Before determining what boat is best for towing, your first consideration should be the vehicle you will be using to pull it. The vehicle you drive limits the legal maximum weight you are allowed to tow (the Gross Train Weight should be in your vehicle handbook or VIN plate of your car). Typically you’re allowed to tow a trailer and boat with a combined weight of 85% of the kerb weight of your car. So, a VW Passat estate weighing at 1.5 Tonnes can tow a tad under 1.3 Tonnes. If the trailer weighs around 300kg then the boat should displace less than 1 Tonne. If you’re at the upper end of the towing limit, you may want also to think about your car’s ability to pull a heavy boat up a slippery slipway. A heavy boat + trailer combination may necessitate a more dedicated towing vehicle – heavy 4x4s like the Landrover Discovery tend to rate well in the reviews. If your vehicle has significant towing limits then the rule of thumb is to go smaller. Yet, a smaller boat is not always about cabin space compromise – taking a couple of popular older model boats as an example, a Swift 18 offers more internal accommodation and, at 690kg, weighs over 300kg less than a Cornish Shrimper 19 at over 1 Tonne. Sticking to older boats for the moment but going up in size, the unsinkable Etap 22i might fit the bill for those with limited towing capacity, coming in at under 1 Tonne. If you're very limited by towing weight you could also consider a trailerable trimaran like the Astus 20.5 - these little boats have telescopic floats so fold up to a road legal 2.5m. The lightest (Resin Infusion) version of the Astus 20.5 only weighs 470kg - so light your trailer does not even need brakes! If you do want to trailer sail a bigger boat with a modestly-sized towing vehicle, then there are several options available to you. Consider water-ballasted boats like the Macgregor 26C, the Catalina 250 or the Hunter Legend 240 or 260. These American trailer sailers are typically cavernous inside and around one third of their weight is water ballast, which can be jettisoned before trailing away. Without the ballast the Macgregor weighs in at only 1.1 Tonnes – a 26 footer which can be towed by a reasonably sized family car!