How do I make a nice sail tube?

I have a nice second-hand trailer with a very large wooden box for my 1980 H16. I love putting all of my gear in it when I trailer the boat.
The problem is the box is falling apart and I think the sail tubes look really cool.
My plan is to put a tube on my trailer over the winter
…or even next week if I slip it past the wife.

Any advice on
-Tubing
-Affixing
-Sealing or not
-Ways to cap the ends
-Size and dimensions
-Ways to keep it mold free........any of this would be great

Thanks

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Hobie 16 1980
TequilaSunrise Blue Hulls CCMP1393M80F

spend the cash on a aluminum diamond plate one. Easiest way to make one I've come across yet!

Find a friend in the construction business. Get a ten foot long twelve inch diameter drain tube, smooth on the inside, corrigated on the outside, plywood ends painted black, screwed in one end and a stop at the other. Weld a pipe to a plate, afix to plywood and lock. Under $10.00 for materials due to the free tube. My tube is under my boat at the beach, locked to the earth anchors about a hour away so no pictures yet.

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1989 Hobie 18 Worlds Boat, Magnum Wings & Spinnaker
1987 Hobie Holder 20 #273

dale.vanlopik"at"att"dot"net

The black corrugated drain pipe was my 1st thought. I will not be able to get a free one, but I do live near a place that sells them. I was thinking 18” diameter…my wooden box is 22”, but I assume that will be a tough size pipe to find.

Are you saying that I should seal the end closest to the tow hitch?

My thought was to make side hinge doors at both ends for light and cleaning. I think that I may try to seal up the doors pretty well just to keep out bugs and winter mice. I am not to worried about a perfect water tight seal as I will keep my sails inside over the winter so nothing happens to them.

The diamond plate sounds cool,... I just have no idea where to start on that project.

Please let me know what you guys think…

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Hobie 16 1980
TequilaSunrise Blue Hulls CCMP1393M80F

I used a 20' length of 12" PVC and made two.

my first sail tube was a 12" dia. 10' long piece of white PVC water pipe. one end is flared to mate with the next and has a gasket inside it. I cut off a 2" section of the flared end, added a round flat piece of white lexan to made an end cap for the foward end. then I made another cap with the rest of the flare (including gasket) for the aft end. it was held to the tube with 2 lock hasps and a pair of matching padlocks. the tube was mounted on CCA 2X wood profiled to the curve and through bolted to the trailer. I also added a stainless steel vent to each end.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

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Raise your sail one foot, and you get ten feet of wind.
起你的一只帆，和你10英尺的。 -- Chinese Proverb
William D. Latinette @ Latrobe, PA, USA w. H14 Turbo X 2... [email protected]

well, my purchase was in 1986 so I have no idea of what today's cost would be.
I cannot even recall what I paid then.

any larger plumbing supply house should carry it.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

Irrigation supply dealers. You get a better deal if you buy a full 20 ft section. Great for making 2 tubes.

I was lucky enough to score a piece of 12"x20' smooth ID/corrugated OD pipe off of Craigslist for $75. Had to drive to Delaware (1.5hrs) to get it but it was exactly what I wanted and for me it was worth it.

I bought the endcaps that are made for them to fit onto the forward end ($$$), but made the rear ones myself. For them I had to experiment somewhat but discovered that 5 gallon bucket lids fit really well. I got gray ones from Lowes that fit the ID perfectly, and orange ones from HD that fit outside imperfectly.

What made it all come together and work was sandwiching them over a piece of 3/4" treated plywood. That way, the inside lid (gray, Lowes) fits snug into the tube and seals it up, and the exterior lid (orange, Home Depot) finishes it off nicely from the outside and is highly visual for safety while trailering. The plywood gives it the beef I wanted, oversize hinges and hasps and a cable lock complete it.

The only real difficulty I had was trying to rivet the hardware to the tubes. No go. They just couldn't get enough grip and kept falling out. So, small machine screws and fender washers had to be used.

Also, since my boat is stored on a private beach and I don't need the trailer for it much, I modified it to pull double duty as a utility trailer. The kicker here was coming up with a way to have my cake and eat it, too, where I could secure the tubes down temporarily but sufficiently enough w/o impacting the functionality while in "utility mode," but doing so that wouldn't also impact the functionality while in "boat mode" either.

If you're interested I can post some pix.

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

quote="fastcat"]If you're interested I can post some pix.[/quote]

It would be great if you could post some pics............thanks

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Hobie 16 1980
TequilaSunrise Blue Hulls CCMP1393M80F

Ok will do, give me a couple of days. Trailer is full of mulch, and, well, I'm sailing this weekend don't 'cha know!

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

I am in the process of building a sail tube. 1 month ago, I purchased a 12" by 20' long schedule 40 pipe from a local plumbing warehouse. It was about $250. I was originally thinking of using the black corragated stuff, (the same plumbing warehouse sold a 12"x20' piece for about $150) but I later decided that the corragated shape will hold water unless holes were drilled in the bottom which would allow road spray to get inside. Also, the corragated shape would not alow my sail bag to easily slide inside the pipe from one end.
As a side note, you will see that I am selling the other half of the pipe in beachcat's classifieds for $100 OBO.
The pipe weighs in at about 120 lbs and with all of the blocking and stuff I am adding, the completed assembly will add about 150 lbs to the trailer. So, I am taking the opportunity to strip down my rusty 20 year old trailer and beef up its suspension to take on the additional weight.
I will post pictures when I get it completed.
Thanks!

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Eric Weller
2006 F18 Capricorn
1980 H16
Keep the pointy side up!

I have worked with corragated pipe that I am considering and it is smooth on the inside. Therefore I assume, with a properly created end cap (door) the sails should slide in with no trouble. The pipe is also solid on the outside. Therefore I assume and with properly sealed fasteners I should not have any leakage. Please let me know what you think. Also I am excited to see your pictures..............Thanks

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Hobie 16 1980
TequilaSunrise Blue Hulls CCMP1393M80F

Hey Eric, just curious but 150# sounds really heavy to me. I assume you mean the entire 20' length? My 10' sections are surprisingly light considering how solidly they are built, and I can easily flip one up on my shoulder for transport. This was another reason I wanted this particular type of pipe for my sail tube solution, so I could convert my trailer to "utility" mode and back without too much hassle.

AlbanyNYH16: I should have you some pics later today or tomorrow.

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'