Biggest risk with glass boats is their method of attaching the winch cable, which is the only security most people use when towing short distances. "oh", you say, "but I have a security chain as well"  And where is it attached to?   "drum roll " THE SAME PLACE AS THE WINCH CABLE.  That nice shiny stainless eye you hook to, do you know what it is really like? Whats happening in the 50mm or so that is hidden inside the glass? When I bought my first glass boat, just last year, I pulled the old anchor gear out of the well to replace it, and guess what I found? One leg of the eye was sitting in the bottom of the well, snapped off. Looked to have suffered from crevice corrosion. So I was winching and securing on one (corroded)leg of an 8mm eye. Scary stuff on a fully rollered trailer which will self launch at one degree past dead level.  I only have 1.7 k to the ramp, so I don't put a strap over.  

I made it more secure by splicing a piece of 12mm rope to the winch post , with a spliced eye on the other end, made to a length which can slip over the bow bollard. if the winch cable/attachment point lets go, it can only roll back about 350mm on the trailer before it comes up tight.  I much prefer ali boats in this regard, a nice solid welded lump of ali with a hole through it to winch from.

 Whats a good average for 12mm rope...2.5 tonne? shock load is a powerful force at times. i would run near tight with a shackle, Great idea though.

 I’m going with the winch drum wasn’t locked in properly then the trailer just rolled out from under it snapping the shackle chain weld off the post ..

In that situation if it was tied down properly front and sides you'd have a better chance of it staying mostly on.  

 Hate that after a day out.i don't know enough about it to comment

 I doubt that was even winched up properly and didn't have a safety chain.. It's let go at the lights. Lights go green, Cruiser with trailer takes off and boat said "Nope, I'm staying right here"

Look how high the motor is trimmed up for driving too.. Trying to take someone out?? 

 ....what's the go with the passenger in a vehicle driven by an L plater? Aren't they meant to be monitoring/assisting the learner, rather than taking pictures?

 Winch did fail. Other pics show the cable run out and using a crane to lift back onto trailer. 

looks like an old chivers thunderbird , there a pretty solid unit ,
lucky it didnt have a worse result

followed a bloke back from margs the other day his boat was so badly loaded onto the trailer i still cant believe he didnt pick it before he left the ramp , none of his keel rollers where on and the whole rig was sitting lop sided , sort of crabbing up the road

hezzy

 And they can and do fail, mostly through neglect.  So anyhting attached to there is useless, obviously, if that happens.

On the topic of my using a bit of 12 mm rope, the shock loading, as one poster alluded to, can't be too much on a boat which probably only weighs 1100 kg loaded. We are not dropping the thing vertically, it can only be loaded to the extent that the vehicle can accelerate, minus frictional/rolling resistance losses, and it can't build momentum by moving far before it comes up tight. I don't reckon the mighty 4.2T patrol ute is much of a neck- snapper away from the lights with the boat in tow   . Mind you, if i am driving somewhere that is so loaded with hazards as to require traffic lights, I've got it strapped to the trailer with a proper truck webbing tie-down anyway.  Edit--last boat was ali, had a big s/s turnbuckle as the security onto the winching point, drop a pin through it so it couldn't back off. 

Quote[followed a bloke back from margs the other day his boat was so badly loaded onto the trailer i still cant believe he didnt pick it before he left the ramp , none of his keel rollers where on and the whole rig was sitting lop sided , sort of crabbing up the road ]   probably a drive-on  * runs for cover *

My simpathy goes out to anyone who ends up in a situation like that, no matter how caused.

 not everyone has the knowledge of winch failure, eye bolt failure and so on. I was hoping that it wasn't due to foulplay, like some prick undoing the safety chain and winch while in his driveway. Heard of that happening. And agree'd, dont want to see this happening to anyone. 

Probably lucky the motor was trimmed up, could have had a bigger expense on his hands with a cracked leg and stuffed prop.

 Quite a few years back at the lights off SW Hwy and Robertson Drive... Bunno bypass on the way south I saw a Big Seafarer.... Maybe a Victory or next model up laying pretty much through the intersection. .. felt for the owner... he was shattered. ..head in hands.  The boat had come off the low riding multi roller trailer when something gave as he accelerated from the red light. It's the stuff of boat ownership nightmares...  Id have been crying too

There were some pics doing the round a couple of years back, of the opposite.
A car slamming on brakes for a cow or roo and the stem hitting the top of the rear door of a 200 series

 As a question is this sort of incident covered by insurance.  Or is it a tough love learning experience?