---

Marc,

Congratulations on the new boat. Like most things, you will find differing opinions in response to your trailer question. My opinion is:

- If you have a roller trailer, i.e. no bunks, your boat should rest on the rollers.
- If you have a trailer with bunks (whether it has rollers or not), the boat should rest on the bunks and not be touching the rollers when the boat is fully up on the trailer. The rollers are there so that your keel does not hit the metal in the center of the trailer as the boat is being loaded on the trailer. The forward portion of most boats has a sharper V and can come into contact certain areas of the trailer that it passes over them in the process of loading. This should not happen under normal circumstances anyway but ramp with an especially steep angle can cause this sometimes. With a bunk trailer, your boat should pretty close to floating in the stern (if not actually floating in the stern) when you are launching; same thing when the boat is re-loaded at the ramp. If not, and your ramp has an especially shallow angle, you would ideally have a roller trailer and load the boat with a winch. Every ramp is different.

Once loaded on the trailer, the rear weight bias of the boat and the stern tie-down straps keep the boat sitting on the bunks. This, along with the winch strap and bow roller, aid in keeping the boat from pitching forward in an emergency stop when towing.