don't untie the boat before as it can slide off the trailer.

[Dominic]

Thanks for the responses, the gradient was fairly gentle which was probably the issue, she floated to line once off and that was nice and easy. She was fairly bare as far as equipment went.