Width of trailer board?

[HughN]

Hi,

Having sold my Rib I have acquired a hard boat (sorry! ) which is six feet wide...

I can't find any on the internet but are there any regulations or rules-of-thumb for how wide the lighting board should be compared to the width of the boat? A board as wide as the boat would seem ideal but, at some distance back from the axle, it would swing about during maneuvering, suggesting a less-wide board would be a good compromise.

Thanks

Hugh

[paintman]

Lights on vehicles etc usually falls under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regs: The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989
and from that, for the position of lights: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1...hedule/10/made

Ideally the rear position lamps (sidelights) should be as near as possible to the outer edges of the trailer, as should the reflectors, brake lights and indicators (but they are usually combined units anyway).
My own trailer board is bungee strapped to the back of the boat (17' Dory) so it doesn't swing about but obviously does move around with the movement of the trailer but that's normal anyway & I wouldn't worry about it.
There are exemptions for small trailers & boat trailers are not required to display front position lights (sidelights) such as you see on caravans.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by HughN

Hi,

Having sold my Rib I have acquired a hard boat (sorry! )

What have ya bought?

[Noble95]

When towing our boat 2.5m wide we had a light board wider then wheel archers of trailer, + it had some ear like indicator things which just kept falling of

[ShinyShoe]

I usually refer here:


Plus here: Trailer Maintenance - Trailer Lights & Regulations

Stop Light must be a MINIMUM of 10cm from the edge of trailer, and the indicator must be a MAXIMUM of 40cm from the sides. Reflectors should also be within 40cm of the side of trailer.

I've always been of the view that the boat becomes the trailer, however, the alw may not look at it like that. You can overhang the sides of a trailer by 30.5cm so your lights MAY be legal if they are 40cm from the wheel arches on the trailer rather than the edge of the boat. BUT I'd say why not make it fit the width of the boat unless you need to tow the trailer empty and the board would be wider than the trailer...

[HughN]

Originally Posted by Mollers

What have ya bought?

A Jupiter 5.0 130 GT. Made by Invicta Marine in 1972 it has been restored to a really high standard. 130 Hp BMW car engine mated to a ZF leg.

(Blatantly nicking the seller's photo from eBay)...

[HughN]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

I've always been of the view that the boat becomes the trailer, however, the alw may not look at it like that.

No, it doesn't. I used to fix my lighting board to the boat so that it was effectively on the prop, which I thought was a good solution.

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

...unless you need to tow the trailer empty and the board would be wider than the trailer...

Good point!

[Mollers]

Nice.

BMW marine.

[HughN]

Originally Posted by Mollers

BMW marine.

It was BMW's first probe of the boat market and they ended up selling the design of the g/b to ZF. There are loads of those old BMW engines still going strong (in cars!)

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by HughN

It was BMW's first probe of the boat market and they ended up selling the design of the g/b to ZF. There are loads of those old BMW engines still going strong (in cars!)

Best of luck.