www.iFourWinns.com

I knew I had snapped a picture of mine with the cover on. This is getting home after 420 miles on the road. See the black mark about midway down the side of the boat? That is the fabric strap flapping in the wind. I had tied them, but it must have come lose. Next time I am going to fasten with some velcro like my transom straps have. And yes a dirty waterline from sitting in the water all week. Son cleaned it up right after unloading.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

You are correct Bill, but it does not get hot enough here to melt the pavement.

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2008 210SS 6.2L DTS Bravo 1 Now featuring MercMonitor w/SmartTow

I only tow with the covers on and over the life of my and my four boats I have probably 10,000 towing miles. Never even have a single snap come lose let alone an entire cover. If they are a snug fit and "tented" properly a snap will not come lose. I can't even imagine how dirty the inside of my boat with be if I towed with the covers off.

I trailered mine 5 hours at 65 with no problems, next time I am just going to tow with the bow cover, for a little less wear and tear.

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Mike
2007 Horizon 200 SS
5.0 GXi SX drive.

With the proper cover towing is no problem. You get what you pay for here. If you are not going to spend the money on a good cover you are better off towing with it off as the potential for damage is very high.

I used to use the tie down trailering cover, but I found it to be too time consuming to tighten down the dozens of straps, and also didn't like the rub on the gelcoat. I have gone to the snap on covers and have had no problems over the past 2 years, with 1000's of miles under my belt. No loose snaps. I guess I could engineer a safety strap or something that would at least keep the cover from flying all over the road at 60 MPH. I think the real danger is for those who assume they can pull a 6000 LB trailer/boat on the highway at 78 mph without a care in the world - i.e. tires heating up, bearings giving up, inability to brake safely, hitting a shreaded truck tire in the road, side-swiping a poor bastard on the side of the road changing a tire, or losing their top. I am also so much more at ease tooling along at 60-65 on the highway.

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2005 Horizon 250

I tow with my cockpit/bow covers off --The main reason is they would not stay on if I tried that (you might ask how I know --- yes they were coming off when I tried) The main reason I think mine do not hold is that they are used a lot. Here in Florida we boat year round and I always have the covers on at the house. So they are on and off many many times, so the snaps are just not that tight. So make sure your snaps tightly if you are going to try to tow with them on.

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DaleG -- West Palm Beach FL
2003 240Horizon -- 5.7Gi -Duoprop

tow with my mooring covers on every time. mine are well over 6 years old (setup by previous owner) the outer liner around the canvas is cracked in many places do to being put on and off so much. i even travel to Powell (8-9 hour drive) from Denver at speeds up to 80 at times and never had 1 single problem. i do use the support poles in the bow and cockpit. I've pulled over before and had the cockpit pole fall down but still fully snapped up. that was just due to not having the pole high enough. i've never experienced any problem remotely close to making me think about not towing with them.

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2006 Nissan Titan SE 6" Lift
2000 Four Winns 190 Horizon 5.0GL

I would say to leave them on if it is safe to do so since my H220SS was driven down to Miami from North Carolina with them off and the inside of the boat was so dirty. The carpet in the rear of the boat ended up getting loose and it whipped itself on the chair and the rear of the boat and made an awful mess of things in there. Support poles I have no support poles for my cover since it was a repo boat. Now I have to buy something else great my wife is going to kick my butt once again. Joe in Miami